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HELP FOR THOSE IN NEED:

Temporary Logging: Temporary lodging places are available at Ateneo Faculty Housing (4266001 loc. 4036 c/o Ms. Sofie Castro) and New Dorms (4266001 loc. 5930 c/o Mr. Mon Bunag). Shelter also provided at the MVP Student Center.

Rubber Boats: Mr. Angelo Olondriz manufactures rubber boats and speed boats. Here’s what he says: “If anyone still needs help please contact Lifeline. The boats are stationed with them now. They are concentrating on medical emergencies. Thanks. They will contact me if they need me. Their number is 16911″

Trucking needs (c/o Jon Panaligan): For trucking of relief goods (in huge quantity) and direct distribution to ondoy victims, please call or text 0918-9286656, 0922-6883328, 0917-8997448, 216-9718.

Medical Assitance: Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health is looking for areas that need medical assistance. Preferably areas that have not received any yet. We are planning

REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE:

ATENEO TASK FORCE ONDOY will continue operations until this Friday. They need water, rice, canned goods, water, toiletries, men’s trousers and shorts. The also need more vehicles and volunteers to transport donations.

POVEDA is asking for assistance in finding the two missing Poveda teachers: Ms. Rom Metila (184G MH del Pilar St., Palatiw, Pasig City) and Mr. Glen Mangali (24B Catalina Subd, Pasig City). If you can help, call Poveda and look for Ms. Beng, Ms. Emma Melgarejo or Ms. Java. Poveda: 631-8756 to 58

LA SALLE GREENHILLS Urgent Needs: Donations of FOOD, WATER, JUICES, MILK, MEDICINES, BLANKETS. They have more than enough clothes. Bring to Gate 2 of La Salle Green Hills on Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong. They also need more vehicles to transport donations. For more information, call 09175295706.

TO WHOM DONATIONS MAY BE COURSED:

FROM JENNY OLIVAR: “Baguio Achievers’ Academy and BAA-PTA at 15 S. Laurel St., Baguio City (Tel. [74] 442-9300) welcomes donations for most wearable clothing, blankets, new pairs of slippers, food (noodles, rice and canned goods), water, or anything that will help to alleviate the plight of the victims.”

FROM PADMA PEREZ: “Dear Baguio people! Canned goods,clothes & anything in good condition being accepted at the executive office, Baguio Convention Center. Office opens 10 a.m., no noon break starting tomorrow. Goods to be brought to Marikina, Pasig & San Mateo, Rizal. Extra hands needed on Thursday to sort & repack goods. Thanks!”

FROM RICO HIZON: “To all Pinoys in Singapore, PNB, LBC and i-Remit are waiving remittance fees for donations to the Philippine Red Cross, Gawad Kalinga, DSWD, Kapuso Foundation, and Sagip Kapamilya. Their offices are located at the 2/F & 3/F of Lucky Plaza, Orchard Road. Please pass this info to fellow Filipinos and Non-Filipinos who would like to help. Thank You”

FROM RAYVI and ALMA: “DLSU now runs a call center open for pledges and any form of support. You can call 523-6158, 526-4611 loc. 128. We also need empty bottles with caps for water. you could also text 0916-4204748 0916-4204748.”

This was posted on Ateneo de Manila University’s Facebook page:

How to send relief for typhoon Ondoy victims from the U.S.A.

Donations for typhoon Ondoy victims from Ateneo alumni U.S.A. residents may be sent to the Ateneo de Manila University through the Philippine Jesuit Foundation and the Ayala Foundation USA. These two foundations issue U.S. tax deductible receipts. PJF and AF-USA are duly registered and qualified charitable organizations in the U.S.A. Donations to the PJF and to the AF-USA are deductible gifts under the U.S. Tax Code Section 501(c)(3).

For donations by check: Issue the check to “Philippine Jesuit Foundation”
On the memo line please write: For “Ateneo Task Force Ondoy c/o OSA & SLB”
“OSA” means Office of Student Activites, Loyola Schools, Ateneo de Manila University
“SLB” means Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan

Send or mail the check with the donor’s (1) full name, (2) email address, and (3) postal address to:
Cristina Tabora
Executive Secretary, Philippine Jesuit Foundation
236 West 27th Street, Ninth Floor
New York, NY 10001, U.S.A.
Telephone (212) 627-2788, (212) 233-0888
Downloadable PJF Donation Form available at http://www.philjesuit.net/illhelp.asp

Please email Cristina Tabora or or Julie Calderon to inform them that you have sent or mailed a check to them. The PJF has waived the 3% service fee for all donations toward the relief of typhoon Ondoy victims. Full donation amounts will be remitted by the PJF to the Ateneo as quickly as possible within the week for typhoon relief.

