Whether he is in Japan or back at home, every morning Don wakes up at 4am and does his yoga practice. At the end of his yoga practice and meditation, he recites the following mantra:
I am a child of light
I love light.
I serve light.
Light is in me
protecting,
illuminating,
supporting,
sustaining.
I am light.
Don was recently on the Japan tour. One morning I asked him to share the above mantra with us as we did yoga. Of the 13 full days touring Japan, we, as a group, had 10 sessions of yoga. As usual, I am unable to take photos when I am teaching. But luckily, Jeff (and Karin) got a few good shots! I only took some of these photos.
The first set of photos were taken on our cycling trip in Kyoto. That day we had standing yoga in Kameyama Park. Since we had been cycling all morning, I told everyone not to worry about bringing their yoga mats along. And since the ground was a fine white pea gravel, we also wore our shoes. We called the class Standing Yoga. It felt so good to take in the clean fresh air of Kyoto!
Cycling Group about to Transform into YOGIS!!
Debby and Marc forming a Bridge of Friendship.
Standing Twisters. The weather was perfect on this late October day. I love this photo. It looks like we will take air and start flying any second!
One more view of the Vol-Au-Vents (the name of a savory light pastry in France which means “Fly With the Wind”)
Happiness is the Bridge of Friendship. Ginger and Woody (pant legs tucked in from the bike ride).
Our team magicians: Chiaki and Yukiko
Last shot for Standing Yoga in Kyoto: I think we belong in a scene right out of Saturday Night Fever.
See what I’m saying??
Then we have lots of yoga photos from the first Ryokan (traditional Japanese Inn with Hot Springs/Onsen) where we stayed on the island of Shikoku. The room we had was unbelievable! It was like a ballroom/atrium combo with glass windows overlooking the city of Takamatsu. We did yoga in the evening, just before dinner and the city lights made for a dramatic and lovely backdrop to our yoga class. One more thing: I had access to chairs so we did yoga using chairs. Amazing what you can do using chairs for yoga!
Camel Pose (Kim in the foreground)
Forward bends using the chair
Revolved Triangles! (Bill in the foreground)
Deeper Backbends over a chair (Karin)
Resting Crocodiles!
Resting crocodile
Deeply Relaxed! (Jeff!)
And photos were also taken at the Buddhist monastery at Mt. Koya. I think that may have been the best room ever. The floors were made of tatami mats. There is a nice sweet grass-like smell that comes with tatami mats, which are made of rush grass. They feel gentle but firm under the feet. The room we practiced in was cavernous. There were several heaters which kept us warm. This is a good thing because it was pretty cold on the mountain at night. The monastery had a great feel to it. In the morning we watched the monks chant, pray, and do their fire ceremony. It was very peaceful and meditative. I think their good energy permeated the yoga space. And it was quiet. A very quiet room with great acoustics so my voice carried over strongly.
Side stretching
Windmill
Trees at the Monastery
Flip Your Dog!
And lastly, we found that doing Warrior I-or any yoga at all- in our Kimonos was impossible! (Fran and Karin)
Nice Yoga poses, Specially with chair.
What a lovely post! Great yoga with chairs; I will absolutely try that myself. Beautiful surroundings to inspire yoga and reflection. I enjoyed being informed about the monastery floors, they look comfortable and the clean smell would be very welcoming! Thanks for sharing Don’s mantra. Words to live by.
Thanks! Yes, sweet smell of grass comes with tatami mats. And chair yoga rocks. I’ll be sure to include a few future posts featuring different ways to use a chair in yoga. Happy Thanksgiving!