Three women share this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, awarded last month to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkol Karman, a leading activist in Yemen’s populist revolt this year.

Trailblazer Sirleaf is the first elected female president in post-colonial Africa; Gbowee, a social worker turned peace campaigner and key leader in mobilising women to bring an end to Liberia’s long war; while Karman inspired thousands of women to rise up in Yemen’s ‘Arab Spring’, in a region where women are considered second-class citizens.

Nobel Prize recognises women
The Norwegian Nobel Committee jointly awarded the 2011 prize in recognition of the three women’s non-violent struggle for the safety of women and women’s rights, to draw attention to the ongoing suppression of women in many countries, and to highlight the essential role of women in peace-building and democracy worldwide.

“We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society,” the prize committee said.

It wasn’t until October 2000 that the UN Security Council formally adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security which, for the first time, made violence against women in armed conflict an international security issue. It underlined the need for women to become equal participants in peace processes and peace work alongside men. Sirleaf, Gbowee and Karman are the first women to be awarded the Nobel Prize since 2004 winner, Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Muta Maathai, bringing the tally of female winners to 15, compared with 85 men.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Africa’s first female president
Since Sirleaf’s inauguration in 2006 she has helped secure peace in Liberia, strengthened the position of women and promoted economic and social development. Harvard-trained Sirleaf declared a zero-tolerance policy against corruption and made education compulsory and free for all primary-age children. She has just been re-elected despite her rival pulling out of the election and urging supporters to boycott it.

Leymah Gbowee
Gbowee mobilised women across long-standing ethnic and religious divides to bring an end to Liberia’s protracted war and to ensure women’s participation in elections. Gbowee led a movement of women who dressed in white to protest against rape and child soldiers in the war. When the 2003 peace talks reached a stalemate, these women in white surrounded the premises where the talks were held, refusing to let delegates leave until a peace treaty had been signed. Gbowee is executive director of the Women in Peace and Security Network, an organisation that works with women in Liberia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone to promote peace, literacy and political involvement.

Tawakkul Karman
Karmen, a journalist and pro-democracy activist, has been a leading figure in the protests against Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh before and during the ‘Arab spring’ this year. She has been a key figure among youth activists in Yemen since they began occupying a square in central Sana’a in February to demand the end of the Saleh regime, and has often been the voice of activists on Arabic television, giving on-the-ground reports of the situation where dozens of activists have been shot dead by government forces.

Karmen said of the award: “This is a message to this regime and all the despotic regimes that no voice can drown out the voice of freedom and dignity.”

UN Fifth World Conference on Women (5WCW)
As the awarding of this year’s Nobel Prizes aims to spur on the fight for greater equality of women in male-dominated societies, advocates for Fifth World Conference on Women of the United Nations (5WCW) are encouraged. The Fifth World Conference on Women of the United Nations, targeted for 2015, would be 20 years after the last Conference in Beijing in 1995.

The aim of the Conference is to encourage the next generation of women leaders towards ending gender inequality which is most evident in the strict division of labour, less access to decision-making positions, fewer opportunities for participation in political life, and less value accorded to the roles they play and, consequently, inequitable gender relations.

Latest developments on 5WCW
Key advocates for the Conference, including Jean Shinoda Bolen continue to meet with ambassadors on sponsorship of a General Assembly for a 5WCW resolution.

Advocates are heartened by the recent appointment of former UN Under Secretary General, former President of the Security Council, and former Ambassador from Bangladesh, Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury as Senior Special Advisor to the President of the UN General Assembly. Chowdhury is a long-time advocate for women who played a key role in the Security Council adopting Resolution 1325.
Only one member-state Ambassador is needed to sponsor the resolution for 5WCW in the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly (2011-2012), which began in September.

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Restorative Yoga.

While on the surface of it, the Buddhist doctrine of change and impermanence may seem pessimistic, appreciating that everything will change liberates us towards true freedom, peace and happiness.

Impermanence, or anicca in Pali, refers to the transient nature of all things. Everything in this world moves through the rites of birth, maturity and destruction, leaving no trace. Annica, together with suffering (dukkha) and non-self (anatta) are the Three Characteristics of Existence according to the Buddha. Annica is key, as impermanence leads to suffering (dukkha) and annica also explains why there is non-self (anatta).

Suffering (dukkha) arises because, in a state of self-deception, people crave immortality through belief in a soul. There is nothing that endures about sentient beings, both people and animals and no life thereafter.

The Buddha taught that human beings are composed of five aggregates (pañca khandha), which are empty and without self. By meditating on non-self (anatta), we can dissolve the barrier between self and other and appreciate that all beings in the universe are the same. Seeing that all other human beings exist in us and we exist in all other human beings, we are liberated from the cycle of birth and death, no longer held back by fear and self-deception.