For donations online: Open the Ayala Foundation USA website http://www.af-usa.org/donate_now.asp
Click on the “donate now” button, click on the credit card icon, and select Ateneo de Manila in the drop down menu. Write “Ateneo Task Force Ondoy c/o OSA & SLB” for your choice of beneficiary. Please email Marivic Padilla or or or call her (+650) 598-3126 for step by step assistance or to inform her that you have made a donation online.

Marivic Padilla
Administrative Assistant, Ayala Foundation USA
255 Shoreline Drive, Suite 428
Redwood City, CA 94065, USA
Telephone (+650) 598-3126, Facsimile (+650) 508-8898
AF-USA Donation Form available at www.af-usa.org/forms/Donation_Form.pdf

Donations through the AF-USA online through credit card will be remitted to the Ateneo as quickly as possible within seven days net of AF-USA 5% service fee and credit card charge.

Donations through the PJF and the AF-USA are monitored by the Office of University Development and Alumni Relations, Alingal Hall, Ateneo de Manila University.

Thank you for your donations.
Jun Dalandan
Director for Alumni Relations

* * *

Office of University Development and Alumni Relations
Alingal Hall
Ateneo de Manila University
Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights
1108 Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Telephone (632) 426-6001 local 4085, 4084
(623) 426-6081/82
Facsimile (632) 426-6080
email: alumni@admu.edu.ph

Some rescue and relief operation centers and individuals have made the following requests:

1.  As many of the victims have no means of cooking food, those donating food are requested to send ready-to-eat food that does not spoil easily.  Make sure that the food packaging could be opened by hand.  Suggested items: Crackers, bottled water (small bottles that even children could carry), canned goods with flip tops, apples, oranges, bananas, plain ham  or cheese sandwiches (no mayonnaise or vegetables that could spoil easily), cookies, bread, dried fruits and hard candy.

2.  For those donating clothing, please send basic and simple clothing.  Nothing complicated.  Suggested items: Slippers, cotton t-shirts and shorts.  Towels and blankets are also needed. Please pack the clothes in plastic bags to waterproof them.

3.  The La Salle Green Hills Relief Operations Center is in need of people who have 4×4 vehicles and are willing to pick-up and deliver food.

4.  The La Salle Green Hills Relief Operations Center, Ateneo de Manila University Relief Operations Center and Xavier School are requesting for more donations of food and clothing.

5.  Ateneo de Manila University Relief Operations Center is in need of plastic bags and packing tape.

6.  FROM ABIE CO: Somebody is looking for a person/s who is willing to transport 100 packs of bread from a bakery on Bacoor, Cavite to any drop-off point for donations.  Please contact 09175109906 for details.

7.  FROM RICO HIZON: PLEASE PASS “To all Pinoys in Singapore, if you would like to help our kababayans impacted by the floods, the drop off point for relief goods is Afreight Cargo, #03-09 Lucky Plaza, Orchard Road. Contact Person: Maureen Schepers 6235-1011/91117855. This initiative is in cooperation with the Filipino Association of Singapore (FAS). Thank you”

8.  FROM RAYVI and ALMA: REPOST: DLSU now runs a call center open for pledges and any form of support. You can call 523-6158, 526-4611 loc. 128. We also need empty bottles with caps for water. You could also text 0916-4204748 0916-4204748. Please repost this. Thank you!

For the past two days, we have been worried about our relatives who live in Town and Country Village in Antipolo.  In the afternoon of 26 September 2009, our relatives sent a message that floodwaters had gotten into their home and had risen up to the fifth step on the first floor. Nevertheless, they were safe on the second floor.  When the rains continued into the night, we tried calling our relatives but we could not contact them because phone lines in their area were down.  We were worried.

By the afternoon of 27 September 2009, a cousin and some friends braved the floods and drove all the way to the entrance of Town and Country.  From the entrance, they paddled a rubber boat to bring help to our relatives.  Thankfully, my relatives were safe albeit traumatized by the whole situation.

