Manasa yoga, founded by Manoj Kaimal and Sandhya, is a discipline where yoga practice and precepts flow together in a style focused on cultivating a total yogic experience. It sees the integration of a fluid, dynamic and strong body with a mind capable of maintaining a non-reactive, open awareness of the present moment enhanced by an intellect finely tuned to concentrate and contemplate deeply, thus opening up the possibility for health, peace and wisdom.

Manas means the mind. At Manasa Yoga, we see it more as ‘awareness’. And by pre-fixing manas to yoga, it simply highlights our intentions in practising and teaching, which is the cultivation or deepening of awareness through yoga.

The training for the development of this awareness starts with the gross, objective phenomena such as the foot, knee, spine, inhalations, exhalations, etc, through the tools of asana, taught with specific alignment instructions based on anatomical insights, as well as pranayama. This brings about an attenuation of the scattering tendency of the mind and in its place, a state of attentive steadiness. Then, along with a release of tight muscles which cling and restrict our physical movements, the mind too gets a release from the obduracy of many ignorant notions, creating space for spontaneous wisdom to arise; such as the insightful experience of body as a dynamic mass of energy and intelligence, pure and radiant, rather than just a static shape.

Additionally, along with the teachings on asana, an equal endeavour is made to elucidate the philosophical teachings of yoga, such as sankhya, sutras, vedanta and tantra. Combined, the practice and precepts help nurture the ability to look deep and clear into the inner subjective experiences of our mind such as thoughts, moods and feelings. It then enables us to see clearly for ourselves, among other things, the usual ruler of our mind – the sovereign, self reference – I – or the ego self.

In the clear luminosity of a steady, uncluttered awareness, we might realise that this notion of “self”, along with many other beliefs we blindly hold, is mainly a notion that has been indoctrinated by others; an “I” which is driven by desires, inundated with concepts, and which spends most of its time either ruminating the past or worrying about the future, missing the reality of the present moment.

One of the primary objectives of yoga is trying to be grounded in the present moment, as all insights and wisdom rise only in the present. So at Manasa, we are really trying to guide awareness of students to be radiantly present in each moment of each movement. Eventually it is hoped that all these present moments of quiet clarity will amalgamate into one continuous, on-going awareness, in which everything, including all events happening outside, as well as inner mental reactions, can shine with clarity and wisdom.

Then, as we begin to clearly see the various wholesome and unwholesome tendencies, intentions and motivations within us, we can make a conscious choice and skilfully stretch our minds towards the wholesome states such as open friendliness, compassion, goodwill and equanimity, which can bring about a joyous, insightful, contented clear state of consciousness.