The idea of “conscious education” is emerging on the educational horizon – and it’s doing so in a rapid and inspiring fashion. Various full-time schools, informal education sectors and community upliftment projects are integrating a holistic approach to teaching in order to meet the needs of a new generation of children – and the world

Most notable in conscious education are the core features that seem to be shared. Learning is student-centred, with the unique inner potential of each child being activated by experiential learning. Inclusive approaches to culture, religion and temperament eliminate the distraction of separation and foster universal priorities of humanity and environment. The child’s overall wellbeing is the nucleus of education with a focus on their vitality, inner awareness and harmonious placement within community and nature.

As holistic awareness permeates these new projects and institutions, the very definition of intelligence is also shifting quickly. Recognizing multiple intelligences means children are encouraged to express, integrate and develop a myriad of intelligence tributaries.

Assessments, if any, are more qualitative than quantitative, and competition is a natural and enjoyable by-product of learning activities and no longer a driving motivation for achieving. Intra and interpersonal collaboration is proving to be a more effective fuel for sustainable motivation and community progress, while eliminating the “stress factor”.

Above all, new initiatives are inclined towards a joyful living experience of learning and inspiring the child’s heart. The learning process is seen increasingly as the substance of life itself, and not a preparation for some future life goals. Here we look at some of the older and newer educational structures presently in place at schools.

MONTESSORI AND WALDORF EDUCATION
The first sustainable signs of conscious education emerged about 100 years ago. Dr Maria Montessori and Dr Rudolf Steiner birthed Montessori and Waldorf schools respectively, and the fact that both streams are thriving and expanding internationally, a century later, is testament to their value.

THE MONTESSORI METHOD
Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952) was a paediatrician, professor of anthropology and culture and a pioneer of humanitarian work in the field of child education. She initiated her first school for some 50 hopelessly deprived ghetto children in Italy in 1907. “The Children’s House” emphasized the child-centred approach and captured enormous attention worldwide. Today, Montessori schooling educates from infant until matriculation, although in practice, most commonly runs until Grade 8.

Age mixing is a unique feature of the Montessori classroom approach. In a developmental group, spanning a few years each, there is a multi-age mix of students. A relatively large group of children share one classroom. Montessori posits that this benefits the holistic health of the child, since the setting becomes a more natural social environment and allows greater flexibility for students – older children stimulate younger ones, becoming role models to them; younger children have older peers to emulate.

Equally unique in the Montessori approach is the mode of learning and skills acquisition. The classroom is designed to meet developmental needs, with specific Montessori materials and equipment available. The teacher is “keeper of the environment,” preparing and maintaining the context for the child’s self-conducted learning and qualitatively assessing the unique learning map which emerges from the child through independent exploration.

The Montessori curriculum includes all basic subjects, while also allowing children to follow unusual or unique areas of interest. Emphasis is placed on both problem-solving and imaginative work, with the arts and practical life skills integrated throughout the curriculum.

WALDORF EDUCATION
Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861 – 1925), founder of the Waldorf school movement, was a scientist, philosopher, educator, community initiator and theosophist. He developed a movement known as Anthroposophy, translated from Greek to mean “human wisdom”, which views the human being as a reflection of all that the macrocosm contains. Self knowledge and an understanding of the broader universe thus go hand in hand.

Waldorf runs from kindergarten to high school and extends into adult education. Teachers have a strong and creative self-development component within their training.“Soulful, living education” is the buzz word in Waldorf circles and this constitutes a few vital components. The curriculum meets the inner child, so that the content presented is not abstract or external but rather rich with the imagery and processes to which the child can relate.

Waldorf education is seen as an art itself, an act of creativity. Explorations include concept, colour, movement, music and other avenues, so that the end experience is digested into the being of the child, and not trapped in intellectual abstraction.

SynEDgy™ SCHOOLING
A new full-time schooling option available to Cape Town pre- and primary school children with the vision of a high school option by 2012, the SynEDgy™ Schooling Approach was launched by Robin Booth, a teacher and life coach whose aim is to bring increased consciousness to the transformation process in education. His educational model prides itself on remaining open to appropriate innovation and change. It safeguards this ideal by placing communication, relationship skills and personal development at the heart of its approach, working to co-construct an educational environment that meets constantly developing 21st century community needs.

SynEDgy has a unique social and personal management approach and the focus falls on empowering teacher, parent and student, both independently and as a team. Life coaching is part of teacher training, engaging staff members in a continuously reflexive path of self transformation and evaluation. The teachers then use these skills gained to unlock the innate potential of the student, empowering young learners with the clarity needed for self-directed growth.

“The Effective Parenting Programme” also encourages parental involvement, awareness and child support skills. SynEDgy employs pioneering concepts to empower and involve students. As a communication tool between the classroom and the home, daily journals are compiled with student reviews at the end of the day. In this way parents are also involved in the content and experience of their child’s education and thereby create continuity in the home, no longer settling for the dead-end dialogues of lift schemes such as, “How was school?”. Answer, “fine!”

EARTH CHILD PROJECT
Earth Child Project reaches into the hearts of underprivileged existing schools through a permanent facilitator in the schools, whose sole responsibility it is to introduce and maintain holistic education within an otherwise mainstream schooling framework. The idea was inspired by Earth Child Project director Janna Kretzmer, who focuses on primary school youth as a point of community transformation. Janna and her dynamic team aim to teach children “what they wish they had learnt at school”.

Earth Child Project focuses on personal health and wellness, environmental education and life skills training. These aspects complement the normal academic curriculum with soulful, holistic skills for life. With the help of Mamelani, a humanitarian health and wellness NGO, healthy living, eating, sleeping and hygiene habits have suddenly sprung into the children’s timetable. The school tuck-shops have undergone a healthy transformation, with fruit and healthy snacks on sale.

Environmental education has also taken a front seat with hands-on organic gardening and worm farming for the students. Life skills training is a very important process as many of their students often face a degraded social and community climate with many life stresses. “Breath Water Sound” is a four-day Art of Living course taught to all learners from Grades 3 to 7 and shares tools for inner wellbeing. There are weekly follow up yoga and breathing lessons to ensure the children experience sustainable benefits.

CONSCIOUSNESS BASED EDUCATION (CBE)
Pioneering exciting conscious education ground is the work of the Maharishi Institute of Consciousness Based Education (CBE). This educational approach and its integral Transcendental Meditation (TM) techniques have been available in South Africa since the 60s and new developments are now meeting very current local needs for young adults in urban and rural settings.

CBE springs from the wisdom of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who identified a “unified field of consciousness” and a “creative intelligence” as the source of all disciplines of study. He describes “total intelligence” as the innate, infinite potential of every student to be unfolded by CBE. In CBE institutions, 15 minutes of TM meditation begins the day, connecting the students with the “home of all knowledge”. Much scientific research shows that tapping into consciousness unlocks the refined thinking abilities needed to tackle curriculum subjects thereafter.

Taddy Blecher launched the new Maharishi Institute in Johannesburg in 2007 as a free tertiary educational offering to school leavers. The institute offers acquisition of essential business, computer, language and leadership skills, supported by CBE and TM techniques.

Now, developments are unfolding in a rural setting with mining magnates, conservationists and philanthropists Nicky and Strilli Oppenheimer donating the 4 500-hectare Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, near Bronkhortspruit, to the Maharishi Institute. The reserve brims with rich biological diversity and an on-site rural eco-campus focusing on conscious education and conservation is currently being developed there. Eco-tourism will continue to be promoted, applying the knowledge and skills of the on-site students, while sustainability, fair trade and community upliftment are central features.

DAKTARI
Targeting underprivileged rural children in the Limpopo region, Daktari educates and inspires children to care for the environment through the medium of a wildlife orphanage. They simultaneously supplement the children’s academic education and train them with necessary life skills for a greater overall quality of life.

Every Monday, a small group of Grade 8 children from Ramatau and Lepono schools visit Daktari’s project base, 700 hectares of pristine natural habitat. Here, several wild animals that cannot be released into nature are housed in suitable holding facilities and, together with staff and international volunteers, await the arrival of the excited children. At Daktari, each child has a staff member or volunteer devoted to them, and together they get busy with learning about the environment, conservation and natural sciences through the medium of hands-on orphaned animal care and wildlife exploration. They also learn the basics of several school subjects such as English, Maths and the Natural Sciences.

Daktari aims to benefit the children, the local school and community, the environment and the orphaned animals, while giving the international volunteer a chance to encounter the wonderful culture and nature of South Africa.

