Advanced Ashtanga Yoga Practitioner - original source http://www.burrenyoga.com/

I wont lie. I began attending the Ashtanga class at my yoga studio because I had heard it was a workout (see above). If you’re a yogi, I know this sounds blasphemous. Any true Asthanga practitioner will tell you that the practice can, and should, be so much more – a purification of the mind and central nervous system, a detoxification of the blood and massage of the internal organs, an awakening of one’s energy channels…blah blah blah. [Or so I thought.]

All I knew was that Ashtanga had been described to me as a “vigorous” form of yoga designed to produce a “purifying sweat.”

I began my Ashtanga practice for reasons much less noble than what I later learned many practitioners believe: that Ashtanga is “the path of internal purification for revealing the Universal Self.” Not me. I was motivated by a strong sense of vanity and a dislike of jogging.

Class opened with a Sanskrit chant:

vande gurūṇāṁ caraṇāravinde saṁdarśitasvātmasukhāvabodhe
niḥ śreyase jāṅ̇galikāyamāne saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāntyai
ābāhu puruṣākāraṁ śaṅ̇khacakrāsi dhāriṇam
sahasra śirasaṁ śvetam praṇamāmi patañjalim

Which, I later learned, roughly translates to:

I bow to the lotus feet of the gurus,
The awakening happiness of one’s own self revealed,
Beyond better, acting like the jungle physician,
Pacifying delusion, the poison of samsara.
Taking the form of a man to the shoulders,
Holding a conch, a discus, and a sword,
One thousand heads white,
To Patanjali, I salute.

Have I scared you off yet? Don’t go. Ashtanga Yoga follows a strict set of philosophies, which I will attempt to study and chronicle in this ongoing series, but the beauty of attending class is that each session is what you want it to be. Just as you are welcomed to subscribe to the philosophies of Ashtanga, you are welcome not to.

If the above chant seems a little abstract, well, that’s because it is. But, the more I begin to explore the philosophies of Ashtanga, the clearer it becomes, and the more fascinated I get. I’ll attempt to dissect the above mantra (10th grade English style) in context of the philosophy and postures for one of the upcoming posts in this series.

First Class

At my first class, I did not chant. But I did sweat. A lot. After chanting come the vinyasas. A Vinyasa is a sequence of postures (essentially a sun salutation) designed to warm and awaken the body. You will perform dozens of vinyasas in your average Ashtanga class, and most open with at least eight repetitions of the sequence.

What that really means is that within the first ten minutes I was sweating bullets. After the vinyasas we began to move through the Ashtanga Primary Series, which is a strict set of postures that, traditionally, do not vary from class to class. Each posture is designed to complement the one before and after it, so the resulting practice becomes one of a deep exploration of the body.

Uh oh. Yoga speak. What I mean to say is that each posture leads into the next, meaning that your muscles become increasingly warm and flexible, allowing you to move into poses you might never have thought possible. Perhaps your blood is even thinning. (We’ll get to that in another post).

Goals

In this series I will attempt to study the Ashtanga philosophies alongside the asanas (postures). I hope to serve as both an informational and personal/anecdotal resource on Ashtanga Yoga. I am a new student of the practice myself, so please feel free to comment, correct or collaborate!

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Hi friends!

It’s 1am on New Year’s Day for your (mostly) faithful author, gentle readers.

It snowed, no one called, my hair underwent a dramatic re-tealing, I had some wild nightmares, and I’ve got a few ideas in mind for the New Year and the blog!

My New Year’s List (so far)

• Start a magickal journal
• Dream record more
• Diet journal (see also Just Bento January Bento Challenge)
• Organize collections (books, films, dust bunnies, etc.)
• Purge the unnecessary (knickknacks, old clothes, stuff I don’t need in general)
• Yoga (i.e. stretching routine, meditative relaxation time, etc)
• Use organizational tools to support good habits
• Get into the makeup routine
• Extend aggressive budgeting rules to food, clothes, vice and miscellaneous spending.

And some older goals I set for myself that still need doing (updated comments in parenthesis):

• Wake up early enough in the morning to do what I want to do, not just what I have to do.
• Eat breakfast, plan for lunch (see bento challenge above, too)
• Drink once a week or less. (already getting there)
• Find a phystical activity that I will stick to. (the yoga thing I hope)
• Cut coffee intake. (less of an issue than it was when I wrote that)
• Recognize and learn to manage my triggers to unhealthy actions. (ties in with restructuring my diet habits and various vices)
• Read more (doing better on that!)
• Blog more (no comment)
• Develop a schedule for bill payment (BOOM! done on that one. heck yeah!)
• Stay motivated to make lunches and dinners. (seriously, the food thing. gotta stay on it.)
• Find out what smells weird in the fridge!! (an admittedly recurring issue.)
• Save up for “splurge stuff”. (ties in with that budgeting of non-bill items.)
• Go through my closet, find different “target weight” outfits and put them somewhere obvious. (probably not an easy thing to do since my weight has effected my wardrobe in strange ways. the idea here is to motivate myself every day to do the right things.)
• Do more organizational tasks, cleaning, making lists, STICKING to lists. (can’t argue with that.)

