Showing posts with label cora wen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cora wen. Show all posts

Meet Cora Wen! And the Sirsasana Challenge, It’s On 2010! DECEMBER 15, 2009 in YOGADORK NEWS, PUBLIC DISPLAY OF YOGA

Posted by Cora Wen Monday, January 11, 2010 1 comments


She calls it Sirsa Graffiti Around the World. We call it Awesome! Meet Cora Wen!

The world traveling yogini who makes it her business to share her ever expanding knowledge of yoga through teacher trainings and workshops all

over the globe, and on her head! See if you can spot the stillness of a yogi in the video above.

We love Cora for her buoyant spirit and infectiously zestful cheer. Having studied with the likes of Erich Schiffmann, Patricia Walden and Judith Hanson Lasater, Cora is a

teacher’s teacher and we greatly admire her contribution to the world of yoga. AND for telling us all about our mudr

as - a fave of her recent blog posts, Mudras and Meaning. But what really has us going bonkers? Cora, upside do

wn, all over the world! Cora Wen is the sirsa garden gnome of yoga! –Do not try (most of) this at home yogadorks.


Recently spotlighted on comedic cohort yogadawg.com, and prominently featured on our conscious big brother elephantjournal.com, it’s Sirsa Graffiti all right, and it sparked the rumbles of a DIY challenge! Are you up for it?

Sirsa Snapshot Challenge: It’s simple. Grab a camera, a pal to take the pic, and you know the rest! Of course, this is all for fun and not a contest so get creative, but please, as conscious yogis, be safe and mindful! Maybe even wear your #yogadork tee to make it extra dorkie. This is way easier than our impromptu yoga video challenge (hopefully).

Then post your photos on your blog, as fan photos on the yogadork facebook page or Cora’s page.

Let’s make this a challenge for the new year and see if we can keep it up through 2010. OK go!

Scroll down for our favorites in the Sirsa collection and go to Cora’s facebook album for the full set.



http://www.yogadork.com/2009/12/15/meet-cora-wen-and-the-sirsasana-challenge-its-on-2010/

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Thinking of the 5 Subjects for Frequent Recollection...

Posted by Cora Wen Monday, December 7, 2009 0 comments

Jarādhammomhi jaraṃ anatīto/a
Vyādhidhammomhi vyādhiṃ anatīto/a
Maraṇadhammomhi maraṇaṃ anatīto/a

Sabbehi me piyehi manāpehi nānābhāvo vinābhāvo/a

Kammassakomhi kammadāyādo kammayoni kammabandhū kammapaṭisaraṇo yaṃ kammaṃ karissāmi kalyāṇaṃ vā pāpakaṃ vā tassa dāyādo bhavissāmī

Evaṃ amhehi abhiṇhaṃ paccavekkhitabbaṃ



I am of the nature to age, I have not gone beyond ageing
I am of the nature to sicken, I have not gone beyond sickness
I am of the nature to die, I have not gone beyond dying
All that is mine, beloved and pleasing, will become otherwise, will become separated from me

I am the owner of my kamma, heir to my kamma, born of my kamma, related to my kamma, abide supported by my kamma. Whatever kamma I shall do, for good or for ill, of that I will be the heir.

Thus we should frequently recollect.

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What Colour is Your Prayer Flag?

Posted by Cora Wen Sunday, December 6, 2009 3 comments


Images of colorful prayer flags fluttering in the wind, a dance of shadow and light against the majestic Himalayas. These speak of freedom and wishes for goodness and peace on the planet


In the high mountains, it is a simple way to gain merit by putting up prayer flags for the benefit of all beings. Prayer flags are ancient Buddhist prayers, mantras and symbols that have a powerful spiritual vibration carried by and into the wind.


Prayer flags date to ancient Tibet, China, Persia and India, and the texts and symbols are based in Buddhist philosophy. Pre-Buddhist shamanistic priests used colored flags in healing ceremonies, arranging them around a patient harmonising the elements for physical and mental health. Colored flags were used to appease gods and spirits of the mountains, valleys, lakes and streams, thought to cause natural disasters and disease.


