Yoga with Manjunaga

Poem for the week is 'It Happens All The Time In Heaven' by the 14th-Century Persian poet Hafiz.

It happens all the time in heaven,

And some day

It will begin to happen

Again on earth –

That men and women who are married,

And men and men who are

Lovers,

And women and women

Who give each other

Light,

Often will get down on their knees

And while so tenderly

Holding their lover’s hand,

With tears in their eyes,

Will sincerely speak, saying,

“My dear,

How can I be more loving to you;

How can I be more

Kind?”

Image Jonathan Cooper

Words of inspiration for this week come from by the Australian singer, musician and writer. Nick Cave

" Live as creatively and boldly as your heart allows. Keep a light grip on the reins, take a breath, step into the unknown and trust. Trust - the active heart of faith, a word so fragile, so essential, so easily forgotten. Have faith and do - and in the luminous words of Julian of Norwich, the fourteenth-century mystic who wrote from her tiny penitential cell, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well

May you find a long and love-filled life worth living. "

I am pleased to share with you that I are offering an opportunity to join me and my good friend Satyamati for a week in the beautiful Sussex countryside for a yoga & meditation retreat Rivendell retreat centre.

During this retreat we will have the opportunity to explore the energetic principles of the Sun and Moon through the body and creative imagination.

These retreats offer the opportunity to combine the practice of yoga with the added depth of awareness that meditation creates.

An introduction to Buddhist meditation will also be taught on the retreat led by Satyamati. The Meditation and Yoga taught will emphasise a body-based approach.

Rivendell is situated on the edge of a small East Sussex village, the retreat centre itself is housed in a former Victorian rectory. Surrounding the house is a lovely garden, beyond which lie fields and woodland. It has simple communal accommodation, which is warm and comfortable.

Balancing the Moon & Sun:
Yoga & Meditation Week
With Manjunaga & Satyamati

Rivendell Retreat Centre.
Friday, July 10th - Friday, July 17th
£459 - £359 concessions

Everyone is welcome: This retreat is suitable for those new to meditation and Buddhism.

Full details are available in the link below.

https://rivendellretreatcentre.com/retreat/146/balancing-the-moon-sun-yoga-meditation-week/

Warm wishes x

Manjunaga

Poem for the week is by Mary Oliver 'The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac'

Part 3.

I know, you never intended to be in this world.
But you’re in it all the same.

so why not get started immediately.
I mean, belonging to it.
There is so much to admire, to weep over.

And to write music or poems about.

Bless the feet that take you to and fro.
Bless the eyes and the listening ears.
Bless the tongue, the marvel of taste.
Bless touching.

You could live a hundred years, it’s happened
Or not.

I am speaking from the fortunate platform
of many years,none of which, I think, I ever wasted.
Do you need a prod?
Do you need a little darkness to get you going?
Let me be urgent as a knife, then, and remind you of Keats,
so single of purpose and thinking,
for a while,
he had a lifetime.

Image by Molly Malone Cook

Dear Yoga Friends,

I have a couple of spaces on Yoga Classes starting on Monday.

All courses are held at the Didsbury Parsonage, a beautiful Grade II listed building set in a magical secret garden.

MONDAY
Mixed Level 7 Week Yoga Course
6.00-7.00pm 11th May till 6th July
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ
£87.50/£82.50 concessions ( 4 Places left )

MONDAY
Beginners 7 Week Yoga Course
7.30-8.30pm 11th May till 6th July
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ
£87.50/£82.50 concessions (2 place left )

TUESDAY
Morning Yoga 9 Week Yoga Course
9.30-10.30am 5th May till 7th July
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ
£112.50/£107 concessions ( Places left )

TUESDAY
Restorative & Yin Yoga 9 Week Yoga Course
6.00-7.00pm 5th May till 7th July
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ
£112.50/£107 concessions ( Places left )

THURSDAY
Beginners 9 Week Yoga Course
7.30-8.30pm 7th May till 9th July
The Didsbury Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ
£112.50/£107 concessions ( Places left )

All courses are held at the Didsbury Parsonage, a beautiful Grade II listed building set in a magical secret garden.

Explore classical yoga postures in a safe and supportive environment where students are encouraged to listen to their own body and go at a pace that is comfortable to them.

The courses will focus on building safe alignment infused by clear anatomical understanding. exploring a mixture of flowing sequences and static poses.

These classes will be run in pre-booked courses of 7 & 9 weeks and available to 12 students to allow for intimacy and focused attention.

Everyone is welcome: If you would like to join me you can book a place via the link below. www.manjunaga.com/classes

Warm wishes x
Manjunaga

Poem for the week is by the American poet Rosemary Wahtola Trommer. 'A New Kind of Conversation'.

I find these words a moving example of how we can still be in relationship in our hearts and imagination, with people in our lives who have died.

I have no phone receiver to connect me to the other side,
but every day I speak to my beloveds through candle flame.
Every night, I speak to them through the dark before sleep.
I speak to them in the car when I am alone.
I speak to them when I walk beneath stars,
when I walk in the woods, when I walk in the rain.
It is possible to be with someone who is gone.
It is possible to feel what cannot be seen,
to sense what cannot be heard,
to be held by what cannot be touched.
It is possible for love to grow after death.
If there is a secret, it is, perhaps, openness.
The way air lets light move through.
The way a window invites in the scent of grass.
The way sand receives the ocean,
then, rearranged, lets it pass.

This weeks poem I was introduced to by the mindfulness teacher Vidyamala It is by the 10th century, Japanese poet Izumi Shikibu.

Although The Wind ...

Although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house.

Translated by Jane Hirshfield

Image Ganapathy Kumar