Jules Febre celebrating 25 years Svaha Yoga

Januari 19th til 21st Jules will be back @Svaha Yoga for a weekend full of joy. We are preparing!

All events take place at the Jordaan studio/Willemsstraat 133,

✨Friday January 19th Open Jivamukti class (all levels) 5.30 - 7.30pm WAITLIST ONLY

✨Saturday January 20th Hip Hop Asana workshop (all levels) 3.30-6pm. Sign up: info@svahayoga.com

✨Saturday January 20th Kirtan/Satsang 7-8.30pm. Walk-in (no need to sign up beforehand). Minimum donation 10EUR. Door opens 6.30pm.

✨Sunday January 21st Backbending workshop 3.30-5.30pm. Sign up: info@svahayoga.com

For more info or to sign up: info@svahayoga.com

The value of community: Remove the illusory gap 

As you sit down on your yoga mat.. there is the tendency to immediately close the eyes and turn in. But for once.. please look around, with your eyes wide open. Notice the value of community. Notice the people around you.

‘’The eye can see what we have in common or focus on what keeps us apart. And the heart can feel what joins us with everything or replay its many cuts. And the tongue can praise the wind or warn against the storm. It can praise the sea of dread the floods. It’s not that there are no differences – the world is made of infinite variety – rather it is the fearing of differences – that keeps us from feeling grace. Paradoxically everything in life touches the same centre through its uniqueness – the way no two souls are the same, though every soul breathes the same air’’.

Mark Nepo wrote this in his book ‘’The book of awaking’’ that he wrote during his battle with cancer.

So, as you sit on your mat, relax your heart, breathe deeply.  You know, I’ve cried so deeply these last weeks. During Christmas I couldn’t stop crying anymore. I was frustrated and angry. I wanted the bullshit to stop, the fire to cease. I guess I ruined Christmas for my family members around me, with my torment.. I texted the wise friend about my despair. He said; ‘Rejoice the fact that you cry – if we wouldn’t in the face of current wounds of our fellow humans – who are we? What is left of us?’

Everything that removes the illusory gap between you and all those around you – is spiritual. When we fall into the illusion that one creation is better than the other – we enter the minds worst disease  - the endless deciding between want and don’t want – the endless war between for and against. In the Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali this disease is referred to as Raga and Dvesha as the effects of Avidya or ignorance.

My friend made me realize that all I have is the gift to be fully open. To let life touch me – to empathize. Not to numb, not to walk away, not to wash my hands in innocence ánd not to wallow in pity. Just to let life touch me and trust that the heart is big enough to hold it all. To empathize as my motor for knowing and living truth. 

The Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield shares: ‘’Even the most exalted states and the most exceptional spiritual accomplishments are unimportant if we cannot touch one another and the life we have been given with our hearts. In undertaking a spiritual life, what matters is simple: We must make certain that our path is connected with our heart. In the end, spiritual life is not a process of seeking or gaining some extraordinary condition or special powers. In fact, such seeking can take us away from ourselves. If we are not careful, we can easily find the great failures of our modern society—its ambition, materialism, and individual isolation—repeated in our spiritual life. In beginning a genuine spiritual journey, we have to stay much closer to home, to focus directly on what is right here in front of us, to make sure that our path is connected with our deepest love.

When people come to the end of their lives and look back, the questions that they most often ask are not usually, “How much is in my bank account?” or “How many books did I write?” or “What did I build?” or the like. If you have the privilege of being with a person who is conscious at the time of their death, you find the questions such a person asks are very simple, “Did I love well?” “Did I live fully?” “Did I learn to let go?”

These simple questions go to the very core of spiritual life. When we consider loving well and living fully, we can see the ways our attachments and fears have limited us, and we can see the many opportunities for our hearts to open. Have we let ourselves love the people around us, our family, our community, the earth upon which we live? And, did we also learn to let go? Did we learn to live through the changes of life with grace, wisdom, and compassion? Have we learned to shift from the clinging mind to the joy of freedom?

We must look at the values we have chosen to live by. Where do we put our time, our strength, our creativity, our love? We must look at our life without sentimentality, exaggeration, or idealism. Does what we are choosing reflect what we most deeply value? If we are still and listen deeply, even for a moment, we will know if we are following a path with heart. All other spiritual teachings are in vain if we cannot love. Even the most exalted states and the most exceptional spiritual accomplishments are unimportant if, we cannot touch one another and the life we have been given.

