| Chapter Title |
Excerpt from Chapter -- first sentence |
| Fore word |
Where is Mark Whitwell coming from? |
| Introduction |
Understanding comes from the dialogue between sincere people. |
| Where am I coming From? ... My Mother! |
I want to tell you, my mother, Joan was seriously ill. |
| The Hridayayoga: The Heart Yoga Sutra |
This Sutra is a map to show you where you are going with Yoga of Heart. |
| Mutuality, the Form of Life |
All of the polarities of life are interwoven and meet each other at many levels like the multiple merging triangles of a yantra or "heart Lotus". |
| PART ONE: TALKS ON GETTING IT RIGHT |
| Talk One: Yogis are not built on assembly lines! |
Life comes as mutual opposites in union. |
| Talk Two: The Whole Story |
In case you do not want to study yoga endlessly, here is a total view. Yoga is both the relaxation and participation in your own life. It is not information gathering. |
| Talk Three: You are Here Now! |
This is a simple argument. It is easier than easy ... |
| Talk Four: Yoga of Life |
Good yoga teachers teach with care, giving practical help for the sheer love of helping. |
| Talk Five: Yoga Is Relationship |
Authentic yoga begins only when the mind has finished with this illogical activity of trying to know life when we already are life, or trying to know something that is other than life, so removing us from life. |
| Talk Six: The Human Transmission |
If you can breathe,you can do yoga! |
| Talk Seven: Alive As Life! |
Once again ... we are okay as is! |
| Talk Eight: No Steps To Be Taken |
There is some solace or temporary relief in the paths of return. |
| Talk Nine: Do Your Yoga Sadhana (That which can be done) |
Yoga can be defined as mastery of desire, not the suppression of desire. |
| Talk Ten: Life's Male/Female Equation |
The male doctrine-holders have upheld for centuries their paths of transcendence of this world. |
| Talk Eleven: Yoga of Heart |
How can we teach Yoga of Heart with heart. |
| Talk Twelve: You Are Here Now! |
To recap! When you stop bullying yourself into trying to get somewhere or realize something, you relax into your natural state. |
| Part Two |
| Yoga Unhooked |
The great explosion of popular music has arisen from our need to feel something authentic in life. |
| Ordinary Buddhas |
In the world of spiritual attainment we are given super models such as great enlightened Buddhas. |
| Restoring Intimacy |
Love is not sex. However, human beings can feel and express their intrinsic union and one life through sex. |
| Secrets of Regenerative Intimacy |
Do your loving. If the purpose of life is to love as the whole body, it is vital that we actually do that. |
| Procreation |
Sarah and Vishal were a typical "upwardly mobile" couple. |
| A Note on Teachers |
As with other personal yoga practices that require care, the help of a good teacher gives us a great advantage. |
| The Sacred Texts |
Through time to the present, people have been reporting their experience or attempting to make sense of others' experience through written or other communication mechanisms. |
| Tantra, Mantra, Yantra: The Yantra of the Whole Body |
It can be said that there is power in ancient systems, myths and symbols because they have been used for thousands of years and have gathered power over the centuries. |
| Puja and Personal Ritual |
Although culture has given elaboration to the energy centers it is best not to attribute too much meaning, name and description to them. |
| Mantra |
Sound or mantra may accompany this acknowledgment and serve to bring attention to particular areas or aspects of the living system. |
| Yoga and Religion |
Yoga has always been transmitted across cultural and language borders from ancient times to the present. |
| Part Three |
| Yoga for any Body, but not just any Yoga! |
Learning to be sensitive to your needs in yoga is a wonderful adventure. |
| Principles of Asana and Pranayama Practice |
It is necessary to observe and understand a student's situation to design an appropriate yoga practice for her. |
| STHIRA AND SUKHA |
Sthirasukham asanam (YS II.46). With this brief and famous sutra, Patanjali gives us the qualities of an effective asana practice. |
| Teach Yoga as You Have Experienced it |
Teach yoga as you have experienced it yourself -- not as it applies to you but as it applies to the other person. |
| Examples of Classical Asana |
A useful model to ensure that asana is adapted appropriately to the needs of individuals, to consider classical asanas and how they may be modified to be effective. |
| Adaptations, Variations and Vinyasa |
The following is not in any way prescriptive; it is merely an example of possibilities. |
| Pranayama |
There is no linear concept in the development of the gifts or limbs of yoga. |
| Alternate Nostril PRANAYAMA |
There is ujjayi pranayama, with the sound of the breath at the throat, and alternate nostril pranayama, where the control and sound of the breath is at the nostrils. |
| Technical Matters |
Pranayama is considered a cleansing process by increasing the heat in the body. |
| Rapid Breathing and Pulsing |
There is rapid breathing pranayama, such as bhastrika, with alternate nostril, and kapalabhati, using a strong pulsing from the abdomen, to move the breath. |
| Energy Paths and Relationship |
The ancients reported seventy-two thousand nadis or pathways where life energy flows in support of the whole body. |
| Brahmacharya |
These practices are entirely secondary to the principal practice of intimacy. |
| Dance |
To move the body to rhythm is a very effective way of acknowledging and feeling the mutualities of life. |
| Diet and the Extreme Intelligence of Life |
A fundamental problem for society is excess consumption. |
| Bandha and Tapas (removing what is not needed) |
From the outset we have been developing the breath cycle, gently and at times with more strength in a way that approximates the technique we call bandha, channel or lock. |
| Part Four |
| Meditation |
Meditation, or dhyana as it is classically defined in the Yogasutra, is a merging with perceived experience. |
| Afterword |
11 Sept. 2002 After years of studying the popular systems of yoga, I had managed to achieve discipline, focus and physical prowess. Yet I was still unhappy. |
| Glossary |
adhomukha svanasana: downward dog pose...yogini: female who has realized yoga |
| Illustration Sources |
The following have kindly provided photographs, illustrations or art: |
| Song and Poem Sources |
"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" by Bob Dylan. |