A cousin who was rescued had the presence of mind to take these pictures of the havoc wrought by typhoon Ondoy in Town and Country.

All things considered, my relatives are still more fortunate than others.  There are still many out there who need rescuing.  Please help me continue to pray for them and those who have lost everything.

This message was posted on techie.com.ph (by Alora Uy)

Here are some emergency hotlines for those in need of help and phone numbers, account numbers, and addresses for those who’d like to help the victims of tropical storm Ondoy (international name: Ketsana). We’ve compiled everything our Techie friends posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Plurk.

For assistance/rescue operations

ABS-CBN: +632 416 3641
Air Force: +632 853 5023, +63908 112 6976
Bureau of Fire and Protection Region III: +6345 963 4376
GMA-7 Kapuso Foundation: +632 981 1950-59
Jam 88.3: +632 631 8803
Meralco: 16210, 16211, +63917 559 2824, 920 929 2824
Metro Manila Development Authority: 136
National Capital Region Police Office: +632 838 3203, 838 3354 (especially for rubber-boat requests)
National Disaster Coordinating Council: +632 912 5668, 911 1406, 912 2665, 911 5061, +63917 733 4256
PAG-ASA: +632 433 8526
Petron and San Miguel Corporation: +63917 814 0655 (please look for Lydia Ragasa. They’re lending choppers for rescue operations)
Philippine Coast Guard: +632 527 6136
Philippine National Police: 117
Sen. Manny Villar: +63917 422 6800, 917 241 4864, 927 675 1981
Sen. Dick Gordon: +63917 899 7898, 938 444 BOYS
Taguig City: 1623
*For Marikina and Cainta victims: +63917 540 8929. Please text your name, address, age, and current situation

For cash deposits

ABS-CBN Foundation: Banco de Oro account – Branch: Mother Ignacia, account name: ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc., account number: 5630060113
Citizens’ Disaster Response Center: Metrobank account – Branch: Examiner (Quezon City), peso account number: 3636007413, dollar account number: 2636001583, swift code: MBT…CPHMM
Philippine National Red Cross: Metrobank account – Branch: Port Area, peso savings-account number: 1513041631228, dollar savings-account number: 1512151002182, swift code: MBTC PH MM. Bank of the Philippine Islands – Branch: Port Area, current savings-account number: 4991001099; branch: UN, dollar savings-account number: 8114003094, swift code: BOPI PH MM
World Vision Organization: BPI account – savings-account number: 4251004215. BDO account – savings-account number: 270043411

For cash donations via SMS

Red Cross: Text REDAMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4483 (Smart). Friends in the US and Canada who wish to help in the rescue/relief operations may donate through the American Red Cross. Call 1 800 435 7669. Donate through the Red Cross Rescue and Relief Operations
TXTPower: Via Smart Money SmartMoney 5577514418667103, GCash 09179751092, and Paypal is.gd/3GvuN