NATURE NETWORK
Through her work with underprivileged NGOs, Rhian Bherning, the initiator of the Nature Network programme, realised that many privileged schools needed eco-education too. This was an important gap to fill, since these families generally create a bigger ecological footprint in terms of resource usage. With the belief that every child is part of the web of nature, Rhian pioneered Nature Network as an extra-mural, starting with just one school.

Nature Network facilitators meet weekly with their young “nature navigators” with their facilitators who guide them through hands-on contact with the natural elements and features of the school ground, learning through games, role playing, storytelling and observation. They also experience the ability to transform their surroundings through the growing of seeds and new plants. Nature Network encourages children to develop a loving fascination for nature and the eco-system, without altering or destroying it.

GREEN SCHOOLING INITIATIVES

School “greening” initiatives in South Africa are creating valuable opportunities for the youth and their communities. Environmental awareness and empowerment in small scale food production are a fundamental focus, with many organisations calling on educators to lead the way.

Woolworths EduPlant
Programme Co-ordinated by Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA), The Woolworths Trust EduPlant programme holds an annual competition which recognizes and rewards schools using sustainable permaculture principles to cultivate food gardens and, in turn, address local food security, poverty relief and environmental greening issues.

Many schools participating in the national programme already have thriving food gardens, with the produce serving school and community feeding schemes and the surplus being sold for community income. This year, record 5 745 educators attended free one-day Woolworths Trust EduPlant permaculture food gardening workshops across the country.The competition finale involves 70 finalist schools presenting themselves in Gauteng, participating in workshops and networking with other students and educators passionate about permaculture.

The National Eco-Schools Programme
The World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature and Wildlife and the Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) initiative has been running in schools across South Africa for six years and focuses on curriculum-based action for improvements in the school’s environment, eco-performance and management. The aim is for schools to gain “eco-school status” and to be awarded a green flag. Schools are re-assessed annually to ensure that eco-action is maintained. Eco-schools commit to an ongoing learner-centred approach, record their progress and present a portfolio at the annual assessment.

Currently, there are almost 1 000 schools registered. This international organisation, which began in Europe in 2004, has been re-oriented specifically for the South African context to emphasize a strengthening of the national curriculum and support of educators who work with low resources and high demands.

Coca Cola/Department of Education and Fifa Recycling Initiative
Fifa World Cup sponsor Coca Cola are jumping aboard the school-greening wagon and offering 20 000 tickets for World Cup matches to schools across South Africa for their efforts in collecting and recycling school and community waste. To be launched in January 2010 and backed by the Department of Education, the competition aims to reward eco-innovation and responsible behaviour. Within a month of the pilot study at two schools in Rustenberg, 67 863 plastic bottles were collected for recycling!

Danone Clover Kids “Caring For Our Children” Campaign
Danone Clover’s partnership with the Food Gardens Foundation has created sustainable food gardens at 40 underprivileged schools since its inception this year. The campaign’s foundation was built on the sobering fact that one out of five children in South Africa goes to bed hungry every night.

The nutritious vegetables will complement more than 1.7 million meals yearly. For the initial roll-out, priority schools were disadvantaged institutions that currently receive limited support and have a number of vulnerable children, such as orphans, abused children and child heads of households. More than 10 000 children have grown and enjoyed the healthy produce from these food gardens.

So far, 915 parents, teachers and children have been trained and 430 food garden beds and 179 container/tyre gardens created.

Did you know?

In Sanskrit, there is no direct word for “teach”. The verb is to “help raise the consciousness of the student”. Socrates said that he was not a teacher, but a midwife. In these words he conjures the wonderful image of education as a birthing process, which brings the little being, already with a heartbeat of its own, out into the light. Conscious education picks up these strands of philosophy and puts them into practice.

By Brownwyn Sherman

Understanding Archetypes and the Roles of Personality

The Yoga Vasistha is a book that presents the possibility for instant awakening. Yes, instant. But that is the easy part; the “awakening” part is a bit more tricky. And why is that? Because, before we wake up we need to want to wake up. And who wants to awaken? Do you? And from what?

No yoga practice has any meaning whatsoever, and therefore any value, unless you realise one simple thing – we are prisoners bound by invisible chains. And what is it that binds us? Our minds, and the mesmerising power of our personalities.

To realise, that “I am a prisoner of ‘my’ mind”, can be a strange sensation. How can it be my mind, if the mind does what it wants, when it wants, and all I do is follow its instructions? Or haven’t you noticed?

When you realise “I am a prisoner of mind” then maybe yoga can have real value for you. In fact, that is when yoga practice will reveal its power and its beauty. That is what it was designed for – freedom from mental activity, not just health, as some yoga teachers state. Ironically, freedom from mental activity is health. Until you realise that, you are just chasing your own tail. If you happen to be driven by mental compulsions (as we are) you remain bound even to “your” yoga practice.

In terms of brain neurology, the thing that can free the attention from the “mental prison” of our minds like nothing else can is vichara (dynamic, fluid and focused noticing). Vichara is at the core of yoga practice, together with a deep realisation of how mental activity creates the illusion of “you”, by means of ever-changing self images. Mental activity traps the attention in the lower chakras, defining our individuality.

To discover this secret, close your eyes and observe what is actually going on right now. What do you notice? Can you discern that as you are sitting there, right now, some “person” has arisen within your field of awareness? Perhaps it is a younger or older “you”, or maybe a person the same age as your body.

But then, have you noticed that at other times, perhaps when a cop pulls you over at a roadblock, or when you are having some problem with your bank, or when someone let you down, a different “person” appears within the field of awareness? Equally, when you feel close to someone or feel inspired, yet another “person”, with altogether different qualities and abilities arises. Now if these different versions of “you” keep on arising and disappearing, can they be real? They certainly are not permanent.

All these imaginary “persons” arise all the time, one after the other. Sometimes when you least want them to. The question is, have you noticed?

If you observe, you will notice that these imaginary self images rule our lives. Very often they result in insecurity and concern about the future or awakened regrets and longings from the past. Great actors have made a career out of it, and we truly enjoy the performance.

What Vasistha urges Rama to do, and by extension all of us, is to notice that these imaginary parts or sub-personality aspects of our self image – some call them archetypes – arise within a pristine space of awareness. In fact, the more desirable or frightening they are, the more they imprison the awareness – it’s the emotions that grip the attention.

The main effect of their arising is that the pure awareness in which they arise becomes forgetful of its own nature. As this happens, the misplaced sense of what is real becomes entrenched. In this way we miss the point that it is the consciousness, which is unchanging and timeless, and that the changing self images arise within it. Right now as you read this, the truth is covered up, the inner spaciousness is filled with images, the inner silence is replaced with noise, the attention gets dragged away and forced into the play of a life story.

When the truth of being is lost, the symptoms are distress, fear, a closed heart, uncomfortable breathing, cynicism, a tough exterior – each one of us has our favourites. This is the absence of yoga.

Vasistha says notice that, and reclaim your true identity. Your personality arises in you!

From thinking and believing that you are “this man” or “that woman” notice what you really are. You are the pure consciousness in which all the sub-personalities arise and that is not individualised at all.

In death, deep sleep and true meditation, all the versions of who you think you are collapse, and what remains is all that there was in the first place – this is liberation. If they all arise again, demanding fulfilment, that is what we call rebirth. Simple.

To frequently surrender or give up the urge of their arising, while in the waking state, is spiritual practice. This is the true value of bowing and surrendering to the ever-present awareness. This frequent noticing and surrendering, releasing and offering to the divine consciousness, the variations of “me”, leads to the realisation of the existence of the ever-free consciousness, which is the permanent true being of all.

To notice the appearing and disappearing – the impermanence – of all the mental images of self is their undoing. This noticing is called vichara. The prize is enlightenment, and the price is our personality’s importance. As the first increases the second decreases, in a flash of realisation. Just like that, like a bolt from the blue, when it’s clear it’s clear. No amount of physical effort can bring this about, just insight.

Salutations to that reality (Sat), in which all the elements and all the animate and inanimate beings shine as if they have an independent existence, and in which they exist for a time and into which they merge.
Salutations to that consciousness (Chit), which is the source of the apparently distinct threefold divisions of knower, knowledge, and known; seer, sight, and seen; doer, doing and deed.
Salutations to that bliss absolute (the ocean of bliss) (Ananda), which is the life of all beings whose happiness and unfolding are derived from the shower of spray from that ocean of bliss.

By Panos Lazanas

Nature is a book of wisdom from which to learn, says Swami Nityamuktananada. Water, as one of the five elements of nature, has many powerful qualities that offer us gifts of transcendence, contemplation, enlightenment, transformation and indeed, the secret to discovering the purpose of our lives

Have you ever stood at sunset or sunrise by the sea, or a lake, and observed how the water reflects the sun’s light? Water, still water, reflects the light of wisdom. Many Buddhists paths follow this – water’s quality of reflecting the light of wisdom.