Appreciating annica is part of existence, we are liberated from being a slave of emotions, sensations and experiences, knowing that joy and sorrow must change. We are neither living in a fool’s paradise, nor frightened by imaginary fears and sins.

Suffering for permanence
Oftentimes, we equate permanence with happiness. We mourn the loss of beauty as age fades youthful radiance. We mourn the loss of innocence as children grow up into judgmental or jaded adults. Most especially, we mourn the loss of life when our loved ones die.

The Buddha said that it is our self-deception that makes it appear that we are caught up in this world. Suffering (dukkha), the First Noble Truth of Buddhism, has a deeper meaning which includes imperfection and insubstantiality. Our expectation that things should be perfect, unchanging and enduring provokes sadness when they are not.

The world is made up of the four elements – earth, air, water and fire – in countless combinations constantly in flux. Nothing can exist independently and nothing is permanent.

Awareness of suffering leads to liberation
Since all things are impermanent, when we identify with the world, we also suffer from their eventual emptiness. Once we become aware of how suffering works, we begin to practice the way of the realisation. This is the first of the Four Noble Truths – awareness of dukkha reduces our dukkha.

By meditating on dukkha, we uncover its cause, directly confront it, and eliminate it by relinquishing our attachments to the five skandhas, or aggregates which together make up the human condition.

Impermanence and non-self
The five skandas that make up the human and worldly conditions are: matter, feeling, perception, thoughts and consciousness. By examining the five skandhas, we experience the selfless nature of our bodies as they journey through life, from birth to death and emptiness beyond.

“When we no longer are separate from the universe, a completely harmonious existence with the universe is created,” writes Thich Nhat Hanh in Two Treasures: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening and True Happiness. “We see all other human beings exist in us and we exist in all other human beings. We see that the past and the future are contained in the present moment, and we can penetrate and be completely liberated from the cycle of birth and death.”

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Restorative Yoga.

News flash: Being busy is not a virtue. Multi-tasking does not save you time. Filling time with a thousand actions does not mean you value it. Go slow and embrace the joy of the moment.

There’s a movement taking place around the world. It’s not loud. It’s certainly not busy. But it is joy-provoking, passion-rousing, value-aligning. The movement of slow, recently revived in 2004 by In Praise of Slow by Carl Honoré, is a reaction to, as Honoré puts it ‘the Cult of Speed’. Modern society makes us time-poor, with not enough time in the day to enjoy family, see friends, tend to hobbies and interests and, perhaps most significantly, to feel connection with one’s community and be emotionally and spiritually satisfied. As a result, we see the rise of ‘slow cooking’, slow cookers, organic foods, ‘down-shifting’, ‘tree changers’, home schooling, community building, and yoga. The rise of websites based on Honoré’s work, and blogs such as Leo Babauta’s ‘Zen Habits’, show the continuing popularity of this counter movement as individuals around the globe seek to simplify their lives, making conscious decisions about which parts of modern society they will embrace or reject.

Slow yoga
As yoga continues to proliferate into a variety of forms and combine with various other modalities (think ‘yoga and surfing’, ‘yoga and golf’, ‘yoga and…’), the move towards slow is best seen in Restorative Yoga. Restorative Yoga encourages the yogi to spend more time in each pose, to be more mindful of breath than is possible with some of the more aerobic styles of yoga, and to puts more emphasis on the final pose, Savasana (Corpse Pose), to allow deep healing to take place.

The physical benefits of holding a pose for a longer period, usually a minute, was particularly encouraged in the modern era by B.K.S. Iyengar, but benefits of Restorative Yoga are far more than physical.

“Yoga poses are used to prepare the body to sit comfortably in meditation,” says Sally Belmont, Restorative Yoga teacher. “Poses in the right combination combined with pranayama and meditations will leave one relaxed and rested but also highly energised. Making a practice of active relaxation is a great investment of your time.”

The perfection of this moment
The fifth stage of the yogic eight fold path as described by the sage Patanjali is Pratyahara. This translates as “withdrawal of the senses” and precedes concentration and meditation, the sixth and seventh steps. Withdrawing the senses is a crucial step in reaching a meditative state. We withdraw our senses by first embracing them – of using them to notice the world before actively withdrawing our involvement with it.

“Our senses are part of being human; they can never be turned off completely. It is our engagement and emotional reactions to our sensory sensations that we seek to control,” says Sally. “Similarly, going on retreat to a restful, quiet place for a week or so is wonderful but, for us to most of us in the middle years of our lives, it is neither practical nor desirable to live on retreat. We live in cities. We need to develop skills to live our lives with all the busy-ness, noise and distractions that this entails, while simultaneously being fully aware and present in each moment.”