So, what matters is what we see and how we live. Ask yourself concerning the year that has past “Did I love well?” “Did I live fully?” “Did I learn to let go?” And let it be your guide for the year to come. For our passionate engagement in life. Keep opening up. Letting things in. Move. Protest. Care. Everything that removes the illusory gap between you and all those around you – is spiritual.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

Much warmth, 

Ida and All SvahaYoga staff

Dear Yogis and friends,

Why it is best to get your own “flying carpet.”

We want to encourage you to get your own mat and bring it to class. So it becomes your own H(OM)E base away from your hermitage. Bring your own energy field with you. We don’t have to tell you about smelly mats, hygiene and things like that. Specially the practise of Hatha Yoga, infused with Bhakti as we like to teach class, is a dedicated and energetic practise of intentional stillness and vibration. Also keep in Mind that some of the Yogic scriptures like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika give clear instructions on where and how to practise Hatha Yoga if serious and dedicated. This month we have the Hatha Yoga Pradipika as focus of the month; so this why, where and how will also come up in class.

But in a nutshell.

• The practise of Hatha Yoga should be practised before sunrise. Good in Dutch winters.
• The practise should be done by oneself. Sounds like self practise.
• The practise should be done at the same time of day, everyday. Like we have a life like that!
• The practise should be done in a small room with no windows and cleaned with cow menure. Now there you have something. We just have to settle for the Winter cleaning coming up with freshly painted walls.
• BUT; what we can offer ourselves away from our hermitage is our own energy filled flying carpet, on which we sit, move, pray, reflect and deal with all we have to deal with. May our own Spiritual launch platform be a safe landing space.

To make it even more easy for you we will sell Yoga mats and waterproof mat bags for sale on a non profit base. Oh and the money we collect for renting out studio mats we will donate away to a good cause like always.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

with Kamini Desai, PhD, IAYT Accredited Yoga Therapist

Former Director of Amrit Yoga Institute’s IAYT Accredited 800hr Yoga Therapy Program

For movement teachers and body-mind practitioners: Learn specific techniques of yoga therapy for deep psychosomatic release.

“Innovative and profound.”

“Bridges the gap between Yoga and Psychology.”

“Science of Yoga and Energy.”

“Immediately relevant, useful and applicable.”

This profound and innovative course takes Yoga Therapy to a deeper level. Learn specific and immediately useful tools to release trapped psychosomatic patterns and free the body’s innate healing potential. Presented in an applicable and relatable way, teachings on esoteric understanding of energy are combined with practical tools and practices. Body-based facilitation & coaching techniques can be applied with or without yoga poses in one-on-one private sessions or applied to any style of yoga, life coaching, therapy or bodywork that you offer.

For sign up email to: info@svahayoga.com

Yoga Therapy I In-Person: April 18-21, 2024

9am-5.30pm, ending Sunday by 3pm (1 hour lunchbreak)

Besides powerful facilitation techniques, you will learn how to guide poses at the wall and with props to release and reprogram unhelpful physical, mental and emotional patterns. Yoga Therapy I can stand on its own or you may use your hours to go on to Yoga Therapy II where you will learn hands-on techniques of Yoga Therapy. This course is taught by Kamini Desai and assisted by a senior teacher.

Yoga Therapy II In-Person: May 1-5, 2024

8.30am-5.30pm daily ending Sunday by 1.30pm (1 hour lunchbreak)

Learn how to physically support and assist your client – removing effort and maximizing opening in various yoga poses. Support yourself and others to increase range of motion, reduce pain and inflammation, heal burnout and improve mental and physical wellbeing not only from the outside in, but from the inside out! While Yoga Therapy I is available to everyone, Yoga Therapy II is only recommended for those with a moderate level of health and strength.  Completion of Yoga Therapy I is a requirement for participation in Yoga Therapy II.

Yoga Therapy I:

You will learn:

•    Yogic theory of energy & healing

•    How to conduct a body scan & assess the results

Lead an individual session or group yoga therapy class that addresses common holding zones in the body

•    Step by step instructions to guide unique yoga therapy coaching techniques

•    Address spiritual bypassing and other pitfalls with our unique integration model

•    Use chakras as a map to identify gaps in personal maturation and self-actualization

•    Healthfully integrate and release emotions for yourself and others

•    Ideal for online sessions & hands-on limitations

Yoga Therapy II:

I AM Yoga Therapy II is a continuation of I AM Yoga Therapy I.

