Ganesh, MD,  RYT,  PYT,  is the powerful god of good fortune, a patrondeity of the arts, and the lord of beginnings. He puts obstacles in your path so that you may learn from them, and then takes them away (when he remembers to). He is also a licensed therapist and teaches Vinyasa  Yoga to special needs populations…specifically, Yoga students with elephant heads.

Happy May everyone! They say April Showers bring May Flowers. Unfortunately, I have Hay Fever and with a trunk like mine? I have to stay clear of outdoor activities for a  few weeks, or risk showering everyone with snot. Although some people do like that. Because it’s MY snot,  they somehow consider it a blessing. One guy even bottled my mucus and tried to sell it on Ebay.  “Fresh Ganesh Drippings” he advertised.  Exploiting the affliction of a deity? Not good. I responded by placing an obstacle in his life, i.e., my foot up his ass.

But I digress. On to the healing. We can talk about anything. Yoga, relationships, work, Swine Flu (How’s THAT for an obstacle? LOL, no I can’t take credit for that one, that was my brother Niles.)

Hello Yogis…I’m listening.

Vrksasana, aka Tree Pose

DEAR GANESH,

When I try to do tree I pose find that I can balance better on one leg than the other – I can’t bring my palms together over my head when I stand on my right leg. Is this common and what should I do?

–SHAKY TREE

DEAR SHAKY,

No, it’s not common at all. Everyone’s body is different, of course, but yours? Just plain weird. Really, you shouldn’t even exist. My best advice is to stop embarrassing yourself and  only do tree pose alone in a darkened room.

DEAR GANESH,

I’ve been noticing lately that when I do Bhuja Pindasana my wrists ache for the rest of the day. Should I modify with blocks?

–OM-OW.

Bhuja Pindasana

DEAR OM-OW,

Bhuja-what? I have no idea what that is. Is that like Sanskrit or something? Yeah I can never remember that stuff. I’m gonna  have to go look that up. In the meantime, cease all physical activity. Just read quietly in the corner.

DEAR GANESH,

I have asthma. Is there any Yoga pose that will help me alleviate that?

–WHEEZY IN WESTCHESTER.

DEAR WHEEZY,

Loved you on “The Jeffersons.” Kidding. No seriously, STOP DOING YOGA IMMEDIATELY. Honestly are you NUTS? (Mmm, nuts).

Look, Yoga is about BREATHING. And you? YOU CAN’T BREATHE. Do the Math.

DEAR GANESH,

There’s a girl in my Vinyasa class that is so groovy. She is the bee’s knees. She is just the most. I stare at her every day until the teacher makes me stop. I noticed her smile at me once. What should I do? Should ask her to go for a soda?

–LOVASANA

DEAR LOVASANA,

DUDE YOU GOTTA HIT THAT! She smiled at you that means she WANTS it! And you know you’re both flexible. Oh the things you could do! You go Down on That Dog and report back to me. I’ll put it in my “Ganesh After Dark” column.

That’s it for today. Until next time, see you on the mat!*

*Not really. I’ve got that hip thing.

If you do the kind of Yoga that I do, then you find yourself singing. A lot. Mostly in a language you don’t understand. A language the kids like to call “Sanskrit”.

Now, if you’re new to Yoga, like I am not, you may feel confused and even intimidated by said singing. You may want to look for a Yoga class that has no chanting, like in a gym or at (shudder) Bikram, of which more on at a later date.

I would like to suggest that you embrace your inner “American Yogi Idol” and chant it up! It’s a wonderful way to connect to the spiritual side of your practice, and also to connect with the community. Yoga is at best, a team thing, a place to find union and to be part of the whole. There is no “I” in Yoga. (Ok there is an “I,” in “Yogi” fine. Leave me alone.)

Let’s look at a few famous chants and explore what they might mean.

ALL TRANSLATIONS ARE WAY LOOSE BUT THE MEANING IS INTACT.

EVOCATION TO PATANJALI

OM
YOGENA CHITTASYA PADENA VACHAM
MALAM SHARIRASYA CHA VAIDYAKENA
YOPAKAROTAN PRAVARNM MUNEENAM

PATANJALIM PRANJALI RANATOSMI

This is a tribute to Frank Patanjali, Capo Regime of the Corleone Family who testified that he “didn’t know no Godfather”…

I’m sorry what? Oh. Ok, my bad. It’s actually an homage to the famous sage who devised the “Eight Limbs of Yoga,” of which Asana (physical posture) is only one. (Imagine doing Yoga with 8 limbs? Omigod we gotta find an Octopus and teach it Half-Moon.) Patanjali is also rumored to have written a Sanskrit Grammar dictionary but my library doesn’t have it.

Here’s that chant in English

I bow to the sage Patanjali, who cured the imperfections of the mind through yoga

the imperfections of speech through grammar and the imperfections of the body through medicine

So yeah, you gotta love how this guy rolled.

PRAYER FOR ENLIGHTENMENT

OM
ASATOMA SADGAMAYA
TAMASOMA JYOTHIRGAMAYA
MRITHYORMA AMRUTANGAMAYA
OM SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTI

Lead us from darkness to light
From ignorance to truth
And from death to eternity

Let peace prevail everywhere

My Yoga journey started with the Hatha classes at Integral Yoga in the West Village of NYC. Slow but intensely spiritual. We ended each class with the above prayer. Dickens said “ignorance” was our greatest danger, and us Yoga peeps are warriors in the fight against said stoopidness. (Well, he said the first part, the 2nd part is me)

THE CHANT OF GANESH

Ganesh, my favorite god. Head of an elephant, body of a guy who’s had a lot of peanuts. God of obstacles. He puts them in your path to challenge you, and takes them away when you’ve learned. I love this guy.

Om gam ganapataye namaha!

LOOSE MEANING

OM= The primordia sound or vibration, can be used to say Hello Ganesh. How You Doin’?
GAM= the sound o’ Ganesh, or the Bija Mantra.
Ganapataye= Ganesh, thank you for screwing with me and then making everything better. Really.

Namahah=I honor you, Elephant Dude”

For more chants and how they sound in mp3, visit theyogasanctuary.net. Until next time, Peace and don’t choke on your mantras!

By Jim Catapano, as posted on namayay.blogspot.com