As yoga continues to proliferate into ever more wacky and non-traditional combinations, a counter movement towards slowness, simplicity and stillness is a welcome balm.

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Restorative Yoga.

You hear lots of claims that yoga teacher training ‘will change your life.’ This made me skeptical seeing as how I was already working as a yoga teacher when I began my level 1 course. Yet, I began my level 1 course in a publishing job I despised, and finished level 2 having started my home-based business, in a new house with my first child.

You cannot predict the future – that much is sure. I had harboured the desire to do a yoga teacher training course for many years. A chance encounter with John Ogilvie some years previous made me keen to do it with Byron Yoga Centre, but I’d assumed this would have to be in Byron.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could do the course, part-time over a series of weekends, right here in Sydney in the leafy north-side suburb of St Ives. Better still, John shared lead teacher responsibilities with Judy Krupp, a formidable teacher with more than 20 years experience who had worked with such industry greats as Donna Farhi and Simon Borg Olivier.

Judy and John teach like ebony and ivory, each playing to the other’s strengths. Their passions differed over aspects of yoga, but they were clearly united in their enthusiasm, eloquence and desire to spread the practice of yoga.

As the months sped by, our little group bonded over the agony of pronouncing Sanskrit terms, locating the Sartorius muscle and keeping our pelvises correctly positioned in space. We were a diverse bunch, at different life stages and with different expectations of the course and what we would get out of it. Some of us partook out of desire to study more deeply, some to begin a new career and others to attain well-regarded qualifications in a pursuit we were already undertaking.

There were a host of challenges, from teaching each other almost from our first session together, to teaching the public in supervised classes, with proceeds going to a charity of our choosing.

In between weekends, when John and senior Centre teacher Kara Goodsell flew back to Byron, Judy opened her studio to us and gave her time helping us prepare for practical assessments, assist yoga teachers and discuss the finer points of asana, anatomy or sequencing. We were a satellite Byron Yoga Centre community in Sydney.

When level 1 finished six months later all too soon, my appetite was well and truly whet. There was no way I could stop now. Just before I began level 2, one month after level 1 finished, I discovered I was pregnant. This put a completely different slant on things.

Initially I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to take advantage of having such senior mentorship to deepen my asana practice. My first trimester of pregnancy involved a lot of ‘couch yoga’, interspersed with Adho Mukha Virasana (down face hero pose), wondering what on earth I’d done, and Viparita Karani (legs up the wall pose), appealing to the heavens for help.

My fellow teacher trainees were naturally delighted to have a plaything to experiment upon and our pregnancy yoga classes provoked many a questioning glance in my direction. Luckily, I got my yoga mojo back in my second trimester, and began my race against time to complete the requisite 50 yoga classes as part of our assessment.

No prenatal classes for me, my mojo demanded I move. My enthusiasm for strong asanas was tempered by Judy, John and Kara’s insistence that I abide by pre-natal yoga guidelines. No such guidance was given in the general yoga classes I attended where, more often than not, I was left to my own devices to decipher poses with the aid of bolsters, blocks and blankets, or come up with alternatives to poses restricted to me.

Bandhas took on a new meaning in my practice as I sought to avoid overstretching my ligaments and contain my ever-expanding girth so that I didn’t hyperextend my lumbar spine and provoke lower back pain – a common complaint of pregnancy. In fact, I never felt better, all aches and twinges gone. My pelvis moved in ways that were previously inaccessible, freed by pregnancy hormones.

A pregnant friend asked if strangers had stopped me in the street as they had done her, to touch her belly and inquire as to her due date. I looked at her blankly; no passerbys stopped me, they couldn’t catch me as I raced around the city between client appointments, yoga classes, and running errands. I was on a mission.

My little yoga baby was quiet in utero while I breathed through Surya Namaskar (salute to the sun), lunged low into Virabhadrasana II (warrior 2 pose) or lifted my pelvis in Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose). It was during our phenomenally long and deep yoga nidras (conscious relaxation) led by Judy, John or Kara, that my baby danced, flooded with happy hormones.

The course moved to a crescendo with long anatomy sessions with Dr Ed Franklin, Ayurveda with Mary Woolley, finalising our extensive self-study log books, and – perhaps most dreaded – preparing our final philosophy talks. I had my baby three days before our final weekend.

My labour was natural and thankfully quick – a credit not only to yoga and chiropractic care, which I had regularly throughout my pregnancy, but also to my new peace of mind.