Accepting relief goods/help in packing relief goods

ABS-CBN Foundation: USA toll-free 1-800-527-2820
Assumption College: San Lorenzo Village, Makati City
Ateneo de Manila University: College covered courts, Katipunan, Quezon City
Aranaz: Rockwell and Greenbelt, Makati City
Ascend Super Club: Bonifacio High Street, The Fort, Taguig City
Binalot: Greenbelt 1, Makati City. Call Tetchie Bundalian at +63922 857 3277 for more info
Camp Aguinaldo: CRS Office, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City
Caritas Manila: Jesus St., Pandacan, Manila. Near Nagtahan Bridge. Phone numbers: +632 563 9298, 5639308
Carla Suiza: +632 211 9749. Needs empty five-gallon water containers with caps to build flotation rafts
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf: All branches
De La Salle Zobel: Gate 7, Molave Street, Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City
DSWD National Capital Region office: Quiapo, Manila. Phone number: +632 734 8634-35, +63915 291 3722
Embassy Superclub: The Fort, Taguig City
Greyone Social and Trilogy: Greenbelt, Rockwell, and Rada branches
Junior Chamber International-Manila: Baypark Tent, Roxas Boulevard, Manila
Kapuso Foundation: GMA-7 Compound, Quezon City. Phone number: +632 981 1950-59
La Salle Greenhills: Gate 2, Greenhills, San Juan
Lingkod Kabataan: 118-B Scout Rallos Street, Kamuning, Quezon City
Luca: All branches
McDo: All branches
Senators Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas: Balay, Expo Centro, Edsa corner Gen. MacArthur, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City. Call Clare Amador at +63928 520 5528 or Jana Vicente at +63928 520 5499 for more details
NU107: G/F, Suite 102, AIC Gold Tower, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas, Pasig City
Our Lady of Solitude Parish: Villa Canacao, Kawit, Cavite. Please look for Father Henry
Pelicola.tv: +63922 835 7441, 917 620 5103, 917 892 1982, 917 938 7800 (for those who live in Ortigas, Greenmeadows, and Kapitolyo)
Philippine Army: Philippine Army Gym, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
Philippine Daily Inquirer: 1098 Chino Roces Avenue corner Mascardo and Yague Streets, Makati City. Phone number: +632 897 8808 local 260 (please look for Megi Garcia)
Radio Veritas: Veritas Tower West Avenue corner EDSA. Phone numbers: +632 925 7931-40
Sagip Kapamilya: 13 Examiner St., Quezon City
Santuario de San Antonio Parish: Rooms 11 and 12, Makati City
Seaoil: All stations
Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan Task Force Noah: Ateneo Cervini Dorm, Katipunan, Quezon City
Southville International School and Colleges: Tropical Avenue corner Luxembourg Street, BF Homes International, Las Pinas City
Team Manila: TriNoma, Quezon City; SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City; Jupiter, Bel-air Village, Makati City; Rockwell, Makati City
Smart Wireless Center: SM Fairview, SM North EDSA, Gateway Mall, Ali Mall, SM Megamall, SM Muntinlupa, SM Bicutan, SM Sucat, Festival Mall, Alabang Town Center, SM Southmall
Valle Verde 1: Clubhouse, Pasig City
Victory: Unit 501, Galleria Corporate Center, Quezon City. Phone number: +632 631 1212
White Space: 2314, Chino Roces Avenue Extension, Makati City. Phone number: +632 844 7328
World Vision Organization: Quezon Avenue, Quezon City. Call Pam Millora at +63917 862 2320
Xavier School, Xavier Street, San Juan. Phone number: +623 723 0481
7-11: All branches

It was only Strom Signal No. 1 in Metro Manila yesterday but heavy rains poured non-stop from early morning until nighttime.  Our street was flooded and I could see that the water level had risen to as high as the wheels of the cars parked on the street.  This was the first time the flood was this high.  It appears that my family and I were the lucky ones.

When I began watching the news, I was horrified to discover that EDSA was flooded, the Marikina River swelled, the underpass of Ayala Avenue was flooded to the street level, people were stuck in Paranaque, NLEX and SLEX for hours.  Metro Manila and more than twenty Provinces were declared in a state of calamity.  Click here, here, here, here and here to see videos from YouTube.

A quick check of family and friends revealed that an aunt had to evacute from her home in Quezon City because the floodwaters reached the second floor of her home, a cousin was stuck in traffic in Paranaque, two people who work for my parents barely survived when Marikina River swelled and swept away their houses and everything they owned, my uncle and his family were stuck in the second floor of their home as floodwaters were slowly rising and my sister’s friend has been stuck in a bus in NLEX for more that twelve hours.  Despite this, they are alive and so is everyone else in my family.

There are, however, many who are still waiting for help to come.  Please help me pray for those who need help.

I am posting the numbers you may call if you or any of the members of your family need help during these time and the persons you could contact or places you could go to if you want to extend any assistance.

HELPLINES:

Sen. Dick Gordon (text FULL ADDRESS for rescue): 09178997898 or 0938444BOYS

Sen. Manny Vilar rescue text hotline: 09174226800, 09276751981

Rubber Boat Request: 838-3203, 838-3354

Rescue dumptrucks: 0917-4226800, 0927-6551981

Bagyong Ondoy: 734-2118, 734-2120

PAGASA: 433-8526

NDCC: 912-5668, 911-1406, 912-2665, 911-5061

Red Cross: 0938-444-2697, 0938-444-2697 and 0917-899-7898

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

From Louie Aguinaldo: “We are starting a Relief Operations Center at La Salle Green Hills beginning 9am tomorrow, Sunday, September 27. Basically, we are turning LSGH into a drop-off point for donations and from there we intend to pack them and coordinate distribution to flood victims…”We would need volunteers for the following: 1. people to help spread the news that donations are accepted at La Salle Green Hills, Gate 2 along Ortigas Avenue.
2. people to help man the Relief Operations Center. This would involve collecting, receiving, sorting, and repacking donations. This would also include helping in coordinating the distribution of goods. So far, the Relief Operations Center will be open throughout the day, it will be decided tomorrow if we will keep it open 24 hours.
3. For those that want to help organize this, we are having a meeting at 9am”