·         You will learn:
Advanced hands-on assisted posture techniques

·         Four sequences to address the most common holding zones in the body

·         Facilitation techniques to enhance the effect of physical poses & support emotional integration

·         Elements from contact yoga, yogassage, phoenix rising yoga therapy, thai yoga therapy and traditional yoga styles to promote total body opening

·         Ideas for chair Yoga Therapy

·         Basic principles and precautions of Yoga Therapy for scoliosis and other common conditions

·         How to put together a full 6 limbed yoga therapy session

Who is this for?

In addition to promoting your personal development, this training is excellent for yoga teachers, psychologists, counselors, health and healing professionals, and bodyworkers in search of new tools to serve their clients. Yoga Therapists are increasingly working in pain clinics, and in conjunction with doctors, chiropractors, physiotherapists, physical therapists, senior treatments centers and rehabilitation clinics.

What does it include?

Both Yoga Therapy I and II include a detailed digital manual and reference videos.

How Can I Use My Hours?

• You may use Yoga Therapy I hours to continue on to Yoga Therapy II to become a 100hr Yoga Therapy practitioner upon completion of homework and 8 documented sessions.
• Completion of Yoga Therapy I and II allows you to become a member of IAYT (The International Association of Yoga Therapists).
• If you are already a member of IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists), this course may used towards continuing education hours
• Hours count towards Amrit Yoga Institute’s800 hour yoga therapy program

Homework:

For those going on to Yoga Therapy II you will need to complete the following homework:

•          practice 3 yoga therapy classes

How to sign up?

E-mail to: info@svahayoga.com

What is the price?

Yoga Therapy I: 699EUR

Yoga Therapy II: 799EUR

When you sign up for both the total price will be 1398EUR (-100EUR reduction)

Recommended Reading and Reference:

Suggested preparatory reading:

• Eugene Gendlin Focusing

Recommended for future reference:

• Ken Dychtwald Body Mind

Short Biography of the Teacher

Learn more about Kamini Desai, Ph.D at

Kamini Desai, is the author of: Yoga Nidra The Art of Transformational Sleep, Life Lessons Love Lessons and developer of the I AM Yoga Nidra app. For the past 30 years Kamini has created a unique body of teachings combining ancient Yogic wisdom with science and psychology. Considered an expert in the science of Yoga Therapy, Yoga Nidra and artful living, her practical and accessible teaching style has been welcomed worldwide. Kamini’s corporate clients have included Bahamas Princess Resorts, Kellogg’s, KEDS, SONY, and Mars Confectionary among others. Kamini Desai PhD is the daughter of one of the original yoga masters to pioneer yoga practice in the west in the 1960s. In 2013 she was awarded the title “Yogeshwari” in recognition for her keen ability to bring ancient illumination to the genuine challenges of the human experience. For more information visit https://www.kaminidesai.com/

Dear Yogi

as of August 1st we have a new online only membership for € 50. per month.

Included in this online only membership:

• Every Sunday night you will receive the links to the upcoming live online classes from the Jordaan studio.
• You will receive the links to the Zoom morning sessions.
• You will get access to the online library.
• Great advantage is that you can join live or do the classes or Zoom sessions later.
• The past links will be available to you for at least two weeks.

You can join the online only membership one time for a month only. If you like to continue then the membership runs for a minimum of three months and is payable by Bank draft (automatische incasso). Memberships start only on the first day of the month.

If you want more info send a mail to: info@svahayoga.com

If you want to sign up send a mail to: shukram@svahayoga.com

The body always speaks to us. Learn to listen with Yoga Therapy.

All stress and tension is stored in the body. This can be tension of a mental, emotional or purely physical nature. Sometimes some of that physical, mental or emotional ‘stuff’ can come up during a yoga class and you might feel this needs some more attention than can be offered in a group setting. Or maybe you are dealing with an injury or illness and you would like to explore how yoga could aid your recovery or how it could be a complement to other treatments you may require. 

A 1-on-1 session might help you restore the body, aid a recovery process of an injury or illness, release deeply seated tension and understand and decode the messages of your body.

