Conversations with Mirra and Aadil

Dear David – you are always a joy to be around.  Thank you for your generous words.  Your honesty is an example for all of us who practice yoga.

David Swenson (Run time 0.33)

Aadil Palkhivala (Run time 2:57)

Aadil on Meditation (2:22)

We had a student at Yoga Centers who worked for a firm that conducted scientific research. Eventually, his conscience required him to quit his job because the results of his study would prove one thing, and the company that had commissioned the study would pay his company to publish different results.

Unless we absolutely know the source behind the “research,” all research has to be taken with a grain of salt. Often, for every study that “proves” one thing, you can find another that proves the opposite.

Then how do we know if organic foods are higher in nutrition than “conventionally-grown” foods? The proof, as always, is in the pudding.

Have a look at all the people shopping in a store that sells conventionally-grown foods. Do they look alive, vibrant, healthy? Have a look at the customers shopping at stores like PCC Natural Markets or other natural food stores. Can you tell the difference? Keep watching and you’ll be amazed at what you learn – people are the products of what they eat.

If you have been eating conventionally-grown foods and can’t taste the difference between these and organic foods, try this experiment yourself. Eat organic foods for six months and notice how you feel. Then go back and have a bite of a non-organic banana. Can you taste the difference? The aliveness and taste of the organic foods will become obvious once your taste buds have reawakened after your six month experiment.

Remember that your body is your most important possession; become your own best researcher and you’ll always know how to give it the best.

For quick, delicious, organic meals, Mirra and I choose Eastern Essence, which we specifically developed to make eating organic easy and delicious!

The term “shadow” is often used to describe the dark parts within us that we do not wish to see – anger, resentment, envy, and other qualities that diminish us. Yet to live with integrity, we must also be constantly aware of what my wife, Mirra, calls “the white shadow.” A white shadow is created whenever we mask something “bad” in ourselves by maintaining an outward appearance of “goodness.” A white shadow, then, is not only the repression of our shadowy dark side but also the creation of a bright veneer to hide it. Anytime we don’t look at our darkness by insisting that we are light, we are creating a white shadow.

White shadows live whenever and wherever integrity is lacking. We may or may not be conscious of our pretense, but it is there, gnawing at our peace, waiting to be exposed someday. The creation of a white shadow is a way of compensating, a way of avoiding reality, a way of denying that we need to grow. To live with integrity means being willing to admit that we are creating white shadows, being willing to peer into our darkness and acknowledge that we are pretending to be light. If trying to be good only keeps us from recognizing our shadows, what good is trying to be good?

Physically speaking, backbends move the spine into the body, creating strength in the back of the body and length through the groins, abdominal cavity, rib cage, throat, and frontal shoulders. Backbends charge the kidneys by drawing them into the body, rejuvenating the adrenals and drawing the life force given by the kidneys back into the body. Backbends generally open up three major areas of the body – the pelvis, heart and throat. Therefore, they can open the hips, free the chest from congestion, and bring back a healthy curve to the neck.  Most of our daily habits (sitting, driving, working at a desk) cause a collapse in the front of our bodies and push the spine backwards. This is why you will often feel bony lumps on the spine of older people. Backbends bring healthy alignment and mobility back into the spine, moving the vertebrae forwards.

Psychologically speaking, backbends move us toward our future and away from our past, since the back of the body represents the past and the front of our body represents our future. Backbends quieten the hyper-analytical activity of the front brain, and because of the extension produced, trigger a feeling of openness in the limbic system (the emotional center of the brain). In contrast, when we are in a state of fear or anger, we curl up and go into a position of flexion (protection). Thus, psychologically speaking, backbends move us from fear to power.

Energetically speaking, backbends move the spine toward the Pillar of Light in the body. They open up congested and stagnant pelvic energy. This allows the energy to move upward in an expression of aspiration for growth, where it can be transformed by the wisdom of the Heart Chakra. Backbends open up the Heart Chakra, expanding the feeling of love and joy. They also open the throat, allowing the Heart Chakra to express words of beauty and love. This opening also allows the mental energy to move more easily down to the Heart Chakra.

However, a caveat: All the above happens in backbends only if there is the intention for this to happen as you practice. Otherwise you will simply become more flexible!

The Heart Chakra has three main openings. In Purna Yoga we focus on the Heart Chakra that is in the center of the chest. Imagine a horizontal line connecting your frontal armpits. The center of this line is the Heart Chakra. An inch above this region is the opening in the Heart Chakra that stimulates the thymus gland, the master gland of the immune system. About 2 inches below this horizontal line is the portion of the Heart Chakra that begins to unite with the solar plexus chakra. The solar plexus chakra houses human emotions (all emotions other than pure love) and is the heart of the ego, the shadow.

The reason why we, in Purna Yoga, focus on the Heart Chakra on the horizontal line is because this is the doorway to the soul in the physical form. It is from this place that light flows into the body (where matter and Spirit unite), enters the organic heart, brings the heartbeat to the human form and activates the breath. Often, when people touch this place, they feel tightness, emotional numbness, hate, anger or tears. This is just the thin veneer that our ego has placed over the Heart Chakra, blocking our awareness of the spirit living in our body. When we do the Purna Yoga Meditation tapping and flowering techniques, we gently help lift these ego layers, so that the true feeling that our Heart Chakra holds, love, begins to flow. Our aim in Purna Yoga is to go approximately three inches deeper into the chest where we contact the ray or thread of light which is our Soul, that entered the physical form in our third month as a fetus.

I am  delighted to find this, your ever smiling face, and your passion for helping others.  You inspire us all.  Thank you, dear Seane, for your kind words!

Seane Corn’s birthday message to Aadil (0:42)

Thank you, Gary, for this sweet birthday wish!   You are and have been very dear to me.  Gratitude from my heart for your dedication to yoga, and your clear and knowledgeable insights.

Gary Kraftsow on Aadil Palkhivala (1:27)