MY Manly Yoga Blog

An evening of community, joy and inspiration at MY Manly Yoga

By Premjyoti

Listen to one of Sri Prahlada's kirtans recorded live at Manly Yoga on 14th Aug 2010
Hare Krishna
For many of the 100 participants in Manly Yoga’s Kirtan Magic, the feelings invoked by the event are hard to describe. Pure joy, love, inspiration, community and divine connection are some of the words that come to mind. But really, kirtan is beyond the mind. It’s an experience of the heart.

Karma Yogis - volunteers of the MY Manly Yoga community - worked all day preparing for the event. The centre was cleaned from top to bottom, a vegetarian feast was prepared and the stage was set with instruments and a professional sound system. Karma Yogis also worked throughout the evening to welcome guests, serve food and clean up after everyone went home. Thank you to all who helped in the spirit of service to our community!

The upstairs sadhana room was converted into a spiritual melting pot, where musicians, devotees, kirtan enthusiasts and yoga practitioners all joined together to celebrate and sing the names of the divine. The event was opened with a short meditation by Swami Anandakumar, and a Shiva bhajan (devotional song) led by Swami Muktimurti. The kirtan began with Santosha Kirtan Band, a collective of Satyananda Yoga kirtanists. The special qualities and talents of each musician united to create a set of blissful, uplifting kirtan.

For dinner we enjoyed a magical meal cooked with love by Muktakiran and her team of Karma Yogis. Click here for the awesome Kirtan Magic Dhal recipe.

Finally it was time for the international headline act, Sri Prahlada and the Bhakti Band. Sri Prahlada began by reminding us that kirtan is not a spectator sport. What made Kirtan Magic so magical was the heartfelt participation by everyone present. The room was full of people all singing their hearts out, clapping, swaying and dancing in unison. The feeling of connection was palpable - connection to the music, connection with one another, connection within, connection with the divine.

Sri Prahlada is a master of building that feeling of connection. In one kirtan he guided just the men to chant together, then just the women together. We repeated this several times, building the energy, until at last we joined together to sing as one. Pure bliss!! Spiritual stories were artfully woven between the kirtans, keeping the flow going while settling the energy, and allowing us to develop a deeper appreciation of the yoga tradition underpinning the practice of kirtan.

It was an ecstatic experience of oneness, togetherness and openness. Kirtan connected us to an overpowering energy that consumed us heart and soul. It was a high like no other – completely natural, with no nasty side-effects. Afterwards we felt inspired, energised and re-focused on our respective spiritual journeys.

Kirtan Magic was a totally heart-opening experience, that left us with smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts. I’m sure many participants are still singing those mantras as they go about their daily tasks, inspired by the magic of kirtan to live every moment with joy and gratitude.

Check out the new timetable and class passes which provides you with more flexibility (no pun intended) .The Strengthening Class is becoming very popular and is based around the "Rishikesh Series". It includes classical yoga postures, a 10 minute Salute to the Sun practice to the rhythm of a drumbeat or the enchanting sound of the sun mantras and concludes with a 20 minute pranayama (breathing practice) and meditation practice.

At MY Manly Yoga, your yoga journey is very important to us and we welcome the opportunity to talk with you about which path you may choose to follow and how the Satyananda community can support you,
We would welcome the opportunity to discuss tailoring the right program for you. Either pop into the centre, email or call us on 02 9977 4725.

Well as you can see our new website is up and running and the response has been very positive from the MY Manly Yoga community and our new visitors. Over the coming months you will see the results of our new branding and promotional campaigns. We are working on our new online shop and class booking system and will keep you posted. 
We would welcome your feedback on the new site so please post your comments on our Forum.

Yoga and the Questfor the True Self

Author; Stephen Cope

Publisher Bantam Books

This is one of those can’t put down books. Stephen Cope’s observations and experiences as a psychotherapist and Yoga teacher during his stay at Kripalu Yoga and Health Centre in Massachusetts are intensely personal, and spiritually awakening. A brilliant and often moving perspective on the transformational aspects of Yoga practices.

Some of the quotes and extracts we enjoyed are.

Search for the quiet in which the small inner voice can be heard

Without the still point there would be no dance T.S Elliott

When we stand back we can see the intensity of the craving for solidarity and the security that drives it.

Sometimes the greatest sources of suffering are the lies we tell to our selves

Dreams are letters from the unconscious Carl Jung

We all need to have a healing experience of being held securely.

If we dedicate ourselves to yoga practice it is only a matter of time until the mat becomes the Altar.

The Buried Life

 By Matthew Arnold

Only but this is rare

When a beloved hand is laid in ours

When jaded with the rush and glare

of the interminable hours,

our eyes in another eyes read clear,

When our world- deafened ear

Is by the tones of a loved voice caressed

A bolt is shot back somewhere in our breast,

And a lost pulse of feelings stirs again.

The eye sinks inward and the heart lies plain,

And what we mean, we  say, and what we would we know

Rikhiapeeth is a unique and spiritually vibrant place.
It is the sacred tapobhumi (sadhana place) of Swami Satyananda, the man who inspired millions in yoga and spiritual life. It was at Rikhia where he performed higher sadhanas and austerities for the welfare of all, from 1989 until his mahasamadhi in 2009.
Swami Satsangi, the director of Rikhiapeeth has said that all are welcome to receive the blessings of Swami Satyananda which were abundantly flowing to all he came in contact with during his lifetime, and which have now magnified a thousandfold since leaving his physical body in mahasamadhi.

A visit to the ashram at Rikhia is like stepping into another dimension which is bursting with culture, vitality,prana and the blessings of Swami Satyananda. His mission to serve, love and give to others, continues to this day.
By coming to Rikhia you will bear witness to an exceptionally awe inspiring event of giving.
Every year, this event, the Sat Chandi Maha Yajna is graced by the presence of the Cosmic Mother herself.
The Sat Chandi Maha Yajna is powerfully divine and leaves a spiritual mark on every participant.