Svaha Yoga has several skilled Yoga Therapy facilitators who would love to work with you and cater to your bodies’ needs. 

All Yoga Therapy facilitators work independently, so please contact them directly for bookings:

• Barbara: b.van.norden@gmail.com / 06-2895 2117
• Fleur: fleur@cosmicflow.nl / www.cosmicflow.nl
• Ida: idastuij@gmail.com / 06-24140163
• Marieke M: Mariekemeulenbeld@gmail.com / 06-23896744 
• Merdan: merdan@greenman.care /www.greenman.care 
  
• Norman: normankouwenhoven@gmail.com / 06-15163161 
• or: info@svahayoga.com   

Pricing of 1-on-1 Yoga Therapy sessions are:

• 60 minutes: 75 EUR
• 90 minutes: 90 EUR

We try our best to keep these sessions accessible for all. A price reduction is possible for people with a small budget. 

The word Bhakti means devotion. It is the path of the heart. Svaha Yoga is actually a really ‘Bhaktified’ yoga community I would say. Practises that are part of the Bhakti path are; chanting kirtan and puja (offering) but we can also express Bhakti in dynamic practical ways such as showing kindness to others, caring for the environment and its inhabitants. By caring and trying to see all as sacred we empty ourselves of judgement and meet all as no different, no less, no more than ourselves. 

The monkey-god Hanuman is known as “the Greatest Bhakta’’.  Hanuman teaches us about the transformative power of love. When we love others, we step outside of our isolated selves and into a deeper relationship with those around us. As we love – we discover a part in ourselves that is connected, courageous, and capable of far more than we ever thought possible. So therefore Hanuman is also associated of power and courage. 

Hanuman is not a monkey for nothing. The monkey is a symbol for the ‘monkey mind’: The mind that is restless and uncontrollable. But through training, the mind can be tamed. Through spiritual practise and effort - We align thoughts, words and actions with a higher purpose. We become more attracted to the idea of contributing to the welfare of others and living a life of  kindness and service on our own path to freedom.  

The mind that worries, stresses and thinks in loops takes up a lot of our energy. It’s just constantly distracted, going here and there. Our collective addiction to our mobile phones can be seen as an extension of that distracted mind. Have you ever felt depleted after a day off physically not doing anything? It’s that mental depletion lots of us are familiar with. There is a saying: ‘’Where  attention goes energy flows’’. So when all attention goes to those worries and thoughts, it takes up so much energy. By quieting and steadying the mind through the practise of Yoga, we can start to actually feel and sense the body. Energy can start to move through the whole system, to nourish and heal the body. That is the first shift that can be felt through the practise of Yoga: a sense of quietness in the mind and health in the body. When this energy is freed up and the body returns back to its natural state of health and balance, this movement of energy can even take us back to its’ original source and we can rest in deeper states of stillness.

Hanuman is one of the greatest heroes in yogic mythology and you can read about him in the Ramayana. The Ramayana can be red through many lenses. You might read it as a beautiful story or as an inspiration in terms of virtue and good conduct. But, same with the Bible or the Koran or other holy scriptures, we can also read it through a different lens. We can read it as a mirror of our psychological and spiritual development. For me, then all a sudden it becomes a living truth that I can sense in my own system, my own body, happening right now at this very moment. So here it comes:

‘Ra’ means light, ‘Ma’ means within me, in my heart. So, Rama means the light within me. Rama was born to Dasharath & Kousalya. Dasharath means the ‘Ten Chariots’. The ‘Ten Chariots’ symbolize the five senses (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling) & five organs of action (hands, feet, speech, excretory and reproductive organs). Kousalya means ‘Skill’. So, the skillfull rider of the ten chariots can give birth to Ram. Or, when my senses are controlled and my actions purified, radiance is born within me. Rama was born in Ayodhya. Ayodhya means ‘a place where no war can happen’. When there is no conflict in my mind, then radiance can down. 

