Charleston Yogi

On Saturday, November 21, I attended a yoga workshop at Atmah Ja’s, The Art of Core Consciousness, yoga/massage studio and art gallery.   The workshop was titled “The Alchemy of Silk,” and was designed to inspire the potential to experience the abundant and ever infinite dream texture in which we exist.

I first discovered The Art of Core Consciousness in early October during one of my favorite Charleston events, the French Quarter Art Walk.  When I stepped into the studio for the first time, I immediately felt a striking presence spinning about the room.  The studio is a fantastic space, and features the beautiful artwork of Iamikan.  In many of his pieces, Iamikan uses oil and acrylics in such a way that the material seems to remain in its liquid form, surging with energy behind its glass coat.  His pieces are quite unique to the Charleston area–or to anything I’ve ever seen, for that matter–and possess an immense amount of livelihood.

In speaking with Atmah Ja, the creator of The Art of Core Consciousness, I discovered that in addition to art and massage, the studio offers yoga.  Atmah Ja created the space to share her passion for these three mediums and to offer courses from a rich and varied yoga practice, stemming from her world travel and intermingling with many awakened beings.  Now as a seasoned art enthusiast, and a somewhat new (but so eager to grow) yogi, I was thrilled by this opportunity to experience the two at once, where I imagined one could thrive and expand through the other, enhancing the experience of each. 

Early into Saturday morning’s “Alchemy” experience, Atmah Ja made sure that all of the participants got to know each other and went on to say, “What happens in the alchemy of a yoga workshop is the opportunity to experience oneself in a collective-connective consciousness. We are all linked through a unified force as we come together with an intention and just as it takes a mere thread to hold together silk, there is a thread that connects all beings.   She shared, “It is not the yoga itself that is the catalyst… but rather what the yoga opens inside of us to explore and expand.  It is in that place of silence in the meditative mind, that the infinite lies.”

Now every yogi has their niche in yoga, and over the past 6 months I have come to find mine in power vinyasa flow.  But what I discovered on Saturday is the importance of venturing out of your “box” and changing your pace; your routine.  In Atmah Ja’s class, we moved at a slower pace, but held poses for much longer than I’m used to.  We did so in order to observe the energy as it travels through the body.  I was able to find a strength in familiar poses that I didn’t know existed.  And of course, I was introduced to new movements that I am happy to add to my practice.

But Atmah Ja’s experience is not souly about the movement, but emphasizes reflection, discovery, and empowering the consciousness.

Atmah Ja has a beautiful way with words and meditation, and I would like to share with you some of the reflection she shared with us:

“Our thoughts are like radio waves.”  Though people cannot hear our thoughts, our thoughts, attitudes and intentions are vibrations that can be felt by others and are always being sent and received through our “antenna”.  It is through each thought transmission that we create our reality.

“We were birthed by our own desire to live, love and play and by that desire, or thought, we created ourselves into existence and continue to rebirth ourselves based on that which is unfulfilled.”

“This is your canvas, your life, use the brush of imagination to paint it as you will.  Express yourself with passion and purpose, thereby nourishing in the substantive well of infinite creative bliss, that is your birth right..

In addition to the internal reflection and self-discovery I found during Atmah Ja’s workshop, I found connection between yoga and art–the thread I had hoped to discover in this particular space on that beautiful Southern fall morning.  Just as in art, yoga is imaginative.  It pulls from a deep place within you. Both practices challenge you to pull this beauty and energy you find in your heart and mind and bring it into the physical world through movement or creation, which can then be shared with others. 

If you missed out on The Alchemy of Silk, it’s not too late–Atmah Ja will lead a follow-up workshop on Saturday, December 12 at 9:30 am.  Registration is required, so check out www.atmahjas.com for more information.

I’ve subbed quite a few classes over the years and have been quite surprised when the students were asked what yoga was.  They answered “Postures; a way to relax; a snack made from fermented milk and bacteria cultures?”  It’s difficult sometimes to determine the true purpose of doing something.  “I’m working at _____________to get money for rent, kids, to make the world a better place, to get out of the house, etc”.

There are many reasons for doing something.  The practices of yoga, however, spells it out for us: yoga=union.  śrī Brahmananda Saraswati defines yoga as “The state of missing nothing.”  Once we unite things we are no longer able to tell them apart.  Through the consistent application of the principles of yoga, we will find that happiness and peace extend beyond our daily yoga class, perhaps beyond the gross physical into the subtle energetic, emotional, and mental.  So if that is your purpose for practicing yoga, read on.

We may practice asana.  Asana purifies karma: past actions.  The process then requires us not to create the same karma we purged ourselves of.  Otherwise, it is like going to the gym and burning 500 calories, then immediately eating a snack which contains 500 calories.  We don’t get anywhere.  We want to purify more karma than we create, or at least create less harmful karma. ie: by eating vegetables instead of other sentient beings.  How can we expect to reach a state of union, eternal bliss, when we deprive others of happiness by seeing them as ours to eat?  It’s no coincidence that yoga practitioners who adopt a vegetarian diet are more flexible than meat eaters.

śrī K. Pattabhi Jois, the aṣṭāṇga yoga guru, when questioned on the subject of meat eating and yoga:
Questioner: “Some yoga teachers say that a vegetarian diet is not necessary.”
Guruji: (laughing) “Oh… a new method!”
Q: “Many Indians and Westerners eat meat.”
Guruji: ”They are not practicing yoga.  Meat eating makes you stiff.”
Q: “What is the most important Yogic practice in this time?”
Guruji:  “Vegetarian diet is the most important practice for Yoga.”

