Hari Om all

Autumn greetings!   Firstly, just a note to remind everyone who comes to my classes that I'm not teaching this week.  Normal service will resume on Monday October 24th.  Allegedly I'm spending time de-cluttering and tidying, but time alone will tell......

I hope you all enjoyed the "Indian summer" in September but colder, wetter weather has definitely set in now, with the shortening days.  Autumn is of course the transition between summer and winter, but a season in its own right, a "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" but also gusts and gales to bring the leaves down efficiently.  

My way of greeting autumn weather is to embark on an Ayurvedic cleansing programme.  They are typically done in Spring and Autumn. It's going to change my eating habits quite markedly for two weeks, with herbs, lots of water, and no between meal snacks.  Wish me luck!  ...

I'm creating this  post from my contribution to the teaching at the Autumn Equinox retreat we had at the weekend, September 19th to 21st.  As a small group of Satyananda teachers in Scotland 5 of us (and a warmly welcomed Sivananda teacher) contributed sessions to the retreat held in the most beautiful setting, on the Isle of Skye, with views of the Black Cuillins from one side and of the Red Cuillins from the other.  We were blessed with beautiful weather and a walking meditation on Sunday was exquisite. 

My session took as its basis the links between Ayurveda, the Vedic science of healing both body and mind, and Yoga, the Vedic science of Self-realization.   Ayurveda and Yoga are considered to be sister sciences and the link between them is PRANA or life-force. So my session involved breathing and pranayama practices.   

Ayurveda is based on the five elements or...