Integrity of Identity
In front of me on the desk is a glass of water. The water is clear – I can see through it, crystal clear and possessing no colour of its own. Water fills the glass and takes on its shape without effort. If I spill it, it adapts to the shape of the floor. In fact, water adapts to any shape, be it a glass, syringe, bathtub, sewage pipe, river or ocean. It takes on the form of that which limits it. It is so adaptable that it appears as though it constantly gives up its integrity, although it never does.

When the raindrop gives up its existence to become the pool, it remains water. When the dewdrop gives up its existence and becomes the sap of a tree, it still remains water. Or, less romantically, when water in a steam engine evaporates, it remains water still.

Water always seeks to merge with the bigger version of what it is. However long the journey of water is, in the end, one drop merges with another, one river merges with another and ultimately the river becomes the ocean. Water gives up its separate identity. This drive to merge with something greater seems to be the secret and reason why the confluences of rivers are held sacred in Indian and other cultures. This quality of water has inspired many great thinkers and philosophers to use water as a symbol for an “ultimate reality”. The Chinese idea of the Tao as “the watercourse way”, is merely one such example.

In accordance with many wisdom teachings, we can contemplate our individual lives as waves dancing on the ocean or as whirlpools in the river of consciousness. Concentrated “life energy” dances for a while as “me” in the dimension of reality we call earth and then continues with the flow of the river of life, finally pouring itself into the ocean. While “water is playing”, essentially nothing has changed; the snowflake or wave or whirlpool surrenders its individual temporary form – and yet remains water.

Detached Receptivity
Let us go back again to the glass of water– what happens if I drink it? It becomes part of me. It fills my veins and cells and I become the container. Because my skin is porous I sweat, my lungs absorb and give out moisture. There is humidity, moisture and water both inside and outside of me. We cannot survive in an atmosphere devoid of water and, in fact, with a bit of humour, we can see that we live in a “sea” of water, not much different to fish.

However high the humidity is outside me though, there’s more water inside me in various disguises: as tissue fluid, blood, lymph and spinal fluid. We need to drink water in order to maintain these fluid levels, in order to stay healthy and alive.

But, unlike the water in the glass in front of me, the water inside of me is not pure – water not only adapts in shape, but also to the needs of the host. Water accommodates, carries and absorbs loads of foreign matter, such as the chemical substances of iron, nutrients and minerals. Once water is engaged in the job of carrying these, we call it blood, lymph or bile. Water fulfils this job as a carrier of other substances in many circumstances. It carries medicines with as much equanimity as poison, viruses, pollution, acid, even atomic waste, without regrets, without affecting its true nature.

Water is extremely receptive and this detached receptivity gives it incredible power. In the form of seawater, it contains all other elements and thus it has the power of all of them, which is another indication of why many spiritual traditions use it as a potent symbol. Water contains the warmth of fire (without it, it would be ice). It also contains oxygen (air), salts of the earth and it occupies space.

Flexibility and Adaptability
Water’s flexibility and adaptability make it possible for water to regenerate. For example, after water has been through my body, nurturing me by carrying nutrients, it leaves me, carrying away unwanted chemicals. Therefore, water’s flexibility allows it to change purpose or adapt. After the water finally exits the body, it enters the ground and, within the earth, it lets go of its collected poisonous or negative substances and deposits them onto the ground, and thus water is cleansed.

This process of filtering things out and regeneration is a mutual service between earth and water. Water contributes its ability to dissolve anything – all of the good and bad elements. Then, the earth accepts the additives that water has transported, and reconstitutes them. Once water has seeped deep into the bowels of the earth, through earth’s many layers, it rests at the deepest point and from there it re-emerges as a spring. Thus having cleansed itself, it is available again to serve. In the physical dimension, earth and water co-operate in this action of cleansing, of regeneration. If we harm the earth, we harm the water and vice versa.

Higher Awareness
Water pulled by earth’s gravity sinks deep. But gravity also acts on water in a different context. The pull of gravity from the moon is responsible for the tidal movement of oceans and this pull of gravity on water can also be felt in man. This is frequently experienced as physical “tidal waves” that can be felt physically in the sacro-spinal fluid of the human body and by those “tidal waves” we call emotions.

Man’s psyche or emotional expressions are likened to water. Just as water is pulled into the depths of the earth where cleansing and rejuvenation take place, the human being too can sink into the depths of doubt and existential fear. This state might be experienced as depression or as a “dark mood”. Again, the cleansing and purification potentials of water can help raise us to higher awareness.

Resting in the depth, in the deepest, stillest part of the ocean where nothing moves, there is clarity, potent stillness and silence. It is such silence that we experience in meditation, where the mind has calmed from the turbulence of the surface waves and rests in its own being. From the depth of the stillness, from the process of self-cleansing, of purification, water resurfaces as pure spring water again.

Nurturing
Water fulfils its dharma (virtuous purpose) of nurturing life – the brook nurtures the moss and flowers and soon, water changes shape again, evaporating through the leaves of the plant as it joins the mist of an early summer day and, after dancing in the morning air, it falls back into the stream. The stream gets visited by animals and they drink, thus water becomes a bird, an elephant, a mouse. The stream receives water back from the animals and flows on – becoming a river again.

However many cycles there are to its life, eventually the river pours itself into the ocean – but even then, water’s journey is not finished, it merely starts another cycle. Evaporating, it forms clouds that drop as rain, being absorbed into the earth, sinking deep into its bowls until emerging again.

We can see the parallel in the life of the Boddhisattva or enlightened being who spends his/her life in tireless service nurturing and purifying others. Then, even when the cycle of life seems finished, they returns to continue in another cycle of egoless service.

Inherent to water is its ability to nourish others. Therefore we recognize the dharma of water is to nurture. It is used by others and then returns to reconstitute itself – only to serve again. It’s therefore no surprise that water is called “life sustaining”, “life giving” or even “water of life”. Due to this quality, water is seen as the symbol of female energy, especially in the context of healing.

Determination and Willpower
You could argue however that water is not only all peaceful, soft, gentle, receptive and nurturing. Water also has great strength and, at times, turns its strength into violence.

What about excessive monsoon rains, killer floods and tsunamis? Water can carry even the greatest boulders downstream. Sea levels rise and drown whole islands and continents, rivers cut enormous canyons to follow their course with unbending will and drive to get to the ocean. Rain wears down the highest mountain.

Because of these aspects, water is associated with willpower and the strength of discipline. Here is the root of the metaphorical saying that “drops of the softest water will in time wear down even the hardest stone”. Water does not give up and is unerring in its drive to fulfil its dharma. It must reach the sea regardless. And, if something gets in the way, water will persist until it breaks through. One could say that water has great determination.

Water has the ability not only to rejuvenate itself, but also to reinvent itself. Mankind can learn from this the ability to transcend and shift our awareness. We can suspend our own personalities, our wants and wishes. And this takes courage, training and determination.

Freedom
In continuing our own life purposes, like water, we should not cling to our limiting forms, our conditioned selves and personalities. Like the stream, we can learn to put aside our previous limiting patterns, forms and shapes so that, via the experience of merging, adapting and self-purifying, we can continue service unclouded by our own personality. This clarity is freedom. Freedom is stillness and emptiness brimming with potential.

Nature is a book of wisdom from which to learn, if only we can open our hearts and minds to do so. Then we can learn from water flexibility, learn to adapt and be receptive. We can learn how to filter out the unwanted, harmful stuff and purify ourselves. We can learn to feel and flow with others, nurture them and serve the world without ego. We can learn from water how to grow in wisdom and how to use willpower and determination to fulfil our dharma. But most of all, we can learn how to surrender without fear of loosing our identity – we can learn to be free!

By Swami Nityamuktananda Saraswati

Swami Nityamuktananda Saraswati lives in Cornwall, England. She has worked with great spiritual masters, among them Zen Masters, great Siddhas, the Tibetan Lama and Tulku T.Y.S. Gangchen, the great Yogi Swami Maheshananda, H.H. Swami Anubhavananda and Swami Veda Bharati. In 1997 she received her Doctorate in eco philosophy and was awarded a World Peace Prize. Swami Nityamuktananda Saraswati is a speaker at international congresses on World Peace (UN) and complementary medicine as well as new ethics. For more information visit www.athayoga.info

Increasing performance and working to counter the rigorous manoeuvres and specific strains of surfing, Miles Masterson speaks to the “big wavers” about how yoga is transforming the sport

Natural Yoga
Though surfers sometimes call surfing “natural yoga”, this is of course not an accurate appraisal of the sport. While it is true that surfing does involve immersion in the outdoors and is a vigorous pursuit that benefits overall fitness, the physical dynamics of surfing are also incredibly taxing on the human body. Even the act of paddling a surfboard (which surfers do far more than riding waves) is an unnatural face-down prone position that wreaks havoc on the shoulders and neck.