“From Karen C: Ateneo is now accepting DONATIONS for the victims of ONDOY. Donations may be dropped at the MVP LOBBY. For all students who are stranded/ those who need help (as well as those who know of other students who need help), please TEXT your/their name/s, …location and contact number to 0908-8877166. The MVP Building (HQ)is open to all those who have difficulty going home tonight.”

<MANOR TYPHOON RELIEF DRIVE>>. QC/MARIKINA IS ONE OF THE WORST HIT. PLS SEND YOUR DONATIONS FOR CANNED GOODS, CLOTHES, MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND OTHER EMERGENCY SUPPLIES TO MANOR SUPERCLUB, EASTWOOD CITY QC (10AM- 9PM) STARTING TOM SUNDAY AS YOU SOON AS YOU CAN. LETS DO WHAT WE CAN TO HELP.

WARNING:  DO NOT FOLLOW THIS DINOSAUR

Yesterday, a little boy who had seen me doing yoga showed me that his dinosaur could do yoga too.  He then took his Brachiosaurus and positioned it doing Vrikshasana (handstand).  At first I laughed at how silly the dinosaur looked, then, I felt sad because I realized that I looked like the dinosaur while doing my asanas.  Like the Brachiosaurus, my spine was misaligned.

I attended nine out of the fourteen classes of Jawahar Bangera’s workshop.  In those classes, Jawahar made me realize that, in yoga, I was a dinosaur who had to evolve in order to survive.

Jawahar pointed out that (a) my asanas were incorrectly executed because I was overly working my lower back and hardly working my dorsal spine; (b) I had a tendency to hold my breath while doing the asanas; (c) I was using my mind (instead of my intelligence) to execute my asanas; and (d) I had to work diligently on transforming the manner and means of doing my asanas to avoid injury and hopefully achieve the benefits of yoga. Jawahar then patiently taught this dinosaur how to evolve in the hope that, through time, my asanas would be executed correctly.

At the end of the last class with Jawahar, my ego was bruised and my body ached but my mind had quieted considerably.

While I am daunted by the difficult task of working on transforming my asanas, I am humbled and grateful that there is room for me to better myself.

A simply lesson on non-violence through Yoga

In order to teach us how to do Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog) correctly, Jawahar asked one of our classmates to get into that asana. As the explanations of Jawahar and corrections on my classmate took some time, my classmate began to sweat profusely and his legs and arms began to shake. My classmate, like me, was a beginner yoga student.  For beginners, pain in the arms and legs and the shakes were a common experience.  Correct practice through time will make getting into and sustaining the asana easier and will eliminate the pain and the shakes.

While my classmate was sweating and shaking it out in Adho Mukha Svanasana, Jawahar asked him if his legs and arms hurt.  I was surprised by the question as it was very obvious that my classmate was in pain.  Jawahar then told my classmate to remember the pain in his arms and legs and told him to get out of the pose.  Then, in a quiet voice, Jawahar said that our legs and arms have the ability to inflict pain on others. Quite possibly, the pain we inflict on others is the same pain we feel in our arms and legs as we get into an asana.  Immediately, I tried to remember those times when my sister and I would have spanking and hitting sessions when we were children and I was horrified at the realization that I must have inflicted so much pain on her.  Over twenty years after my parents scolded me for hitting my sister, I am now truly sorry for what I did.

As we strive, through constant practice, to eliminate the pain in our arms and legs when we do the asanas, we should constantly work to avoid inflicting the same pain on others as well.  According to Jawahar, the asanas teach us how not to inflict violence or injury on ourselves so that we may learn not to do it to others.

Perhaps this is a very simple lesson in non-violence but I must say that the full impact of this lesson will dawn on you once you feel pain in your the arms and legs as you learn to do Adho Mukha Svanasana.