That’s what people mean when they say ‘it’ll change your life.’ All the students in my course had different reasons for undertaking the course, but all shared the same love of yoga. To pursue something for the love of it is not only liberating, but empowering. Giving you courage to make changes to live more authentically in pursuit of your passion and purpose.

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Byron Yoga Centre.

“I wish I knew how it would feel to be free” follows the famous Nina Simone lyrics. With the best of intentions, we all get caught up in minutia of daily life. We may become easily frustrated or angry when the results of our actions don’t turn out the way we hoped, or we indulge in self-pride when the results we hoped for, eventuate. We are constantly swinging between highs and lows and dwelling on the intricate details of how best to manipulate actions to get what we want.

Karma yoga is a path to equanimity of mind and enlightenment, where we no longer have these countless frustrations.

Generally, we believe that we are active participants with control over our own destiny, which is why we become dissatisfied when things don’t go the way we planned. A person following the path of karma yoga realises that God is the only true doer. This belief is not unique to Hinduism – in Christianity, it is expressed as: “Not my will but Thine be done, O Lord.”

Karma yoga means that actions are done without any expectation of a personal result or reward. “The mind of the karma yogi grows calm because they are satisfied that they have done their job to the best of their ability and they dedicate the results to God,” explains John Ogilvie, senior teacher and founder of Byron Yoga Centre.

“Karma yoga is different from the law of karma, or cause and effect. The law of karma affects those who believe they are the doer so the results of a karma yogi’s actions have no karmic consequences.”

Karma yogis see themselves as instruments of God’s will and with this comes peace of mind. Patanjali refers to this in the Yoga Sutras as ‘Yoga chitta vritti nirodha’: yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.

“The karma yogi appreciates that everything in life is transient and that difficulties are opportunities to learn compassion, so they give thanks for everything,” says John. “In the Bhagavad Gita, Krisna defends the ‘right kind of action’ and the importance of dedicating ourselves mindfully and wholeheartedly to one’s dharma, or duty. Krisna says that karma yoga transforms any mundane activity into spiritual practice because it is dedicated to God.”

Dharma, as discussed in the Bhagavad Gita, referred to the professional obligations one had in relation to one’s caste. Although the concept of caste duties is no longer relevant to our modern society, finding one’s life purpose remains a very modern dilemma. So what action is right action?

In modern times, right action has been interpreted to mean that the nature of your work is less important than the attitude of your heart and mind that you bring to it. We can do the same action with either selfish or selfless intent. By freeing our thoughts from selfish motive, anger, greed and hatred, we purify our intent behind an action and the results of the action become liberating rather than binding.

You may have found yourself immersed in a task and noticed how time seems to halt and a sense of unity arises as you no longer feel a separation between you ‘the doer’ and you ‘the thinker’. This sense of immersion, or ‘flow’, has been identified by cognitive scientists as the closest they can identify to an experience of happiness.

Learning to be free
So how do we stop believing we are the doer and that God is in charge? In the Bhagavad Gita Krisna says that your true Divine Self can only be known by controlling your senses with the mind and by devoting yourself to God.

We can devote ourselves to God in whatever form we identify as Divine. We control our senses through the eight limbs of yoga – through pranayama breathing regulation, the fourth limb, through pratyahara, sensory withdrawal, the fifth limb, and through dharana, concentration and dhyana, meditation, the sixth and seventh limbs.

The other limbs of yoga all teach us to think and act mindfully with others, with ourselves and our bodies. Selfless service to God, or seva, is another step towards appreciating the Divine Self in all people.

“Seva is the underlying basis of our Yoga Centre,” says John. “Giving all profits from our $5 classes to charity, being actively involved in our preferred three charities, and making yoga more accessible to more people allows our students, our teachers and our business to be involved in seva.”

Each of us has a tiny spark of divinity within us; a common analogy is that we are all a water droplet in a vast ocean. You may have had a fleeting experience of this during meditation, during yoga class or when looking into the eyes of a loved one or a stranger.

Once your buddhi, or intellect, realises the Divine Self within, these unite and you become enlightened, liberated from the law of karma which sees you reincarnated into countless lifetimes.

We each have a tiny spark of Divinity within us. Recognising this, we need only act selflessly in service to God.

Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu
Translation: May all beings everywhere be happy and free. And may the thoughts and actions of my own life contribute, in some way, to that happiness and that freedom for all.

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Byron Yoga Centre.

Hindu mysticism believes that the body has a system of energy channels called nadis, through which prana, or life force, flows. The many practices of yoga help cultivate prana to flow freely throughout all nadis – one of the most effective is nadi sodhana pranayama. Prana energy animates us and gives us energy. When one is in optimum health, prana is flowing freely through all nadis. When one is physically, emotionally or spiritually distressed or diseased, some of the nadis aren’t properly open, restricting the flow of prana to particular areas of the body.