Tibetan word for prayer flag is Dar Cho

“Dar” ~ increase life, fortune, health and wealth

“Cho” ~ all sentient beings


Traditionally, prayer flags are in sets of five of five colors. The colors represent the five elements, and the Five Pure Lights and are arranged from left to right in specific order. Chinese medicine trusts health and harmony are produced through balancing these 5 elements.

The order of color is always: yellow, green, red, white and blue. In vertical display yellow goes at the bottom and blue at the top. For horizontal display the order can go from right to left or left to right.

Nyingma (Ancient Ones) School:

Blue ~ sky/space

White ~ air/wind/cloud

Red ~ fire

Green ~ water

Yellow ~ earth



When raising prayer flags proper intention is important. If they are put up with “I will benefit from this” – which is an ego-centered motivation, benefits will be small. If the attitude is “May all beings everywhere receive benefit and find happiness,” the virtue generated by such motivation increases the power of prayers.


Tibetan tradition considers prayer flags to be holy, and they bear sacred texts and symbols that need to be treated respectfully. They should not be placed on the ground or put in the trash. When disposing of old prayer flags the traditional way is to burn them so the smoke may carry their blessings to the heavens.

Prayer flags move with the wind, quietly harmonising the world, impartially increasing happiness and good fortune to all beings. These prayers are blessings borne on the breath of nature. All beings touched by the wind are uplifted and a little happier. As a drop of water resumes into the ocean, prayers dissolve in wind extend to fill space.


May the winds rise to carry happiness along...


"For as long as space endures, and for as long as living beings remain, until then may I too abide to dispel the misery of the world" - Shantideva prayer

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No War - Mudra of Laos - Legacy of War

Posted by Cora Wen Friday, December 4, 2009 2 comments

The Abhaya mudrā ("mudrā of no-fear")


In Sanskrit Abhaya means fearlessness, and the abhaya mudra symbolises protection, peace, and the dispelling of fear.

The gesture is ancient, demonstrating that the hand is empty of weapons, indicating friendship and peace. The gesture implies fearlessness before a potential enemy.

In Buddhism, it is a symbol of the fearlessness and spiritual power of the one who makes it. According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha made this gesture after enlightenment. When the Buddha was attacked by an angry elephant, he held up his hand in the Abhaya mudrā and immediately calmed it.

It is usually made with the right hand raised to shoulder height, the arm bent and the palm facing outward with the fingers upright and joined and the left hand hanging down while standing. When the right hand is in the abhaya mudra, the left hand usually makes the varada mudra (gift-giving gesture). In Japan, Abhaya mudrā is with the middle finger slightly forward, a symbol of Shingon sect. (Japanese: Semui-in; Chinese: Shiwuwei Yin)

In Laos, the mudrā is shown with both hands making a double Abhaya mudrā that is translated as "No War". The abhaya mudra on a (standing) walking Buddha is called 'the Buddha placing his footprint' and is unique to this region.

In a region that has suffered colonialism, civil war and the largest bombing mission throughout the American-Vietnam war, this is a particularly poignant symbol.


The US dropped two million tons and 580,000 bombing missions - the equivalent of a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24-hours a day, for 9 years in a secret bombing campaign from 1964-1973.


The bombing was an effort to destroy North Vietnamese supply lines and fend off the North Vietnamese Army. The Ravens, U.S. pilots in Laos, flew 1.5 times the number of air sorties flown in all of Vietnam.

Each cluster bomb scattered several hundred tennis-ball-sized bomblets (known as bombies in Laos) over 5000-sq-meter areas. About 260 million cluster bomblets fell over Laos with close to 53 million bomblets dropped within one kilometer of villages.

Up to 30% of the bomblets did not detonate on impact, leaving an estimated 86 million unexploded cluster bomblets buried in fields, roads, forests, rivers and villages. Laos continues to have the largest unexploded landmines and bombs of any nation.

http://www.legaciesofwar.org/traveling-exhibit/history/history-bombing-laos



Perhaps we can remember this reminder of how important it is to promote Peace on the planet.


...No War, Protection, Fearlessness, Benevolence to all beings...