Thanks to the rigours of standing sideways on the board and twisting and contorting one’s torso and limbs into and out of the different manoeuvres – not to mention body-wrenching wipe outs – prolonged periods of surfing often result in painful injuries and can have a detrimental effect on posture and alignment. Without a basic stretching regimen to counter the sport’s specific strains, many long-term surfers suffer from a plethora of ailments, particularly those of the spine, rotator cuff, elbows, hips, knees and ankles.

Fortunately, yoga has long been recognised as a great way to thwart these negative side effects and increase surfing performance. Of late, yoga has become so popular in surf culture that scores of surf resorts worldwide now offer “yoga retreats” to cater for the sheer number of surfers bringing the practice into the core of their lives.

The Rise of Yoga and Surf
Tuned into Eastern philosophy, the athletic minded hippie surfing movement of the late 60s and early 70s originally turned to yoga as a means to prepare for the challenges of surfing and, along with living in communes, eating organic and having an appreciation of nature, yoga became as de rigueur for these surfers as long blond hair. Famous surfers, such as 1966 world champion Australian Nat Young and 70s Hawaiian Zen master Gerry Lopez were early adopters. Later, American multiple world champions Tom Curren and Kelly Slater, among others, all brought yoga into their lives. To this day, these surfers all remain among the most fit, supple and youthful adherents of the sport in their age groups.

In the early 1990s “Yoga for Surfers” gained real momentum with the advent of a specialised course and the release of a DVD of the same name by Californian surfing yogi Peggy Hall. Career surfers such as perennial performer American Taylor Knox (who, at 38, is currently the oldest but still one of the fittest full time professionals) and lady’s superstar, the Hawaii-based Rochelle Ballard, publicly endorsed Hall’s aesthetic. Subsequently, yoga became one of the most popular forms of cross-training among surfing professionals and average surfers alike. “You are stimulating your entire system… increasing flexibility, range of motion, and strength,” says Ballard, who recently released her own DVD, Surf
Into Yoga, of the benefits of yoga for surfers. “You can also increase your breath and hold for bigger surf,” she adds.

Big Waves, Big Lungs
Enter big wave surfer Greg Long, who was voted one of the top 50 fittest Americans by a men’s magazine in 2008. “Yoga is a huge part of my physical regimen from a flexibility standpoint,” says Long. Suppleness notwithstanding, Long also lauds the mental benefits of yoga, something big wave surfers tend to focus on to help them deal with hold downs and violent thrashings underwater. He also credits the ability to tune into nature to enhance his immersion in the moment to yoga and, as he puts it, “to be able to go into that total state of peace and relaxation.”

As one of the most respected young big wave surfers in the world, and someone who has influenced others in big wave riding circles to take up yoga, Long, 27, practises it wherever he is. On the road for up to 10 months a year, he will go solo or attend Hatha or Ashtanga classes. However when he is home in California, Greg does Bikram yoga to prepare him for extreme surfing conditions, be they 70 foot plus waves or marathon, 10-hour surfs. “When the temperatures get up high it can be very intense, so flexibility-wise it is incredible,” says Long of Bikram. “It’s almost like simulating a wipe-out. You know you are putting that kind of physical strain on your body, but at the same time you have to keep a really focused head.”

Like Long, recreational surfer and eight times free dive record holder, Hanli Prinsloo, trains hard to remain judicious in extreme conditions. South African Hanli, 30, tells how for free divers, yoga is an absolute necessity in their training regime, particularly the mental and breathing aspects. For Hanli, who has swum straight down on one breath to a depth of 60 metres, they are one and the same. A keen surfer, she recently began advising many of Cape Town’s top big wave surfers on her Apnea (suspension of external breathing) dive training techniques which, among other things, incorporate yoga poses and philosophies. She explains how, as a defence mechanism, the body tends to resist being deprived of oxygen, especially when immersed in water, and how the diaphragm will naturally spasm as a result. This often triggers the first feeling of panic in the brain that can prove detrimental to both free divers and surfers alike.

By understanding that this is merely the beginning of what is called the Mammalian Dive Response (MDR ) and working through it, divers can learn to control their minds and remain calm underwater for up to five minutes. To this end, Hanli advocates repeated Sun Salutations, yoga lung stretches and Kundalini and Hatha breathing exercises to boost lung capacity. “I blend styles of yoga to find optimum positions and breathing techniques,” she says. “This gives surfers the self confidence to take on whatever the ocean throws at them and remain calm under pressure.”

Yoga for Everyday Surfers
For more average surfers though, what type of yoga is best for them is largely based on personal requirements. “It really depends on the individual and what they are looking for,” says Rochelle Ballard. “I like to mix it up a bit with Chi Gong and hip restorative Vinyasa Flows.” Like Hanli, Rochelle advises doing Sun Salutations to cover most of these areas for focus and flexibility too. “I find if I am going into a surf session it’s best to warm up and do sequences that stimulate my body,” she says. Ballard recommends the Downward Dog for overall flexibility, Camel Pose to open the shoulders and hips as well Bridge and Warrior Poses.

Overall, it seems Hatha yoga is the most popular with surfers. “Maybe because of my age, I prefer the Hatha yoga, as it’s a little slower,” agrees 61-year-old Sandy Campbell, yogi at the Yoga Mat in Durban. A lifelong surfer, Sandy discovered yoga fifteen years ago and has never looked back. “In Hatha yoga,” he continues, “awareness is placed on alignment and adjustment in the asanas. This provides a good grounding for surfers.” Of course, all styles of yoga bring focus to the breath. Kundalini yoga, for example says Sandy, is better for younger surfers. “I find Kundalini yoga, with time, makes the body more flexible for other styles of yoga and definitely your surfing,” he says.

Whichever they adopt or combine, Sandy emphasises that all surfers need to focus on upper body strength. “Because of the paddling position, shoulders and neck muscles take strain,” he explains. “The cervical spine is arched and so the trapezius muscles need strengthening, as do the shoulders, rotator cuff and arms. All of the above need a strong core centre, i.e. abdominals and lower back/ lumbar spine. Moreover, as surfers stand sideways on their boards, the hips can also take a beating, one usually more so than the other, resulting in an imbalance and pressure on the knee and ankle joints.

“Because surfers are already connected to the ocean and all that is in it, yoga enhances this awareness. It starts when you first identify the swell in the set that you are going to ride… in every moment that you are riding the wave… and when you kick out at the end, the feeling of gratitude at being able to surf and interact with this ever-changing force of nature,” closes Sandy.

By Miles Masterson

“The flow of life is continuous. Like a heart, it continues beating. And that continuity needs devotion to keep it going. When there is no devotion, there is a tremendous amount of fluctuation.”  Yogi Bhajan

Early July, Har Bhajan, our son and I rode down on motorbikes to Durban. Shireen Govender from the Yellow Feather Yoga Studio in Chatsworth invited us to teach a Kundalini Yoga Workshop.

The topic that inspired me was “How do we yogis stay in a continuous process with grace?” The initial stages of yoga are a home coming and a love affair. We are delighted that we now have tools to move along our destiny path. When we have to re-evaluate behaviours and memories and clear them out, we are overwhelmed and stumped. It feels safer to stop what we’re doing;  but then we fault ourselves for “lacking discipline”.

16 yogis came, some of them dear friends with whom we have worked through the teacher training and most of them yoga teachers from different styles, some of them new to Kundalini Yoga and all of them ‘serious yogis’. One pregnant mom drove all the way from Nottingham Road. What a great crowd.

In the two days we covered a lot of ground. We discussed the essence of a yogic lifestyle and how to stay strong with the practice. We shared the feelings that occur ‘on the path’ and practiced kriyas as taught by Yogi Bhajan on how to allay fear and pain and gather your strength. The Silverglen Hall is in a quiet street right into Chatsworth’s beautiful ravines. Practicing together is magical, there is a precious synergy when people come together with intent and our nervous systems calmed and unraveled. I was very grateful for this course experience. We have plans of taking the Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training to KZN.

By Pritam Khalsa

Here is a comment from one of the participants: ‘Words cannot describe how grateful I am to you and your dear Har Bhajan for the wonderful course you facilitated over the past weekend in Durban. Talk about “being in the right place at the right time”! Everything we practiced and everything you or Har Bhajan spoke about resonated with me profoundly. I wish I had taken a little voice recorder with me, there was so much information to process. But funnily enough, in a strange very deep way, it was all stuff that I somehow know, there were so many “Ah, of course I KNOW this” moments. So trustfully, even if I can’t remember verbatim what you said, I know I carry your teachings in my heart and soul. Some things can go beyond words.’