Free-flowing nadis
The Sanskrit nadi derives from the root nad, which means ‘flow,’ ‘motion,’ or ‘vibration.’ There are 72,000 nadis according to ancient texts; the main nadis are shushumna, ida and pingala which run the length of the spine. Sushumna nadi is the centre channel around which ida and pingala spiral like a double helix.

Ida nadi begins at the left side of the sacrum, and ends at the left nostril and pingala nadi begins at the right side of the sacrum to the right nostril. Ida stimulates the right side of the brain; it is feminine, cooling, lunar energy which nourishes and purifies body and mind. Pingala nadi stimulates the left side of the brain; it is masculine, heating, solar energy which creates vitality and physical strength.

Kundalini rising
Where pingala and ida intersect sushumna creates a concentration of energy – this happens at seven places along the axis of the body and corresponds with the chakras, or energy centres. The three nadis end at the ajna chakra, midway between the eyebrows.

Sushumna nadi is the channel through which flows kundalini shakti, meaning latent ‘serpent power’. In yoga, enlightenment occurs when kundalini flows upwards through sushumna – known as ‘kundalini rising’. One of the most effective practices to help the flow of prana is to cleanse the nadis with nadi sodhana pranayama.

The practice of nadi sodhana pranayama
Start by sitting in a comfortable position. Bring your left hand onto the left knee, palm facing up with the tip of the first finger and thumb lightly touching. This is gyan mudra; it seals the energy flow in the hand.

Raise your right hand to the nose, keeping your elbow lifted, your shoulders relaxed. Curl the first and middle fingers into your palm and gently place your thumb on the right nostril and your ring and little fingers onto your left nostril without closing either nostril. This is Vishnu mudra.

Close your eyes and ensure that you are still sitting straight and your right elbow is lifted lightly. Close the left nostril with your ring and little fingers and exhale your breath thoroughly through the right nostril. Your thumb is lightly resting on your right nostril.

Start the pranayama by inhaling through your right nostril, pausing at the top of the breath. Open the left nostril, close the right nostril with your thumb and exhale slowly through your left nostril, pausing at the bottom of the breath. Inhale through the left nostril and pause. Open the right nostril, close the left nostril, exhale through your right nostril and pause.

Continue at your own pace, keeping the inhalation and exhalation roughly the same length. If you have a blocked nose, are becoming short of breath, feel tight in the chest, or experience any other discomforts, it is best to discontinue the practice until you feel better.

When you’ve had enough, finish the practice by exhaling through your right nostril, then bring the right hand down onto the right knee in gyan mudra and breath normally. Lie in savasana, corpse pose, to enjoy the effects of nadi sodhana pranayama on the mind and body.

Cultivating prana
Prana energy is gained through our foods and water as well as our breath. Our diet, our physical asana yoga practice, meditation and pranayama all help to cultivate more prana in the body. These practices are part of the eight limbs of yoga, taught as Purna Yoga by Byron Yoga Centre teachers. But pranayama practice cultivates higher quality breathing and is most important for influencing the activity of prana in the body.

Practising nadi sodhana pranayama regularly keeps the nadis clean and helps the flow of prana. It is one of the most effective springtime ‘detoxs’ around and may, with time and commitment, help us experience the cosmic bliss of kundalini rising.

If you are practicing pranayama for the first time, it is best to do so under the supervision of an experienced teacher.

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Byron Yoga Centre.

Sitting with eyes closed and mind focused seems a simple thing. Yet for anyone who’s ever sat and tried to meditate while battling with thoughts that jump from judgements to menial distractions, it can be excruciating. Simplifying your approach may be the key to get beyond these, explains Byron Yoga centre meditation teacher Stephan Kahlert. 

“The most common thing that puts people off meditating is the constant arising of thoughts,” says Stephan. “But the mind is made up of thoughts and as your mind is your meditation vehicle, thoughts are part and parcel of meditation. Instead, we try not to engage with thoughts.”

Start by forgetting about what meditating should be like. Reject expectations of having an exotic or esoteric experience and hold the intention only to be present in the moment. An effective technique to anchor the mind in the presence is to observe your in-breath and out-breath without trying to control it.

“Feel the sensation of the breath on your nostrils, your upper lip, feel your chest and belly moving to accommodate,” says Stephan. “You may wish to count the breath using ‘one, two’ over and again. Concentration – known in Sanskrit as Dharana – brings a meditative space.”

Developing concentration does not happen overnight. Try to avoid berating yourself if you find thoughts competing for your attention or you become emotionally engaged with them. Simply bring your attention back to the breath and do this every time you find yourself engaged with your thoughts.