Upajjhatthana Sutta - Five Daily Remberances

Kammassakomhi kammadāyādo kammayoni kammabandhū kammapaṭisaraṇo yaṃ kammaṃ karissāmi kalyāṇaṃ vā pāpakaṃ vā tassa dāyādo bhavissāmī...


I am the owner of my actions, heir to my actions, born of my actions, related to my actions, abide supported by my actions. For whatever actions I do, for good or for ill, of these I shall be the heir.


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Snake Oil Exists!

Posted by Cora Wen Wednesday, November 25, 2009 1 comments

OK folks...I have seen a Lot of weird things in my travels, but this one is pretty WILD!

A trip to the sacred Pak Ou caves up the river where locals have brought buddhas (4000+) for 100s of years is an awesome sight. Full of prayer and well wishes, these caves guard over the majestic Mekong and the Naga (mystical water snakes) protects the villagers.


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In fact the villages near these caves believe in the magical power of the Naga so much that thy even make a whiskey that includes the venom of local snakes...this whiskey is used for medicinal benefit and is supposed to have the power to heal many illnesses. This snake medicine is primarily used for men and the illnesses served include arthritis, skin rashes and problems, and will help keep you virile into old age!

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I am not sure about you, but I will stick to my organic Dr Hauschka creams!SDC10372

Considered for a nanosecond or less to get one, but then thought about it breaking in my luggage....

Of course, they did have a <3oz>

Love and laughter from Laos!

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Pictures from Thailand Yoga Journal

Posted by Cora Wen Thursday, November 19, 2009 1 comments











Here's some pictures to share of the Yoga Festival in Bangkok!

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Looking for International Collaboration

Posted by Cora Wen Friday, November 13, 2009 0 comments


So, it's day 2 in Thailand and I dont know what day it is or what time or even where I am in this jet lag haze... Today was the search for international telecommunications.


Thinking I was clever, I picked up an unlocked international mobile phone a few years ago in India. India is one of the places where you can buy unlocked mobile phones and just add SIM cards and money to your account.

This has been particularly useful for my travels around the world. Even my great love for Apple products in general, and the iPhone in particular gets superseded by the need for connection. And connection at a low cost...remember I am from Hong Kong and born with the genetics of a bargain hunter!

Back to the hunt for international connections. So arriving last night in Bangkok, I discovered the iPhone didnt connect in any shape or form, and somehow, my Indian mobile had no charge at all! My iPhone had been apped up with all kinds of kool toys - currency conversions, Thai language tips, Lonely Planet guides and other fun and totally unnecessary tools for travel. In fact, I never had any of these tools or even looked at a guidebook in my backpacking days.

But now, I am lost without my connections, and that has added to my sense of being lost in space. I use the handy mobiles to keep me on time and to tell the time, and now 2 phones and a laptop later, and I have no idea what time it really is (Chicago songs singing in my ear...)

To add to this international confusion, my Indian mobile with the fancy devanagari numbers (sanskrit to you my friend), had been loaded with Euros in Ireland this summer. So...an Indian phone with Irish money looking for power in Thailand... is this becoming an international incident?

Charged the Indian/Irish phone and went to buy a SIM at the local 7/11...Yes, I said 7/11 - isnt that where YOU would think to go for a disposable phone connection? Think they always use that in Law & Order or CSI for the bad guys. This is where Ronald MacDonald gave me Namaste smiles, and I rather smugly and unyogically had all kinds of opinions and judgements about fast food, marketing imagery, and all the other politically correct, green, Yogi reasons to be smug! Indian/Irish/Thai phone resolved.

So on to the iPhone situ... And this is how a hi/lo tech geek yogini handles it - Call home!
Had a Skype to my partner Jack who called AT&T and I talked to them over Skype/mobile/wireless. Bangkok Yogini talking to Irishman in Cali talking to AT&T rep in call centerland (India..?!) Many moments later, iPhone connection resolved.

So now I am happy as a Yogi in Bangkok could be, right? Unless you manage to blow out the hotel electricity! Plugged one more little gizmo into the wall, and suddenly there is a fizz, bang and smoke coming out of the wall! Uuuuh, I think I did something wrong...now all the lights are out in the room!

