Antaratma Sadhana yoga weekend with Fr. Joe Pereira

The third annual yoga weekend in Chester with fr. Joe Pereira was a wonderful success. Thanks to Margie and Glen we even got Fr. Joe out for a lovely evening sail.

Close to 40 yogis from as far as Newfoundland, Atlanta and Montreal converged, yukta, in our sweet village to share yoga, delve deeply and open their heart chakra. Below are a few highlights.

Antaratma Sadhana - Fr Joe began with a talk on what distinguishes Iyengar yoga. He spoke of intentionality in our practice - a mindful practice that draws us inward. Antaratma means inward towards the Atman, this is the deepest layer of sadhana (practice). having accomplished Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pratyahya and pranayama the sadhaka (practitioner) moves to the final three limbs of ashtanga yoga - Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Fr. Joe aimed to take us to this level of sadhana by way of...
The Agony and the Ecstacy! With each asana sequence this theme remained constant.

Cardiac sequence. Fr. Joe deomstrates in Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana atrial and ventricular opening. Reference was made to descend the mind from the ajna and visuddhi chakras to the anahata chakra.
The third stage with head resting treats the kidneys.

"The forearm muscles are the "reflector" muscles of the heart and the calf muscles are the second cardiac muscles."

Prostate health sequence. Purvotanasana and Baddha konasana with dowling pressurizing perinium. Ardha yogabandhasana