Pritam and Har Bhajan Khalsa created the vegetarian whole foods brands, FRUITS & ROOTS and EARTH PRODUCTS. They have been teaching Kundalini Yoga in Johannesburg since the mid eighties and via their international certification teacher training in Gauteng and in the Cape. Pritam authored the innovative yoga book in pictures, THE KUNDALINI YOGA FAN. She is also an EFT practitioner (tapping).

Read more on www.3ho.org and go to www.kundaliniyoga.co.za to find a teacher close to you.

SWAMIS
Every swami belongs to the ancient monastic order. By vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the spiritual teacher, many Catholic Christian monastic orders resemble the Order of Swamis. The title “swami” represents the attainment of supreme bliss through some divine quality or state – love, wisdom, devotion, service, yoga – and through harmony with nature. The ideal of selfless service to all mankind, and of renunciation of personal ties and ambitions, leads the majority of swamis to engage actively in humanitarian and educational work. Ignoring all prejudices of caste, creed, class, color, sex, or race, a swami follows the precepts of human brotherhood. His goal is absolute unity with Spirit. The swami roams contentedly in the world but not of it. Thus only may he justify his title of swami – one who seeks to achieve union with the Swa or Self.

But, a swami, formally a monk by virtue of his connection with the ancient order, is not always a yogi.

YOGIS
Anyone who practices a scientific technique of God-contact is a yogi; he may be either married or unmarried, either a worldly man or one of formal religious ties. A yogi engages himself in a definite, step-by-step procedure by which the body and mind are disciplined, and the soul liberated. Taking nothing for granted on emotional grounds, or by faith, a yogi practices a thoroughly tested series of exercise which were first mapped out by the early rishis, seers or sages. Yoga has produced men who became truly free.

YOGA
Like any other science, yoga is applicable to people of every clime and time. Yoga is a method for restraining the natural turbulence of thoughts, which otherwise impartially prevent all men, of all lands, from glimpsing their true nature of Spirit. Yoga cannot know the barrier of East and West any more than does the healing and equitable light of the sun. The ancient rishi Patanjali defines “yoga” as “control of the fluctuations of the mind-stuff”.  His very short and masterly expositions, the Yoga Sutras, form one of the six systems… the six systems formulate six definite disciplines aimed at the permanent removal of suffering and the attainment of timeless bliss.The common thread linking all six systems is the declaration that no true freedom for man is possible without the knowledge of the ultimate reality. Yoga Sutras contain the most efficacious methods for achieving direct perception of truth. Through the practical techniques of yoga , man leaves behind forever the barren realms of speculation and cognizes in experience the veritable essence.

The Yoga system as outlined by Patanjali is known as the Eightfold Path:

(1)   Yama – avoidance of injury to others, of untruthfulness, of stealing, of incontinence, of gift-receiving (which brings obligations)

(2)   Niyama – purity of body and mind, contentment, self-discipline, study and devotion to God

(3)   Asana (right posture) – the spinal column must be held straight, and the body firm in a comfortable position for meditation

(4)   Pranayama (control of prana [energy], subtle life currents) – [through breath]

(5)   Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from external objects)

(6)   Dharana (concentration) – holding the mind to one thought

(7)   Dhyana (meditation), and

(8)   Samadhi (superconscious perception)

This is the Eightfold Path of Yoga which leads one to the final goal of Kaivalya (Absoluteness), a term which might be more comprehensibly put as “realisation of the Truth beyond an intellectual apprehension.”

“Which is greater,” one may ask, “a swami or a yogi?” If and when final oneness with God is achieved, the distinctions of the various paths disappear.  The methods of yoga are all-embracing. Its teachings are not meant only for certain types and temperaments, such as those few who incline toward the monastic life; yoga requires no formal allegiance. Because the yogic science satisfies a universal need, it has a natural universal applicability.

A true yogi may remain dutifully in the world. To fulfil one’s earthly responsibilities is indeed the higher path, provided the yogi, maintaining a mental uninvolvement with egotistical desires, plays his part as a willing instrument of God.

Text Extracted from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananada

CONSCIOUS – Limited entirely by the functions of the five physical senses. It contains that which contacts the physical world. The conscious mind pours into the subconscious a constant stream of mental images … which is our reasoning, our guessing and wondering. It deals with everything that happens to us, together with the feelings that these happenings arouse within us.

SUBCONSCIOUS – This is the area of intelligence that controls and directs the general functioning of all the organs of our body. It is also ruled by our fears and worries, our hates and destructive tendencies, and can be upset in it’s functioning by these destructive emotions.

MEMORY – A storehouse for all impressions of our outer world experiences, received from one or more of our five senses – impressions that exist as mental pictures. Associated with each picture is the feeling we had at the time of it’s inception, and these can be drawn on as needed… good or bad.

CREATIVE  POWER – The electromagnetic area of the mind, which reacts instantly to our strongly felt desires or fears. It sets up a power of attraction to draw to us closer to whatever we have been picturing. Using these pictures as a builder would use a blueprint, our creative power works to opportunities or to detriment – it is important to learn how to use it in the best capacity.

HEALING – Contains “life energy” – a reserve of recreative energy which permeates every cell of our body and revitalizes it.

INTUITIVE – Extra sensory perception faculties are located here that are not limited by either space or time, or aspects of the physical senses. It functions through our conscious mind level in the form of intuition and has a guiding and protection faculty, most often in great need of development.

COSMIC  CONSCIOUSNESS – The deepest part of us, our link with the universe that makes possible  instant knowing. It is the level of God Consciousness, true illumination and inspiration. It is reached only when the other levels of mind are stilled and the body is relaxed.

Kavi Yogiraj Mani Finger

Earth’s Kingdom

The prismatic world of crystals and gemstones is a window into the constellations of life – the ebb and flow of eons passed is capturedand frozen in these miniature-mountains and kingdoms of earth that express a symphony of beauty, colour and form. Bronwyn Sherman explains how crystals work to balance us and bring with them resonant tools for living in purpose…

Everything in existence has a constitution – a manner in whichelements and atoms on a micro-cosmic level are arranged. Add the movements of life into the mix, and you have vibration – vibrations which emanate like signature songs of being. Each crystal and gemstone is truly an imprint of universal creativity.

While every crystal is distinctive, mineral families share a basic blueprint. Exposure to similar patterns of earthly, atmospheric and elemental changes creates a kinship in constitution and vibration. Thus each family of minerals presents a gateway into a unique and specific dimension.

Tuning into the energy of crystals and stones helps us align to their many medicinal archetypes and properties. The guidelines of crystal properties are steeped in a depth of intuitive and experiential research, as well as the principles of the nature forces which fashion and form them. Whatever you may read in books however, it is valuable to remain open to your inner experience of the stones and what they teach you. Remain aware and avoid the mind becoming stuck on labels and fixed symbolism. Rather open your being and listen to the organics of the natural world. They will surely speak to you personally, as you are one with the family.

Crystals and life purpose
Life purpose – what a grand theme of human enquiry, of philosophy, of experience. We live a life of ever-changing moments, actions and incidents and most of us stand, at one time or another, before the question of purpose. What is the purpose of existence – collectively and individually? Why are we here?

Sometimes stepping into our own rightful existence, our own unique being and flow, simply requires that we “get out of our own way”. This can often be a matter of coming into balance. For this, crystals that align the spiritual and earthly realms are ideal to work with, as they allow subtler spheres to enter our everyday lives.

Sugilite
Existential questions find a place in most people’s lives, and if these kinds of questions often swirl up and stir you, then Sugilite is the mineral to keep close. A healthy dose of existentialism keeps the wonder and mystery of life alive, and can be inspirational. It can also become quite paralyzing when no response from life seems to quench the thirsty questions.

Sugilite is one of our local minerals found almost exclusively in South Africa and Japan, and it glows a beautiful violet-purple hue. Sugilite teaches how to live from your truth, reminding the soul of its true colours and its reasons for incarnating. It helps align us with our answers to the big life questions we carry. It brings a flow of love and wisdom into the chakras so that we can accept our own life-force as present and purposeful.

Sugilite is useful in spiritual quests, aiding understanding and simultaneously relieving spiritual tension. It is also medicinal for anyone who does not feel at home on earth or welcome to belong in general.