And let’s go on a little bit more: The soul is Rama, The mind is Sita, The breath or life-force (Prana) is Hanuman, the awareness is Laxman (the brother of Ram) and the ego is Ravana (the demon king that abducts Sita). Now here it comes: When my mind (Sita),is stolen by my ego (Ravana), then the soul (Rama) gets restless and longs for union with my mind and my mind longs for union with the soul. Now the soul (Rama) cannot reach my mind (Sita) on its own. It has to take the help of the breath — Prana (Hanuman). With the help of the breath (Hanuman) & awareness (Laxman), my mind (Sita) gets reunited with the soul (Rama) and my ego (Ravana) surrenders.

Still following? We can view the Ramayana as an eternal phenomenon happening all the time, in our own system! Now if we do so, how can we practically apply that in our day to day life? 

I was watching a very intimate talk on the meaning of hanuman to our western society by Ram Dass. When he was already very ill, not long before he died. And he mentioned something so beautiful: 

‘’If the world is full of blackness and you feel the strong urge to do something about it. ‘Stop there for a moment’. Delve into your being, make contact with the breath and with your heart. First be and then do. Being is ‘Ram’ inside of us. When we connect with being we can radiate love, compassion, peace and joy. Just radiate. Rub off your connection with that inner being. That ís helping society. Lighten up the space around you. That light is spiritual light. Become a mirror to others to let them recognise being within them. First be, then do.’’

We encounter so many people and situations every day. And every time life asks of us that shift of perception that Ram Dass describes. That slowing down, that meeting situations in our life with openness, instead of through the lens of our own narrowed view. It’s seems to me that life is not so much about what comes to us, but about how we are with what comes to us. So next time you are in an argument with your lover or your boss or your child or whomever. Are you able to widen your perspective? Can you step into the others shoes and shift back to your own, even be in all the shoes at the same time? Can you take a breath, quiet the mind, open the heart and let action happen from that place of openness.

When Rama asks Hanuman, “How do you look upon me?” hanuman replies: “When I believe I am the body, then I am your faithful servant. When I know I am the soul, I know myself to be a spark of your eternal Light. And when I have the vision of truth, you and I, my Lord, are one and the same.”

So much is said in this one sentence. This one sentence, I would argue, describes our whole development through the practise of yoga. It reminds me of the eightfold path of Patanjali. First there is the effort towards good conduct. It’s an effort, an active practise to prepare the system (Yama, Niyama; Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana). Then there is the getting familiar with the tasting of stillness, absorption states, tastings of the divine within ourselves (Dyana) and lastly there is the full merging, the resting in the ocean of divinity, there is no more separation (Samadhi).

Hanuman, the great monkey God of the Ramayana is a symbol of the mind that has become disciplined and filled with devotion. Hanuman is the evolved state of our unruly mind that constantly jumps from thought to thought. This mind is fully focused on the presence of the divine within all and acts from that knowing. Hanuman ís the embodiment of the expression ‘Love all, serve all’’. 

And the story of Hanuman is the story of ourselves.

Ida Stuij, teacher at SvahaYoga, psycholigist 

“Joy is not about feeling good its about feeling everything" 

We will travel on our breath through our mental and emotional obstructions stored in our bodies. We’ll learn to accept all as part of us which makes us humble and so beautiful. It can make our sorrow lose its force and it will become our building stones for true peace.

This evening we make a circle to connect with ourselves again, with each other and with all. We start with an introduction in which we explain the connective breathing technique. There is time for questions. After some simple exercises to open and connect with the body we go through a 30 - 45 minute breath work session and a 15 - 20 minutes integration time. Afterwards there is time to share, drink tea and eat something.

Please wear comfy clothing, you can bring your favorite blanket, perhaps a sheepskin, a water bottle and warm socks. We have blankets available as well.
Garmt and Barbara will make sure that you will be guided safely into the present moment.

For any questions regarding your safety or curiosity, please do not hesitate to contact us.

info@svahayoga.com

would like to wish all of you a wonderful magical cozy Christmas. It has been a tumultuous year, but hey, is it ever any different one may wonder? What is most important is to keep your peace in the midst of it all, and this is of course why it is so important to stay on the point with yoga practice. Be happy, healthy, safe and peaceful. #christmas #christmas2022 #bestwishes #love #yoga #yogaamsterdam #svahayoga #svahayogamsterdam #svahayoganl #loveallserveall #vinyasaflow #vinyasayoga #yogalife #yogainspiration #amsterdamyogis #amsterdamyogi #amsterdam #ashtanga #atmansurvives #lessdramamorerama #tiktokSvahaYoga