महर्षि पतञ्जलि योग सूत्र ।१।
अहिंसा प्रतिष्ठायां तत् संनिधौ वैर त्यागः॥३५॥
Maharṣi Patañjali Yoga Sūtra |1|
ahiṁsā pratiṣṭhāyāṁ tat saṁnidhau vaira tyāgaḥ ||35||
When in the presence of one firmly established in non violence, all hostilities cease.

If we have not yet reached the goal of yoga and still perceive others, the Yama are guidelines as to how we must treat them to maintain the serenity of our minds.  Master Patañjali gives the first limb of the eight limbed path of Yoga as Yama: that which we do to others.  Ahimsa, or non-harming, is the first practice of the first limb.

All our yoga practices must, if we still believe in the goal of yoga, be based upon a solid scriptural source.  We cannot simply create or disregard that which is inconvenient.  If I wish to bake a chocolate cake (vegan, of course) I cannot leave out the sugar simply because I don’t have it.  The result will not be the same as if I used it.  These sutra are also commonly translated and manipulated to suit us: “I practice ahimsa toward myself, I don’t want to hurt myself, so I eat meat.”  What!?  Meat itself is harmful, both spiritually, as our bodies become the graves of murdered beings, and physically, as our bodies are not suited for meat consumption.  Further, there is no nutrient necessary to our survival that can only be gained from the consumption of meat.

Master Patañjali gives the first two limbs as: Yama-Restraints, that which we do to others and Niyama-Observances, that which we do to ourselves ie: cleanliness, contentment…  After introducing each Yama specifically ie. ahiṁsā, he then gives the benefit to the sadhak (spiritual practitioner) pratiṣṭhāyāṁ tat saṁnidhau vaira tyāgaḥ.  This would be redundant if the Yama were indeed practices we do to ourselves.  With this in mind we could turn it into the negative:  One who is firmly established in violence or who causes violence to be performed will continuously encounter violence.
 
The Ethic of Reciprocity states “Do not do to others what you would not like to be done to you.”  This is actually an evolution of the commonly known Golden Rule.  Every wisdom tradition has a similar version.

We get closer to Yoga when we realize that if we do something to another it will eventually come back to us. Keeping this in mind we strive to practice compassion in our food choices by choosing not to contribute to the suffering of others.  We attain Yoga when we realize there are no others.

We may not practice Asana every day but we eat every day, sometimes more than once.  Our fork can be a weapon of mass destruction.

ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्तिः
om śānti śānti śāntiḥ

Mark Knowles
Certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher
www.bahamayogi.com
843.991.2272

The Sprout, An Organic Café does it one Sprout Burger at a Time

by Georgia Schrubbe

posted by Caroline Brennan

Some people don’t really think about what they’re eating or where it came from. Even when we make a choice that is bad for us, we eat it because it’s convenient, not stopping to consider it clogging our arteries and contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer.

   Luckily, there is an accessible alternative in the vegan, organic, raw, and sustainable options of the recently opened Sprout Café.

   Accessible through the doors of Seeking Indigo on 445 King or around the corner on 7 Radcliffe, The Sprout is a little grab-and-go vegan café sprouted from its parent café in Mount Pleasant.

   Owner Mickey Brennan has set up shop at the Marion Square Farmer’s Market every Saturday with enthusiastic patrons, so he decided to plant a permanent Sprout in downtown Charleston.

   “Getting into that space primarily was to just see how everybody would receive it. We plan on expanding…It’s more of a little sprout- It’s going to sprout bigger,” says Brennan.

   Brennan feels confident that The Sprout will be well received because of the distinctiveness of the fare, and The Sprout’s commitment to sustainability and organic, locally produced ingredients.

  “We’re something different to the market. You can go anywhere and get shrimp and grits or a burger, but where else can you go to get a casein, gluten-free vegan entrée?” Brennan says.

   These entrees are not the bland, gray tofu-pretending-to-be-meat options typically associated with vegans, but instead creative combinations of vegetables and punchy flavors that make you forget that what you’re eating hasn’t even been cooked.

   One of Brennan’s specialties is The Sprout Burger, a spicy patty made of ginger, walnut, and portabella mushrooms, topped with a puree of jalapenos, tamari, red onions, carrots and peppers, all on a bun made of “sprouted” grains. The Burger is unexpectedly punchy and filling, even though it is completely raw and doesn’t have gluten, casein, wheat, soy, or dairy.

  The Sprout also serves a raw version of Pad Thai, with noodles constructed out of zuchinni and carrot spirals and covered with the Sprout’s vegan version of a pungent peanut sauce.

   Still skeptical? Brennan encourages everyone to step outside of his or her culinary comfort zone and give the Sprout a chance.

   “I only make food that I like. It’s going to taste good, you just have to give it a try,” he says.

   With almost everything on the menu under $10, trying out the Sprout won’t break the bank, and it will help contribute to the Sprout’s mission of raising the level of health in the world!

   “The object of our business when we set out was not to make a million dollars. It was to improve the life and the health of the world, and that is what we do” says Brennan.

   So next time you are tempted to settle for food that is not good to the earth or your body, head instead to The Sprout for an organic Harvest Burrito packaged in a 100 % biodegradable and compostable container and raise your glass of kombucha to the health of the world.

www.thehealthysprout.com