“Observing your thoughts creates distance between the watched and the watcher, between the subject and the object,” says Stephan. “You give your thoughts energy, so when you withdraw that, your thoughts start to slow down. The meditation technique is less important, don’t become wedded to technique.”

For first-time meditators or those needing inspiration or motivation, Stephan advocates finding a meditation group, perhaps at a yoga or Buddhist centre. Meditation teachers will give guidance and support and encourage you to sit longer than you may otherwise. Group meditations also create a stronger vibration to inspire you than when doing meditations at home. “If you’re lucky enough to sit with an enlightened person, you will benefit from their vibrations,” says Stephan.

“This is not to say that you need to find a guru,” Stephan adds. “People tend to project their unresolved issues on a guru or spiritual leaders, thinking they can solve them. But everyone is master of their own destiny with the power to make changes and improvements, one step at a time.”

It’s often useful to hear other people’s experience of meditation and to have support if your meditation leads to some larger, long-term changes. Odd sensations may arise while meditating, such as colours, patterns, distortions of perspective or perception, strong emotions or memories. These may be unsettling and it helps to have the support of a teacher and group. “Be gentle and forgiving of whatever comes up,” says Stephan. “Try not to place too much importance on the effects but do try to relax, as it makes being observant much easier.”

Stephan has been meditating in Hindu and Buddhist traditions for 18 years, and teaches on our retreats in Byron Bay as well as overseas. He avoided yoga for many years, thinking that yogis were obsessed with their bodies whereas meditators were interested in the mind. “I started experiencing back pain and felt tight and stiff. So I followed my wife Bettina to a yoga class with John Ogilvie and became hooked,” says Stephan. Stephan will be leading meditation sessions on our Bali retreat in August and in India in November. He'll establish a group practice and help you to practice the techniques he's outlined in this article.

When asked about advice for the practitioner who doesn’t feel like meditation is working, Stephan says, “If you have become miserable by trying meditation, perhaps you are not yet ready. Some people have all manner of problems which gives them huge motivation to meditate. If you are ready, you will get the benefits, it doesn’t matter if your circumstances aren’t ideal.”

General tips to enhance meditation

• The best time to meditate is sunrise or sunset
• Meditation is most effective on an empty stomach
• Try to develop a place and routine for your meditation
• Avoid lying down but be comfortable
• Try to relinquish expectations and to relax
• You can sit with your eyes open if you find this easier. Focus on a point of stillness and keep your eyes half-closed.

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Byron Yoga Centre.

We choose foods for far more reasons than just fuel - food nourishes us on a physical, emotional and spiritual level. Eating for comfort doesn’t need to involve whipped cream and chocolate. Knowing a little about the effects of food helps satisfy deeper cravings while nourishing mind, body and soul.

“Foods which are yummy, sweet, healing, and easy to digest are comforting and nourishing,” says Jacinta McEwen, Byron Yoga Centre Ayurveda teacher trainer. Herbs and spices have many healing qualities, and when the weather is cooler, even Pitta (the fire) dosha can handle spicy foods. The most popular Ayurvedic comfort food packed with healing herbs and spices is kitchari – a mix of rice, mung beans, herbs and spices and ghee, or clarified butter.

Queen bee ghee
Ghee is essentially purified butter oil, made by heating butter until the milk solids and heavy fats coagulate and are removed. It balances both Vata and Pitta doshas and helps efficient absorption of crucial lipid-soluble vitamins such as A, E, D and K. Ayurvedic texts say that ghee helps balance excess stomach acid and maintain and repair the mucus lining of the stomach. Finally, ghee is also believed to promote learning, memory and mental recall. Its is also very healing for our nervous system and helps to ground us, so is great when under stress.

Cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper
Cumin is a slightly warming, earthy-tasting spice invaluable for aiding digestion, enhancing appetite and cleansing the body by helping burn ama, digestive toxins. It pacifies people of Vata and Kapha dosha, and is helpful in small quantities for those with Pitta dosha. It is also healing for the stomach, liver and intestines.

Coriander is also great for digestion but being cooling, it pacifies Pitta, as well as being helpful for Vata and Kapha in small quantities. Coriander is detoxifying and grounding, and tastes both astringent and sweet. It is a fantastic ally in the health of your respiratory system and enhances your immunity against allergens.

Coriander leaves contain a natural antihistamine, vitamin C and bioflavonoid, which reduces allergic reactions such as hay fever. “Herbs and spices with healing qualities help relieve stress on the system – perhaps most obviously with inflammation – which manifests as eczema, hay fever, and asthma, among many others,” says Jacinta. “So although we may not realise it, they are comfort foods because they comfort us from the inside out.”