Apophyllite
Apophyllite is a magnificent transparent crystal used when one wishes to connect with the spirit. Sourced from India, Australia, Brazil and some areas of Europe, this  tone appears similar to the clear quartz crystal, except that its base is square rather than six-sided. Four triangular faces rise up from the base to create a pyramid true. The pyramid is an ancient symbol of spiritual fire, and with Apophyllite, the fire of spirit is accessed through the solidity and balance of the square base.

Apophyllite is a spiritual stone that enhances clear sight, intuition and recognition of the true self. It helps with attuning to a higher purpose but keeps a strong  connectivity to the physical realm. This allows one’s truth to be shared and revealed to the world. It imbues decision-making processes with universal love so that the mind tunes as an instrument for higher thought. It overcomes the matter-burdened states of fear, anxiety and suppression so that the uncertainty of the subtler realms can be tolerated and embraced. It also reduces ego-based desires so that purpose can emerge, unshackled by attachments.

Tiger’s Eye
Perhaps you already have a strong connection with the spiritual world and would benefit from grounding so that your purpose may come to fruition, here and now. In  such a case, Tiger’s Eye could be the stone to journey with. Tiger’s Eye with its luminous golden streaks of reflective light is an important mineral for work with the solar plexus. It helps align the cosmic sun forces with one’s personal power source.

The yellowy-brown of Tiger’s Eye is caused by the presence of ironbearing quartz. Iron has fortifying effects on the will, promoting actions of integrity which serve one’s inner resources. Its strengthening effect develops commitment and counters “spaced-out” tendencies. Tiger’s Eye is a key stone for manifestation and realisation of inner changes so that they can penetrate right through to the physical form.

Labradorite
Labradorite has a mysterious beauty. Its electric sheen of either green, blue, pink, orange or yellow pierces out from an otherwise darkened state. This stone mainly originates from the Northern belt of Greenland, Russia, Canada and the Scandinavian territories and it probably does much the same service for the earth as it does for those who work with it – it protects the aura.

Labradorite works to deflect unwanted energies and prevents the leakage of positive energies within. If it’s the opinions or energy hooks from other people or places which disrupt your sense of purpose; if it’s distraction and inner conflict which hinders you from feeling focused and whole; or if it’s a lack of faith and trust in the universe and yourself which renders you scattered and ineffective, Labradorite will assist you. It helps to distinguish your own sphere from the projections of others; to synthesize and streamline your own faculties; to banish counter-productive insecurities and to strengthen us for enduring transformation.

Topaz
As a general all-round support for living life in your purpose, Topaz has excellent qualities. It recharges and re-motivates creating energetic living. It restores the trust  that is needed to “be” rather than “do” and the courage to live comfortably with uncertainty. Once purposeful “being” is in place, we can fill our “doings” with a Zen-like presence, and then all mundane processes become purposeful too.

Topaz occurs in an array of shades and is found in South Africa, the Americas, Australia and the East. It serves to shed light on our path, our goals and our inner resources. It cuts through the doubts and uncertainties that trap us. It has a vibrant and abundant energy and is extremely supportive for affirmation and manifestation work. Topaz encourages you to tap into your inner riches, believe in them, and your desires to share them and spread sunshine to the world.

Towards our true purpose
Inner and outer purpose; higher purpose and every-day purpose; individual and group purpose – it can all be quite overwhelming. The moment that purpose becomes a “concept” rather than a state of being, we immediately feel separated from it. When our being feels divided from its purpose, schisms develop internally creating confusion, conflict, exhaustion, pressure, despondency and depression.

Once we have found balance within the earth-spirit relationship, we need to remember wholeness rather than fragmentation, knowing that we ourselves, are the very pulse of this purpose. We should not seek it, but rather live it, and use healthy boundaries to protect its integrity. Awareness is an effective shield which can prevent distractions or empty temptations from re-dividing us. A comprehensive purpose requires a comprehensive presence. With this idea in mind, we transform purpose from what could be an arduous personal quest into that which is already living and begin sharing our signature of light with life.

Sacred Sexuality

Sacred sexuality is a renewed consciousness of a feminine sexual holiness that’s firmly grounded in our bodies and our psyches says Adele Singer, author of Towards a Soulful Sexuality. It’s an attitude to sexuality that’s “actively sexual” and not necessarily “sexually active” and one that, she believes, should apply throughout a woman’s life, even and especially, in the post-menopausal years.

By Angela Wood

Writing the book was a kind of personal manifesto for me,” says Adele Singer, whose early experiences of learning yoga, meditation and visualisation with Mani Finger in her early twenties as well as “the soul-based psychology and cutting-edge consciousness teachings” learnt from doing the Tamboo TranceFormation Workshops with Mordechai Brodie over the last 13 years, spurred her to write her enlightening and deeply enquiring book Towards a Soulful Sexuality. Here she explores the history of attitudes towards sex, age and menopause as they have become embedded in our bodies and psyches.

The book attempts to separate fact from fiction regarding the nature of sex, love and spirituality, women’s sexual anatomy and the concept (and history) of menopause  and ageing. In it she states “it requires readers to review, re-define and re-imagine their core beliefs and feelings around these subjects”.

Women and Sex – A Divided Legacy
“Women in general have been defined by their sexuality”, explains Adele. Conflicting viewpoints recur endlessly in history – women were idealised or derided, revered or reviled as evil – according to Adele who states that the matter of “the ageing feminine” is worse and includes and incorporates images of witches, ugliness and uselessness.

Many women, she says, seem to be resigning themselves to an asexual old age, not only becoming sexually inactive because there might be no one to “have sex” with, but by switching off the living active awareness of sexual energy in their lives. “Sexually active” and an “active sexuality” are confused, Adele believes.

She explains how, according to legend, there was once a time when sex was enjoyed without shame, “as a gift of God – an act of joy, of devotion, something perfectly natural and wholly divine – all at the same time. The Goddesses were seen as the embodiment of love, passion and sex”.

But the mindset of patriarchy killed off the Goddess archetypes more than five thousand years ago and the idea of sexuality as spirituality and as something inherently divine was eradicated for all women, young and old. Indeed, for all men as well.

Sexuality was severed from spirituality and became its extreme opposite. Sex was dirty, primitive and instinctual (and feminine in nature) while spirituality was pure,  clean and transcendent (and masculine in nature). Male and female were unequal; spirit and nature were unequal. Man headed the chain of command – after God. As women, and as a culture, Adele says, we have paid dearly for this division. “The misogyny of the patriarchy affected all cultures in the last 2 000 years, one way or another,” she explains.

“Sexuality and spirituality are aspects of the same thing” Adele proposes. “Where science and religion are finding rapprochement in the infinite wave of quantum physics”, she says, we understand that “waves of sexual sensations that emanate from the body can be visualised as cosmic, psychic energy, high-frequency vibrations that bridge us to higher consciousness”.

Menopause and Ageing – The Deat h of Sex or the Rebirth of Life?
“There seems to be a pronounced loss of confidence as age advances – death might or might not scare us, but ageing confuses and confounds us,” Adele says. “The old stereotypes won’t do, but they still haunt us, especially with regards to sexuality.”

Menopause is a transitional experience leading to the rest of our lives, believes Adele, who claims that “it is precisely the ‘rest of our lives’ that we need to reinvent”. “Statistically as a species we are living longer,” she says and therefore menopausal women should realise they have a chunk of good years ahead and, as such, believes women should be asking themselves “how do we intend to live them?”

Post-menopause and ageing are the new frontiers Adele states, “but first we must untangle ourselves from the absurd and awful stereotypes of older women and ageing in general, that infects our culture and deeply affects our own self-evaluations.” She says that it is these nasty assumptions that define who we become and that undermine our courage and self-image.

“Women are terrified of becoming ugly old hags.” The word “hagia”, she explains, means “holy” in Greek and was once a reverential title for wise and respected older women; it then degraded to “hag”. “How did the revered and sacred come to mean old and ugly?”, she asks.

Being sexual after the biological time for childbirth is, theoretically, a time of freedom to explore and enjoy all that sex is and can be, according to Adele who adds that “the fact that menopause is so often the death of sex itself for women is a thought too ridiculous to contemplate”. “Our sexual appetites aren’t lost as we age” but rather, “it is the image of ourselves as sexual that we dutifully abandon.” “Shouldn’t old age be about living healthily until it is time to pass over; a time of wisdom, joy and delight – an adventure in evolution?” Adele asks.

According to Adele, Deepak Chopra suggests that “death by severe illness is the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy with which our culture has indoctrinated us”. She says that “between total capitulation to creeping decrepitude and illness, and total obsession with looking/being/becoming narcissistically young, there is the genuine opportunity for living vital, healthy and meaningful lives, for as long as possible – and then leaving for the other side.”