What do you want to do in 2009? Share your list (or link to your list) in the comments!

Note: The diet and magickal journals may be completely seperate from RKNet, or at least run in an area seperate from the main blog, for those who simply aren’t interested. I am also investigating my theme options to see if a more magazine-like style might be a good way to provide you, gentle readers, with a more approachable and fun RKNet for 2009 and beyond. If you have suggestions for the site, by all means comment or write me! I love outside perspective and all criticism is helpful even if it’s not strictly “positive”.

I want to thank everyone for reading, for commenting, for subscribing to the feed, and for generally being awesome. I hope this coming arbitrary Gregorian time period is as fun, as enlightening, as painless, and as unpredictable as possible.

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Look, anyone who knows me can attest to the idea that, I’m probably not the most put-together person on the planet. In fact, my inability to get organized, and my all-star procrastinator status really gives me little credibility when it comes to telling you what to do. However, in the past six months, I’ve been on a campaign to get my shit together– I’ve certainly had failures, but I’ve also had a few successes. I’d like to share with you a few things that I desperately wish someone had told me– before I found out the hard way.

1. Embrace Online Banking

Guess What? Those bills you’ve got piling up aren’t going to pay themselves. You want to know how I know this? About 12 collection-agency letters in six months. I ignored the first few influx’ of these letters- pretended they were junk mail and adopted the attitude, much like a 2 year old hiding under a blanket, that if I can’t see it, it’s not there. Well, 2 year olds are stupid, and collection-agencies aren’t going anywhere.

It was tough to come to terms with it, but, after shelling out $600 for a several months overdue phone bill (plus collection agency fees, and “early account termination fees”), I realized that, holy shit, you really really need to pay your bills. On time. Every month.

So, I set up automatic payments straight from my checking account through my bank’s online banking program. I check my balance every morning so I know where I’m at, and once a week I have automatic deductions taken from my credit-card company, student-loan managers, and savings account. My gym membership is taken automatically on a monthly basis and I don’t have to think about any of it.

2. Make a File

Keep all of your important shit together. I have a Huge three-ring binder outfitted with several dividers and folders labeled with simple, somewhat vague information like: Computer stuff (where I’ll keep OS disks, receipts for hardware, etc.), Money (pay stubs, bank receipts), Bills (statements, payment-plan overviews). Keeping all of your things in one place means you’ll always know exactly where to look when your computer crashes, or you need to dispute a claim to your credit-card company.

3. Cook Some Damn Food

Stop eating out! You’re spending way too much money, and you’re likely eating like shit. Go to the grocery store, try something new, come up with a few specialties and revel in the fact that you’ve got leftovers and you actually know what’s in them! Plus, cooking is fun. It’s a hobby that anybody can get into, and it pays off in spades.

4. Brown-Bag It

Remember that Chicken Parmesan you cooked up last night? Bring it to work with you tomorrow! In fact, when you’re portioning out your plate for dinner, get out a Tupperware and throw some in right then and there. Still too much work? Make a weekly trip to the grocery store and pick up some cheap, non-refrigerated meals and keep them in your desk drawer. For $10-15 a week, you can eat like a king. I recommend Yakisoba (its like ramen, but with cabbage and other veggies), Progresso or Campbell’s Chunky Soups, even Easy Mac. Then, bring a few fruits to round out your meal, and you’re golden on a budget.

5. Enough With the Beer!

OK, this one’s more of a goal. I’m certainly not one to talk… as I consider myself somewhat of a beer snob. However, this snobbery is costing me bucks! Not to mention the serious poundage that a good-beer habit is responsible for. Listen, I’m not going to sit down with a PBR pounder with my dinner (I’ll reserve those for the weekend, thank you very much). I’m going to drink good beer, which is usually going to set me back $8 a six-pack. Not a cheap habit. And, honestly, the fact that I’ve busted two buttons in two weeks, is a sign that my pants are practically begging me to give the beer a rest and sit down to dinner with a nice glass of red Zin instead. Want proof? G, could you stand up for us please? Girl looks great!

6. Stop Shopping!

It sounds so easy. But, I’m an emotional shopper. Tazed at work? I could really use some new make-up or a clearance-shirt (or 6). Fight with the b/f? Maybe I’ll dye my hair. Pfft, who needs men… You get the idea… but when you find yourself heading out to the store with a vengeance- just stop. Don’t go to the outlets with your friend and expect to “just browse.” Stop running to Target any time you need a bottle of conditioner and just get it at the supermarket. Back away from the shoes. It’s simple- if you don’t put yourself in the midst of temptation, you wont buy. Do something productive with your time and breathe a little easier knowing you just saved yourself $40 worth of useless crap.