Turmeric has many diverse and powerful healing qualities and is a common ingredient in Ayurvedic natural medicine. Turmeric balances all three doshas. It enhances digestion, strengthens the liver and is powerfully purifying. It is anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antibacterial and a strong antioxidant, helping fight free radical damage and enhancing the complexion. Turmeric helps shift mucus and regulates the respiratory system as well as the heart.

Black pepper is the world’s most popular spice – for good reason. It improves appetite, aids digestion, and prevents stomach irritation and flatulence. It is great for balancing Kapha dosha but small quantities also help pacify Vata. Black pepper is a great anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-oxidant, stimulating the absorption of several micronutrients in the body. It gives relief from sinusitis, nasal congestion, dry coughs and throat irritations.
“Eating foods with plenty of nutritents that the body can easily absorb and which help heal opens our hearts and minds to receiving nourishment in other areas of our lives,” says Jacinta.

Basic Kitchari recipe

This recipe is good for all doshas but especially Vata and Vata aggravations. It is appropriate to eat in all seasons and is very good for children, elderly, for those recovering from illness and when you’re feeling depleted. It is great for cleansing and is very soothing and healing. For ungroundedness, you can add fennel seed. In Autumn or for constipation, add Ajwain. In winter and spring add ginger. You can add vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes and broccoli.

Ingredients
1 cup of mung (or moong) beans. You can use half mung, half red lentil or two thirds mung, one third red lentils, depending on time of year and your dosha’s state of balance. Don’t use red lentils in summer as they are too heating.
1 cup of Basmati rice
1 or 2 tablespoons of ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil
1 tablespoon of cumin seeds
1 tablespoon of ground coriander
Half a teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
1 sliced onion (optional)
Half a teaspoon of salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon of garam masala (or coriander)
4-5 cups of hot water

Method

1. Rinse and soak the mung beans and rice for 2 hours.
2. Drain soaked dhal and rice.
3. Heat ghee in pan, add cumin, coriander, turmeric, and onion, if using. Cook until soft and brown.
4. Add mung dhal, rice, salt, garam masala and black pepper.
5. Add hot water and cook until the beans/lentils and rice cooked. The consistency should be fairly soft, but this is according to taste.

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Byron Yoga Centre.

Choosing what to eat is taken very seriously by many on the yogic path. But the endeavour doesn't stop there. In Ayurveda, the power of your digestion, known as agni or ‘fire', is the most important determinant of your health and longevity. "Whether your body makes good nutrients or toxins, known as ‘ama', from your food depends on the strength of your digestion," says Jacinta McEwen, Byron Yoga Centre Ayurveda teacher trainer.  

"Agni is the powerful transformative energy that breaks down and converts food into fuel for our bodies' trillion cells." Good digestion and a healthy metabolism according to Ayurveda, is absolutely essential for a long healthy life.

A well stoked agni fire runs the body efficiently and minimises the build up of ama. A dampened digestive fire, like a camp fire on a rainy day, is not able to burn its fuel (food) completely. It leaves partially-digested food materials and metabolic byproducts to collect in the tissues of the body.

Weak digestive power is also responsible for an overall decline in our digestion as we age. Studies indicate that our ability to digest and absorb nutrients is reduced as we get older, leading to recurrent vitamin and mineral deficiencies. These deficiencies play an important role in chronic health problems which tend to arise in our later years. The western sedentary lifestyle and abundance of processed foods is contributing towards ever-weakening digestion. "The number of younger people I consult for at Mullum Herbals that have vitamin and mineral deficiencies and less-than-optimum digestion suggests that our agni is weakening in people at younger ages than ever before," says Jacinta.

Working as a nurse in Adelaide, Jacinta has recognised ama in ailments termed by modern medicine as illnesses caused by accumulated metabolic wastes - excess cholesterol, free radicals, trans-fatty acids, uric acid and homocysteine, among others. "Atherosclerosis (blockage of the arteries due to disturbances in cholesterol metabolism), gall stones (from sludgy bile), gouty arthritis (due to excess uric acid from faulty protein metabolism), or kidney stones (from the build up of calcium or oxalic acid) are all diseases that result from too much ama," says Jacinta.

According to Ayurvedic theory, it is not just the above mentioned ailments but nearly every chronic disease which involves the accumulation of some form of ama somewhere in the body. The root cause of this is poor digestion and absorption. There are many things you can do to aid your digestion.

