it's all about Fascia!

Meet Dr. Adolf Brown. He is an applied kinesiologist based in Ubud, Bali and so far, one of the best anatomy teachers that I've ever met.

I've heard of 'fascia' before but this is the first time I've understood its importance and the relation between the physical and energetic bodies.  He defined fascia as connective tissues composed of microtubules containing fluid that is electrolytic. Fascia is the ground substance of the energy body. Another concept of how yoga, the physical body and energy body interact. The physical body is the vehicle for the energy body.

Yoga is really about awareness including body awareness, the ability to connect with the body. Dr. Brown said that 'the more we can see within the body, the more we understand the body, the deeper our yoga practice can be."

And to me, the most important thing right now for me in anatomy is fascia, the connective tissues that surrounds the bones, muscles, blood vessels, digestive track, organs and nerves which serves as an energetic communication system. What fascia does is measure electrical circuity to allow the prana, our energy life force to flow through our body.

The Spiritual Energy System by Alex Grey

To illustrate the importance of fascia, let me use Dr. Brown's example. He said that our bones are surrounded by fascia like, shirt sleeves surrounding our arm. The fascia condenses down and becomes ligaments which then connects to the fascia of the next bone. The muscles are surrounded by fascia that condenses down and becomes tendons and connects to the fascia of the bones. The organs are surrounded by fascia and held by ligaments onto the skeletal, and continues to the bones. The brains cerebral cortex is surrounded by fascia and blood vessels.

Part of what Yoga does is it reorganizes the fascia, it moves the fascia restrictions to allow the energy to flow. Unresolved emotional trauma can get stuck in the fascia and creates fluidic restriction which can then blocks the energy and can cause emotional breakdowns. One of the purpose of yoga is to mobilize spinal joints, open the fascia and process an energetic charge release.

The physical body is the vehicle for the energy body. The physical aspect of yoga is to create alignment in the body through the postures to open the energetic channels so that this energy can flow freely. Ultimately, the purpose of yoga is to develop alignment of our energetic body to get to higher states of consciousness and meditation.

And I say amen to Dr. Brown when he emphasized that "The most important issue in yoga is not flexibility and ability to do difficult postures but awareness. Awareness of the body and of the breath and awareness of the anatomical and physiological principles that underlie each posture. From awareness comes control, from control comes grace and ease."

Here comes the rain again: Glenda out, Henry in

posted yesterday on Instagram

Typhoon "Glenda" (code name Rammasum) came and went. It was a 'fast' typhoon. As early as 3:00 am, I woke up with the sound of the winds howling, my wind chime going crazy and potted plants toppled down my balcony.

It was definitely a strong typhoon with sustained winds of 185 kph and gustiness of 230 kph. A report the day before said that "[It is] the strongest storm to threaten the country since Yolanda, a category-five super typhoon that wiped out nearly everything in its path when it crossed the central Philippines... On its current path, it will also be the first to score a direct hit on Manila in at least four years."

I posted a photo on instagram showing the aftermath of Glenda (clockwise from the top) Manila Bay, flooding infront of La Salle Greenhills in my hood, a tree crushed a parked toyota in Magallanes Village and the side of the newly-built Glorietta 5 peeled off.

avocado tree gone (photo via @RocaCruz)

Before noon, the winds started to die down as Glenda moved towards Zambales and eventually exited the country. Fortunately, not much rain was dumped in the city but the winds knocked down several trees, including century old trees even electricity pole lines. In fact, in our house, the trees in the backyard were knocked down including the giant avocado tree I planted ages ago. :-(

century-old tree in front of Kalayaan Hall in Malacañang Palace uprooted (photo via @willliardcheng)

a giant tree crushed a home in Quezon City

Right now, dark clouds are looming. There is a new weather disturbance brewing in the South Pacific and according to the US Joint Typhoon Watch Center, this may intensify into another tropical storm within the next 24 hours and will be called "Henry" (international code name "Matmo'). The system has maximum sustained winds of 130 kph and gusts of up to 160 kph.

Robert Speta of Western Pacific Weather warned that the model outlook "indicate a tropic storm possibly following the same track as Rammasun, with the same steering dynamics in place this would not be very far fetched."

Meantime, I'm going to charge my battery packs and keep praying that the storm steers up northward.

Rak of Aegis, original pinoy rock musical comedy

Bravo!!! This is Philippine Educational Theater Association's (PETA) second run of "Rak of Aegis," an original Pinoy comedy musical based on the songs of the band called Aegis.