7. $4 Prescription Plans

It pains me to advocate for Wal-Mart… but I’m gonna do it. Their $4 prescription plan is exceptional– there are hundreds of prescriptions for medications ranging from cholesterol regulators to anti-anxiety meds and everything in between. $4 a month is a lot better than $50, and even if you don’t have insurance, you’ll be able to afford your meds. PS. Target offers a similar program, if you simply can’t bring yourself to patronize Wal-Mart (and who could blame you?)

8. Get Therapy

OK, hear me out. Therapy is not for everyone- but if you’re going through a tough time (whether financially, personally or emotionally) I can’t stress enough the benefits that therapy may have. For me, it gave me confidence, reminded me that I’m not a terrible person, and spurred me on to really take stock of my life- my goals, my financial situation and my emotional status. In fact, seeing a therapist was the catalyst to taking on many of the positive changes I’ve decided to take on. However, if you simply can’t wrap your head around therapy, or you just don’t believe in it– give yourself the next best thing and get your ass moving. Whether that means going to the gym, practicing yoga or going for a walk every day– being active is a motivator in and of itself. It is the natural anti-depressant and it is guaranteed to give you more energy, and to make you feel better about yourself.

9. Freelance

What are you good at? Computers? Cooking? Writing? Sewing? Everyone’s good at something, and finding a way to turn your hobbies into extra cash is a fun and lucrative way to stay on-top of your skills, and finance your weekly wing-night. Offer to patch the holes in your friends’ wardrobes, write for your friends’ blog (thanks G!), help a friend build a website, or cook a weeks worth of freezable meals for your culinarily challenged co-worker. It’ll be fun!

10. Have a Lot of Sex

OK, I’m bragging. Sue me. Having frequent sex with someone you care about is rejuvenating, invigorating, confidence-boosting, and well, fun. It’s even a great economic plan: when you want to go shopping- have sex. When you’ve had a bad day- have sex. When you’re exhausted- have sex. When you’re unmotivated- have sex. To really put some pep in your step: have sex in the morning before work. If you only adopt one of these tips (though, I’d really recommend online banking hehe), bust out that Kama Sutra and have a lot of sex.

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Let it never be said that Twitter is a useless web app. Thanks to Twitter friend doshdosh, I’ve discovered an article which may assist me in refining my goals for this website, such as they are, and increase readership and hopefully feedback as well.

The article on problogger.net is titled From 0 to 2000+ Subscribers in 120 Days. The guest author, Tina Su, writes a blog called Think Simple Now and her passion is helping people improve their lives. The article details the steps she took to make her website successful, and they are all very positive, realistic and easy to remember.

With the assistance of this well written guide, I would like to take this blog, this site, this project and really turn it into something worth visiting, bookmarking, and subscribing to within the next 120 days. I have touched upon this goal before a few months ago but never really followed up. It’s one of the challenges with A) not having concrete goals and B) maintaining a more than full time job.

Hopefully with the help of some of my other authors, and friends who desire to do creative things and use the web for distribution, this site can become a bustling hub of super fun times for all who pass by! Won’t you tag along? It will be quite the wild ride.

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Remember a while back when I started Words to Know? The first links I provided were on things like the golem, and the homunculus.

Well, thanks to Fulguritus, the first WTK of 2007 (volume #7, no less!) is going to feature some more curiousities of alchemical and religious histories. Since I consider this a landmark, lucky Words to Know, we’ll make this one extra verbose! Not just Wiki links here, folks! Read on. :)The link chain begins with the Jaquet-Droz automata, a set of curious dolls created in the 1700s. The first thing I thought of when I saw the photos on the Wikipedia article was: “Rozen Maiden!”

For those who don’t know, Rozen Maiden is a manga and an anime about a set of living dolls created by a master dollmaker and their life with a young boy named Jun. (Without Spoilers / WITH Spoilers (but more info) – See Also: Desu [nsfw])

Reading up about these automata made me curious, so I started digging around in that article. An automaton is defined, in brief, as “a self-operating machine.” That definition immediately brings to mind two things: 1 – The Uncanny Valley and 2 – Man’s unnending attempt to synthesize life. Not just “create” life – since any horny, unchecked teenager is pretty likely to “create” life – but to actually synthesize life using methods that would generally be considered non-standard.

One item in the automaton page stuck out: the description of and his coded Book of Stones. Cryptography is interesting in and of itself, but the ties to alchemy were what compelled me to read more. Down near the bottom of the article Geber is mention of the possibility that the term “gibberish” is derived from his name. Which is both plausible (were it not for contradicting evidence) and amusing, seeing as all his alchemy-related writings were encoded and therefore not able to be read normally.

As it turns out, Geber’s alchemic goals appeared to point towards Takwin. As it states in the article, the reason for his experiments towards this end is translated as “The purpose is to baffle and lead into error everyone except those whom God loves and provides for!”

This immediately reminded me of the golem and his role in Jewish mythos as a living protector created from mud.

Jinkies! Just a hop-skip and a jump to get me to come back to one of my first Words to Know research topics. From French robot dolls to ancient magic mud men in only a bajillion links! ;)

I could go off on these and more tangents for a while, but I’ll save it for another time.
Until next time, happy reading!

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