Tips to aid digestion

• Select wholesome foods full of life force and organic if possible.
• Eat appropriate foods for your constitution and the current climate.
• Prepare your food in a relaxed and loving way.
• Digestion begins in the mouth - so chew your food slowly and with presence of mind.
• Eat in a pleasant, relaxed environment.
• Do not drink with meals (except a very small amount if eating dry foods) and especially avoid cold drinks with meals.
  
• The ideal time to eat your main meal is at noon. The best time for breakfast is before 8 am.
• It is best to avoid heavy food after sunset. If this is unrealistic, then take the Ayurveda herbal compound triphala beforehand to aid digestion, so that you don't go to bed with undigested food in your stomach. Triphala is especially good before rich, harder to digest meals.
• Ignite your digestive enzymes by chewing a slice of fresh ginger doused in lemon or lime and/or a little rock salt (though not for those with a Pitta dosha) before meals.
  
• Take a quarter to a half teaspoon of triphala powder with ghee, warm water or honey before meals or, if this is too hard, take one to two triphala capsules.
  

Our immune systems often become compromised in winter as our kapha goes into excess, according to the traditional Indian natural health system of Ayurveda. Leaning how to keep our doshas in balance is fundamental to surviving and thriving this winter. In Ayurveda, every person has a different constitution comprising an individual combination of the five elements, and thus the three principles called doshas – vata, pitta and kapha – with one dosha usually dominating. As kapha predominates in winter, kapha imbalance is common to all constitutions in this season.

A predominance of kapha, composed of water and earth elements, means a sluggish and moist internal environment which is an ideal breeding ground for viruses to thrive. To counteract this and keep your doshas balanced, it is important to build up your immune system and keep warm and dry.

Warm, cooked foods for winter
Winter is not the time for salads; warm, cooked foods such as curries and soups are best for keeping our digestive systems powering and fortifying our internal defenses. “Green vegetables are ideal for wintertime, as are fruits which are rich in vitamin C,” says Jacinta McEwen, Byron Yoga Centre Ayurveda teacher trainer. “Oranges are a good source – so long as they are picked ripe, which most of those sold in the supermarket are not.”

Food sources of vitamin C are preferable to supplements because ascorbic acid vitamin C is acidic, an environment in which bugs thrive. Chywanprash Ayurvedic paste is a rich source of vitamin C and boosts immunity while also being a whole system tonic.

Sitopladi powder helps to clear sinuses, eliminate mucus and clear lymphatic congestion. “Best of all, it tastes good so children are quite receptive to taking it,” says Jacinta. “You can simply sprinkle it on meals or add it to a glass of water.”

Echinacea is also a great preventative health tonic for winter, being both antibiotic and anti-viral.

Oils for health
Our nervous systems dry out in winter; oil taken internally and externally helps to keep us lubricated. “If you are really kapha imbalanced, only add a little ghee or ‘friendly oils’ to your cooking,” says Jacinta. “It’s a fantastic season for applying oils in body self-massage, but if you don’t have the time for this, just applying black sesame oil to your feet before you go to bed will give you deeper sleep and will nourish your nervous system.”

Black sesame oil is ideal for external application for all doshas in winter, best applied warm. Almond oil can also be used, though it is not as medicinal nor as deeply penetrating and lubricating.

Drinking a few cups of hot water mixed with some fresh cut ginger, squeezed lemon and honey every day works as an anti-inflammatory and will help reduce the incidence and severity of coughs and colds. Lemon also cuts through lymphatic system stagnation, which helps the lymphs to trigger and amplify our immune response when infection is recognised in the body.

Looking after your kapha organs
In winter, it is particularly important to look after your nose, mouth and tonsils. As well as ginger, honey, lemon tonics and lubricating foods, oiling your nostrils with black sesame oil or Nasya oil can help lubricate and warm the area. Apply three drops of either black sesame or Nasya oil in each nostril and massage up the sides of your nostril and nose.

Keeping warm and rested
To survive and thrive during the colder months, it’s important to keep warm and rested. While this is common sense, it’s amazing how many of us neglect it; going out at night inadequately dressed for the cold, kick-starting a vigorous new exercise regime in an attempt to throw off winter lethargy and excess weight, and socialising extensively to avoid feeling lonely at home in the cold and dark.

Warming yoga poses include Utkatasana (powerful pose), Utthita Parsvakonasana (extended side angle pose), and Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II), preceded by some warm-up rounds of Surya Namaskar (salute to the sun).

“Winter has always been a time for hibernation and, to maintain good health this winter and avoid the many bugs and viruses floating about, being well rested is central,” says Jacinta. “Exercise regularly and lightly, wear enough clothes and warm colours, avoid daytime naps and instead get to bed well before midnight to have a decent eight-hour – or more – long sleep. Sleep is one of life’s best health tonics.”

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Byron Yoga Centre.