“Sex itself needs to be redeemed,” Adele believes. The second milestone in a woman’s life, she says, simply announces the end of reproductive capability, yet “by word of mouth – mother to daughter, woman to woman, menopause is reported with sighs and shrugs – as if life as we know it were ending”, she explains. “Menopause shakes women’s confidence and optimism.”

There is the basic physical fact – yes, menstruation winds down and stops – but how much is caused by physical neglect or negative cultural expectations? Weight gain for example, Adele believes can have so many lifestyle causes. “And yet we sigh ‘menopause’, and eat doughnuts. We fail to exercise, and generally abuse our poor bodies. Stuck with boring sex, unsatisfactory relationships, or disappointment with life generally, vaginas dry up. Facing the midlife reality of a life not fully actualised, the bodies falter; facing a future without status, confidence wavers. Expectations decline, we decline.”

“Menopause is not an illness, and should not be solely or mainly a medical experience,” she asserts. Menopause is “a life transition and experience that is greater than the sum of shifting hormones and weakened bones. It is a deep, meaningful experience with potential for personal transformation.”

Towards a Soulful Sexuality
In her two years spent researching and writing the book, Adele stumbled upon many obscure texts of feminine Tantric Buddhism, and explains how in one she found a tantalising reference to the practice of “deliberate and harmonious menopause”. “It immediately struck a cord with me,” she says as it was finally this definition that revealed to her menopause as implying three additional yet essential concepts – intent, anticipation and grace.

In Tantric Buddhism menopause is viewed as “a physical and spiritual gateway to another life” and as the body’s way of preparing for “worldy transcendence”. In this light, Adele says, “menopause is a positive experience of soul; an important life process and a graduation to something grand, and not simply a pathology to endure”.

Hot flashes may signify rising kundalini energy, she says, a surge of strength, a call to power and transformation. The “deliberate” menopause of the immortal Tantric Buddhist sisters involved spiritual practices, meditation and energy circulation. The Tantra and Taoist traditions, Adele claims, offers us “the deep and incontrovertible insight that sex extends beyond the genitals and ejaculatory fluids, and involves flows and streams of energy that are psychosomatic in nature – sexuality seen as a spiritual activity”.

While the Tantra and Taoist methods offer a wealth of profound knowledge, Adele asserts that “they are also steeped in the images, rituals and religious symbols of their culture and exotic metaphors which do not easily resonate for us.” “Nor should they, they carry their own cultural baggage”, she says, reiterating the need to find our own living metaphors to apply and integrate these sexual wisdoms in another way.

In finding a way to bring these insights into a workable model, Adele has developed the HolyMoves workshops that focus on healing the erotic soul or sexual self, using part of the book as homework preparation. “We use discussion and theoretical overview, as well as energy processes, meditations, movements and some dance,” Adele explains. “The workshops act as an interface between the book and actively, rather than theoretically, helps unlock the concepts of sacred sexuality for women. Ultimately women should find their own sense of their holy erotic souls, and it is never about the sex of their previous understanding.”

She says that initially she had thought she would work with older women, but she began attracting women in their 30s and 40s and combining the essences of her lifetime
interest and involvement with movement, dance, bodywork, dance therapies, yoga and Biodanza. “I intend to write more on this amazing subject, but, for now, I am staying close to the material and the exploration through doing the HolyMoves workshops which are evolving.”

Adele says that one way to change our attitudes and beliefs about our sexual natures is by consciously working to clear our subconscious complexes and issues about sex. If we are physical, emotional, mental and spiritual beings, should sex not then dance in all these dimensions?”, she asks.

“Because sex brings pleasure, it does not mean that pleasure is its primary purpose. Of course the art of love should be pleasurable. But there is a vast difference in attitude between the fine art of sensory pleasure and the manic pursuit for various kinds of ego satisfaction. We need to examine our viewpoints and change the narrow-minded avenues we have for energy discharge.”

Beyond Sex – Quantum Sexuality
Viewed as a “magical force in nature”, Adele says that sex can be a transcendent experience – “a bridge to the superconscious”, an “ecstatic trance”, and gateway to higher realms. She claims it can be “a non-drug induced, altered state of consciousness or, in modern language, one could say that we can get high on sex!”

Sex is actually exceedingly good for our health; ancient Chinese Taoists adepts knew this a long time ago and developed a whole science for achieving vitality, longevity, and health using sexual energy, she says. “Sex was overtly part of medicinal healing; the conserving and transforming of sexual energy was a tonic for one’s general health.”

The Taoists worked with breath and with energy channels in the body, seeing it as an almost meditation – “sex as meditation – another new idea for the West!” she retorts.
“They were talking about motions of energy, internal winds, and fires; and not discussing genital spots and ejaculation!”

“To explore and experience this ‘liberating ecstasy’, we have to fundamentally change our attitudes and conceive of ourselves and our bodies themselves as being a part of
spirit and soul; sexuality as an integral part of spiritual life and practices,” Adele asserts.

She explains how sexual love generates physical life – the human child – and how sexual love can also generate a spiritual life and “the realisation of our absolute being”. In the yoga/Tantra tradition she says, one universal truth binds all – the macro-cosmic body of the universe is reflected in the micro-cosmic body of the individual through complex energy systems.

Rooted in the subtle body within and around each of us lies the dazzling life force of a coiled serpent slumbering at the base of the spine – the kundalini. When this latent power is awakened, it uncoils itself in waves of ecstasy and vital currents that ascend through the central channel of the subtle body, and up and down two side channels on either side of the spine, creating a transcendent experience of energies moving in wave frequencies within the physical structure – up to the brain and beyond, to the universal oneness.

“Expansion and contraction are the two main factors that bring one to the high experience of sexual climax, and are at the beginning and end of all creation”, says yoga and Tantra. The Taoist universe is filled with different kinds of dynamic energy, Adele enlightens, adding that “when we surrender to orgasm, we allow ourselves to vibrate in the universe”. Every sensation, thought and emotion, she says, becomes saturated with holy bliss – “Inside of you is what is outside of you”, the old oracle speaks.

“At the root of sex we discover the cosmos. The mysterious centre of spirituality hides an erotic heart. Our physical matter is holy.” “This is quantum sex,” Adele states – a new/old scared sex for the postmenopausal years. She further adds that quantum sex can work alone, or with a beloved partner. It can work with much physical effort or with little.

Matter and energy in science parallel Shiva and Shakti in Tantra, Ida and Pingala in yoga, Yin and Yang in Taoism, Adele explains. “All of these are metaphors for body and spirit, carrying positive and negative force”, she adds. “Quantum sex requires empowered women who have redeemed the goddess within, which means, among other-self-loving things, liberating her wisdom and sexuality.

For more information on the HolyMoves workshops and dates for upcoming workshops in 2009, email Adele Singer at adele@gruber.co.za. Towards a Soulful Sexuality is available for purchase at www.amazon.com

In Your Dreams
Is there any point to the stories we weave during sleep?

By Beth Cooper

Dreams are a hot potato. There is no universally accepted definition of what – or why – they are, and theories range from strictly scientific to deeply spiritual. What we do know for sure, is that they are real.

Much scientific research has been done on sleep and yoga and related practices of relaxation, as well as meditation methods. A neglected area in this research is yoga nidra or, simply, yogic sleep. In yoga we tend to bypass dreaming with respect to meditation practice, however dreaming offers us a way to confront our emotions and offers us another route to unlocking the subconscious mind. It follows then that sleep and dreaming are an integral part of yoga tradition and should be explored more fully.

To sleep, perchance to dream?
Experts agree that dreaming is an identifiable phase of sleep. Sleep researchers, psychologists and other academics conclude that when people don’t have enough dream time, their emotions are negatively affected.

We dream for about six years in total – that amounts to an average of two hours nightly. While some scientists believe that dreams are nothing more than a biological process, others are not so sure.

Yoga nidra, for example, is a method of “conscious sleep” and a practice which acknowledges the state of dreaming. Swami Veda Bharati says that while many teachers are guiding students through several yoga nidra practices – some true to ancient methods and others quite “innovative and contemporary” – the term itself requires  definition.

He defines yoga nidra as the “experience of a state of conscious sleep in which the subject is showing all the symptoms of deep non-REM sleep, producing delta (1-4 hertz) brain waves, and is at the same time fully conscious of the events in his surroundings.”

In yoga nidra, Bharati explains that one leaves the waking state, moves past the dreaming state and goes into deep sleep – yet remains awake.

To psychologists however, it’s not about the world beyond dreams – but why dreaming exists and what this imaginative world offers us. While surpassing the dream state is a part of meditation practice, dreams also have valuable messages to offer us from the unconscious. They are a further source of getting in touch with our emotional states.