Memories came flashing back of how I burned the wall socket in Delhi and blew out the entire hotel for our entire group...in TWO hotels! Wasn't as bad this time...I am in the land of smiles after all! The electrician came and fixed everything and gave me smiles and namaste greetings. And I was not smug with him or the 2 sweet Thai women who were helping to translate what happened. I didn't tell them about the smoke. Ssssh!

Maybe I shouldn't have been so smug to the Ronald MacDonald namaste giving smile. After all, he was smiling AND wishing me to see the divine in him seeing the divine in me, right?

So lesson is...the divine is Divine, whether dressed as Ronald MacDonald or in saffron colored robes. This Yoga practice can help to change us, shift us to become better, to become ourselves, to become happy in all situations.

My life is blessed, and I am grateful for the ability to laugh on this side of the earth. It may not be as easy on the other...

Tomorrow the Yoga Festival begins, so will check in with all y'all later!

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Land of Smiles and Airplane etiquette...

Posted by Cora Wen Thursday, November 12, 2009 0 comments





I am leaving for Bangkok today to go teach at 2009 Yoga Journal Thailand Festival. Yes, that's right, there is a Thai edition of Yoga Journal and they have their own conference with Yoga teachers from Thailand, Japan, India and the US!

It will be amazing to return to Thailand and teach Asian yogis! I have had an opinion about different bodies and the cultural, emotional and anatomical differences in Asians, so there will be lots of bodies to see! And will blog about my observations, opinions and what I see, do and experience over here in the "land of smiles"

Yoga Journal tells me these conferences are set up differently, and there will be 200+ in each class...wondering if there wil be a translator? Or do I hope that my physical instructions suffice?

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Just got off the plane after 22 hours of travel from San Francisco to Bangkok...uuuuhhh Where am I again? SO glad I booked an extra day to rest before teaching 200+ yogis as a fernagi in a distant land! But wait... aren't I Already a ferengi in the US!! Or am I always to straddle te two worlds and have to make sense of it all..

Here in Thailand, I will be a foreigner teaching about the tradition of Yoga, and in the US, I bring in my Chinese modalities and traditional wisdom and am seen as crossing the bridge... Are we ALL strangers in our own and other lands...?

Sooooo, my thoughts tonight are about the etiquette of the shared airplane armrest, and how to live in Yogic wisdom and kindness when the businessman and grandmother next to me are both spilling into the arm rest on the 18 hours of flying.

Do I smile and say Namaste, wishing all beings kindness? Or do I say what my loud inner American wants to and say "MOVE over...please..." and then nod and say Namaste...?

As my Tibetan friend Thinlay, the thangka painter said as I was bemoaning my unenlightenment and inability to sit still under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya... "I wish happiness for all living beings....except mosquitos!"

Tomorrow is a search to find a SIM card for my unlocked Indian mobile phone...cant get my super hi tech and groovy iPhone to work here without costing too many bahts! Will catch up with all y'all in the am!

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Yogi Imperfect = I'm perfect

Posted by Cora Wen Tuesday, November 10, 2009 0 comments

Just spell this differently...


imperfect
=

Im

Perfect


I am definitely perfectly imperfect...

watch this vid that Jack shot of me talking about being imperfect at the Bantry House on the southern coast of Ireland...

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Chinese Energy Meridians

Posted by Cora Wen Monday, November 9, 2009 1 comments


Are you interested in Chinese Energy Meridians? I have been fascinated since I was a child by the idea of energy running through my body, and have been feeling this energy in my Yoga Practice since I first started practicing. I remember sitting around as a child and putting my feet on my head and thinking - is This Yoga? And if it is, how Kool. And if it isn't... why are there currents flowing through my veins? As an adult when I started to do Yoga again, I worked on Rajakapotasana when you lay on the ground on your belly and bring your feet to your head.. and, again... it is an electric current. A thrill of Joy! Now I am playing around with these energy points and seeing how I can access them through my Yoga practice. Would love to hear about some of your experiences, so share some of your stories...!

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