I must be honest. I never heard of the band before and I'm not familiar with their music. In fact, I asked the guy who sold the souvenir program who the band was. He looked at me dumbfounded with wide eyes and said .. 1990s all-female rock band?... Halik (Kiss)? Luha (Tears)?  Bakit, Ako Ngayo'y Hate Mo (Why, Do You Now Hate Me?)..  "Ummmm... sorry" was all I can say.

Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed the show - the actors, the music including the well thought out set design with matching knee-deep flood waters and rain. Yes, there was rain and no, you won't get wet.

Performers that night were two-time gold medalist in the World Championships of the Performing Arts Kim Molina as Aileen, Robert Seña as Kiel, Kalila Aguilos as Mary Jane (Issay Alvarez alternates), Kaikai Bautista as Mercy and Arnel Ignacio as Fernan.

Director Maribel Legarda recounted in the foreword of the souvenir program, that two years ago musical arranger Myke Salomon jokingly said "kung meron Rock of Ages, dapat tayo Rak of Aegis." And the three of them together with Liza Magtoto, the playwright, created the musical.

Magtoto would listened to the songs over and over each day.  She said it was the line "ngunit heto, bumabangon pa rin" (But I'm here, still rising) from  Basang Basa ng Ulan  (Soaked through with Rain) that gave her the inspiration to create a plot out of the word 'resiliency" and "ulan" (rain) brought back images of  floods caused by the super typhoons.

She said "I remembered post-Ondoy relief efforts, during PETA's pyscho-social debriefing in Biñan, Laguna.  Two months after Ondoy, the place was still flooded. The shoe and sandal industry was almost gone, globalization had taken its toll as Crocs was in fashion. The mothers I interviewed suspected a subdivision causing the floods, although to this day, the speculation has to be verified. The government had no clear support for the local industry. Although Christmas was going to be bleak, the people didn't look so defeated."

guess who we spottled in the house - David Pomeranz!!

Indeed in 2009, Maricar Cinco reported that the townspeople of Malaban in Biñan, Laguna had to save other than their lives were "the sandals that floated around before the rising floodwater swept them away."  The town had 500 footwear producers and now, only 30 of them survived. In another report, it said over 114,700 people were made homeless and many lived on the top floors of their homes for up to four months, waiting for the flood to subside.

The playwright said that she didn't want the story to simply revolve around resiliency.  She said "But the narrative is more in tune with the songs themselves. This is to say, we bounce back when it comes to love. More than this societal background, most Aegis songs are about love - or actually, the loss of love. So the spine of the play is still this (losing and perhaps finding) love in the time of calamity."

I beg you...please don't miss this show!  It's fun, original and timely! The show will run until August 31, 2014.

Kundalini Yoga Level One Teacher Training

It's a dream come true for me to be in the presence of and to learn Kundalini Yoga Level One from a Yoga Master, Guru Dass Singh, the founder of the International College of Kundalini Yoga.  He is a 'legacy' teacher meaning a direct student of Yogi Bhajan . He met him at the age of 17 years old in 1971. (Guru Dass below playing the guitar).

It was my first Kundalini teacher who pushed me into taking this step. Actually, more of a shove. She kept saying that Kundalini Yoga is a powerful practice and mandatory to one's personal development. She said "We are where we are in our evolution. I am personally committed (at least whatever is left of my human life) to awaken my fellow God-desses so that they can in turn be of service to the rest of the world by animating the GodSpark withIN."

with students from all over the world

And here I am in Bali with 21 other students, literally at the Master's feet listening to his music. Each time he leads us in a meditation kriya, I always end up in tears. It's as if he is singing to my soul, melting my heart.

Kundalini is basically energy which according to Yogi Bhajan has been blocked in the lowest of all chakras, at the first chakra. What actually happens is the joining of two energies - positive and negative, prana and apana - and bring the energy up as it passes through the sushuma. Quoting from Yogi Bajan, he says "[It] works directly on the total energy, and that flow of energy has one simple way: either your sway it or it sways you... [it] is your creative potential. You experience it when the energy of the glandular system combines with the energy of the nervous system to create a sensitivity that the totality of the brain receives signals and integrates them. Then you become totally aware, and your creative potential becomes available to you."

Morning sadhana

The day starts with morning sadhana at 5:30 am,  which is reading of the Japji, a kriya and mantra meditation. Breakfast is usually at 8:00  followed by classes the whole day with a break for lunch, then dinner at 7:30pm and evening meditation with Yogi Bhajan (video) after dinner.

This will be the first of three weeks and I'm looking forward to this transformative technology. As Yogi Bhajan said  "If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it, If your want to master something, teach it."

Warning though the process will bring your shadows into the surface and through the practice, you will learn how to cultivate the courage to address the issues that come up. It's a powerful and transformative, if you are ready to change, this is it!