The events of every day evoke “unconscious associations, conflicts, needs and anxieties,” says psychologist Belinda Farre. “The dream often combines elements of these experiences of the day in the dream. So yes, they are thoughts from the day – but the meaning lies in why these particular thoughts and images have occurred.”

This suggests, she says, that dreams have some purpose in terms of processing our emotions.

The Dream Schools
Psychologist Sigmund Freud postulated that dreams were predominantly a form of wish fulfilment, says dream analyst Mathew Mather. In analysing dreams, he would typically dredge up a lot of one’s past, especially childhood.

The psychologist Carl Jung differed, in that he saw dreams as more purposeful and forward looking.

“Instead of endless associations upon associations, he advised keeping to the dream images themselves,” explains Mather, a doctoral student of analytical psychology, who has practiced dream interpretation for two decades.

“For Jung, the dream was something of a ‘magic mirror’ in which we see a larger perspective on our life. This can often have powerful insights into the meaning of our lives in a practical way, but also in terms of reconnecting us to our primordial source – our souls.”

In his worldview, Jung saw dreams as a ‘golden thread’ leading humans back to themselves and their spiritual natures.

Mather says that while there are many physiological reasons for dreaming – such as digestion of the day’s impressions and experiences and release of less useful information – we are still “far off” in terms of a definitive understanding of the actual physiology of dreams.

Lost in translation – the hidden meaning of dreaming
Dreams are not a motley collection of meaningless words and images, says Farre. They can operate on two different levels – as a symbolic expression of the unconscious and based on cultural and personal meanings.

“Many people have beliefs about their dreams, be it that they are prophetic, visionary, a message from ancestors or the divine,” she explains. “This cultural or personal meaningis what the dreamer thinks the dream means. These meanings become important to the dreamer.”

The idea of the “unconscious” has become a well-worn phrase of popular culture. Basically, says Farre, there is a huge reservoir of feelings, drives, fears, needs, thoughts and memories to which we do not have conscious access – and these could all be expressed in dreams instead.

“Freud saw dreams as the royal road to the unconscious. They are a symbolic expression of significant unconscious material. This means that they cannot be interpreted literally – each symbol has a meaning. “If the dreamer remembers the dream and is willing to share their associations to the dream, it becomes possible to understand things about themselves of which they are not fully conscious. This can be freeing.”

The problem with pinning labels on your dream symbols, of course, is that your particular perception of that symbol may be wildly different from your cousin’s or best mate’s. Water, for example, may symbolise emotion for me, but drowning for you. Yet another dreamer may view water as life-affirming – or reminiscent of comfort and security in the mother’s womb.

“Each symbol has personal associations and meanings,” says Farre. “This is why the dreamer needs to give their (own) associations to the dream.”

Scientists have identified several common dream themes during content-analysis studies. These include running slowly or on the spot, sexual encounters, arriving late, school-related situations, being chased, falling, flying, failing an exam, being in a car accident and seeing a dead person alive again.

Clinical psychologist and author Patricia Garfield, co-founder of The Association for the Study of Dreams, believes that there are 12 basic dreams which she regards as “universal”. We’ve all had them, she says – the terrifying scenario of being chased by a horrid monster, a loved one dying or being hurt or suddenly finding oneself naked in public.

These types of dreams have existed since before recorded literature and will likely occur in many households across the world, every night. She details the dreams in her groundbreaking book, The Universal Dream Key: The 12 Most Common Dream Themes Around the World.

Working with dream analysts to compare an individual dream with variations of a worldwide theme could help people understand the likely meaning of their particular dream, explains Garfield.

The benefit s of bedtime – how dreams improve your life
“The symbolism in dreams, just like those in art, can be enormously powerful and capture the complexity of people’s emotional experience and dilemmas,” says Farre.

It is therefore beneficial to begin taking notes on your nightly narratives.

“Sometimes clients will have a dream of this kind and it is something that really deepens their understanding of themselves. The symbols become a language for expressing these things and, more important, clues for emotionally healing.”

We benefit from dreams simply by dreaming them, she says. If nothing else, dreaming fulfils desires that would otherwise remain frustrated in real life, because they conflict with reality or our conscience. Dreams may reveal fears that stand in the way of us growing or doing what we want to do.

They may also have a “brutal honesty”, says Mather. They can portray our lives in a real and direct way, without niceties.

A woman dreaming of being alone in a car, driving up a mountain and knowing that she would fall off into the sea once she reached the summit is a suitable example of the “no frills” imagery of a dream message.

“This portrays a lonely person (alone in car), with lots of ambition (going up the mountain), but also someone headed for disaster if she continues her life without reflection,” explains Mather.

Recurrent dreams – or those related to traumatic events – are also powerful ways in which our minds cotton on to an important life theme and urge us to act on it.

Playing with your dreams should be fun. Although some people consider dreams to be hocus pocus nonsense, there’s little doubt that they have an impact on our waking lives. Mather encourages us to remember that there is “no such thing as a Dream Guru who always understands a dream”. Your dreams will often be enigmatic, and even deep contemplation may never reveal their secrets.

Keeping a dream journal

• Use paper or a tape recorder to keep track of your dreams. It’s important to record every bit of detail possible – including emotions and any “trigger” symbols that seem to stand out.
• Upon waking, scribble down as many details as possible, or record them on your tape recorder.
• Detail even the most insignificant facts, such as shoe colour.
• Describe emotions and attitudes of people in the dream (including yourself).
• Ask questions. These might be : “Does this dream seem to link to anything that’s happened to me this week?” or “Do I know the people in this dream? Do I like them?” and “How did this dream make me feel? Is it trying to tell me something?”
• Review your notes each week or month. Are there common themes? Can you pick up recurring patterns?
  If necessary, contact a psychologist or talk over your dream with a perceptive friend or partner.

Dream expert Patricia Garfield says that keeping a dream journal takes practice. If necessary, she suggests, you could even include drawings to better help you capture the dream imagery.

“My Dream Saved Our Lives”
A thorny category of dreams is the predictive type. Hollywood has glamourised the idea of being able to see the future in your sleep, with the result that many people are suspicious of this type of dream state.

But there are people for whom predictive dreaming is very real.

“I had my first one when I was six years old,” says Marie Beytell, 41, owner of an interactive communication campaigns company.

“It was the evening before we had a major accident. What I dreamt that night stopped my mother from allowing my baby sister and I to sit, as we always did, at the back of the luggage compartment of our camper van.

“While driving the next day, we were hit from the back by a truck at the exact spot I had seen in my dream – where I had also seen a fire and a skeleton.”

Mather says predictive dreaming tends to push our rational understanding – people find it very difficult to accept that such a phenomenon exists. This doesn’t, however, mean that it doesn’t.

“Jung had two opinions on such dreams. One is that we ‘scenario plan’ – possible life situations are anticipated in the dream as a way of preparing us for more adapted survival.

“He writes of the prospective function of dreams, indicating the forward and future-oriented nature of them. The example of the woman and her car would probably fall into this category.”

The other Jungian theory involves “absolute knowledge” – the idea that the deeper layers of our unconscious psyche, or “collective unconscious” – has a knowledge of future and past events.

Beytell says she views her ability as both a blessing and a curse. One nightmarish dream involved seeing an acquaintance in a coma and dying. A week later, he committed suicide.

Remember, remember
You may wish to uncover mystical messages at night – but what if you can’t recall them? Experts explain that modern culture doesn’t place enough importance on dreaming and so, we’ve lost our ability to integrate dreams into rushed lifestyles ruled by bleeping alarm clocks.

To reclaim your “Dream Power”, you must train your mind to remember.
• A relaxing bedtime routine prepares you for the transition between waking and sleeping.
• Ensure that you’re warm, hydrated and comfortable before you turn off the light.
• Eyes closed, think about the day’s events.
• Suggest to yourself that you plan on remembering your dreams tonight.
• When you wake up, keep your eyes closed! Dream details evaporate if you leap out of bed into a wideawake state.
• Keep practising – your dreams will become more vivid and detailed.

Dream catchers are an ideal way to activate dreaming in your life. Originally created by Native Americans, they are said to protect you from bad dreams and allow positive dreams through. Nightmares or negative stories are caught in the web, while happy and good dreams slip through the central hole, glide down a string of feathers and onto the sleeping person below.

Mather says we shouldn’t worry if we don’t recall dreams. Important or significant dreams will emerge when necessary.

“On the other hand, if you’re dreaming excessively, then this could be a problem in that it can be exhausting!”

Restoring a barrier of “forgetfulness” or seeing a therapist to discuss your dreams will re-frame your life in a positive way.