Lessons in Humility and Compassion

It was in the morning class of the second day of the workshop that Jawahar told me that I had to re-learn Salamba Sirsasana. As there was another class that  afternoon, I went up to Jawahar after the morning class and asked him to teach me how to do Salamba Sirsasana correctly. Jawahar asked me if I was coming to class the next day and told me he would teach it to me then.  During the afternoon class when Jawahar finished explaining a lesson in Pranayama, he asked the class whether we had any questions. Then, he looked at me and said to the class that we should not ask him questions after class but during the classes so all could learn.  I need not tell you that that statement made me feel bad.

I did not, therefore, expect much after that set down. Jawahar did make good his promise to help me correct my Salamba Sirsasana during the next day.  I expected no less from him in that respect.  I was, however, surprised and touched when I realized that many of the asanas Jawahar made the class do were designed specifically to help me improve my Salamba Sirsasana. While doing those asanas, Jawahar painstakingly corrected me (and my other classmates as well) and tried to make me understand how to correctly execute them. It was then that I felt humbled by the attention devoted by Jawahar in teaching me how to improve my asanas. While he is a very exacting teacher, Jawahar also showed me great compassion by understanding my weaknesses and not belittling me for it. Rather, he accepted my weaknesses and worked with me to eliminate them.

When we students later expressed to Jawahar our gratitude for the invaluable lessons he had imparted, he simply stated that this is what he does.  And yet, in reality, Jawahar has become one of my best teachers.

Transforming myself through the destruction of my asana

I know very little about the subject of which I am about write. I am only a student of Iyengar yoga and a beginner at that. I am a Catholic and my knowledge of the Hindu religion is likewise very limited. Consequently, I advise the readers to view this article merely as the ramblings of a yoga student in the aftermath of a disappointing exam.

It is my understanding that the Hindu god, Shiva, is both destroyer and transformer. It is said that Shiva destroys a thing in order for it to be rebuilt and transformed into something pure and true.

In today’s class, my teacher, Jawahar Bangera, mimicked Shiva when he totally destroyed my Salamba Sirsasana (not to mention my ego) and asked me to re-learn it.

Salamba Sirsasana is the headstand, which is sometimes known as the king of all asanas. While I still do not know why Salamba Sirsasana is the king of all poses, It is one of the few poses I learned early on, and because of that, it is a pose that I love to do. Before the workshop with Jawahar, I thought that I had been getting better and better at Salamba Sirsasana. I was mistaken.

Like everyone else who learns how to do Salamba Sirsasana, I learned it by doing it against the wall for more than a year. I found joy the first time I was able to get my legs up on the wall. I was happy when I was able to move my legs little by little away from the wall. I was in awe when I first noticed heat generated by my body as the blood flows down to the brain. I began to believe in the pose when, sometime after doing the headstand, there were days I felt active but could not do the asana because my body was tired and days when I felt slugging and could do the asana. It was then that I learned that headstands are a good gauge of the true state of the body, i.e., when the body needed rest. Recently, I had been particularly pleased with myself as I could get up to Salamba Sirsasana independently, that is, without the aid of the wall.

On the first day of the workshop, Jawahar told us to do Salamba Sirsasana. Strangely, before I even got up, Jawahar asked if I needed assistance with getting up and I said no. He did not correct my pose on that day and allowed me to stay in the pose for all of five minutes. So, I went home thinking that I had done just fine on the first day of the class. Of course, I was wrong.

At today’s class, Jawahar could no longer keep to himself the fact that my Salamba Sirsasana was completely wrong. My ribs were jutting out and I was working my lower back too much. Worse, he told me that I had to re-learn headstand by doing it against the wall again. Jawahar said that my Salamba Sirsasana was created by my active mind. At this point, I must say that the one instruction that is repeated throughout yoga classes is that one must keep the mind passive. According to Jawahar, I had gotten into the pose by crook (as in by hook or by crook) and so my pose was crooked. After that, I was sent back to the wall to re-learn the pose the correct way. This was, of course, a crushing set down for me on many levels. It feels like being in Grade 6 only to be told I have to go back to Kindergarten.

Right after this crushing set down, Jawahar says that re-learning Salamba Sirsasana is character building.

Jawahar has done his work in destroying my Salamba Sirsasana and teaching me the right way to do it.  Now, it is my turn to transform myself and step up.

I have been fortunate to have several character building situations in my life but I never though that yoga would present me another such experience. In the past, I would immediately step up to the character building situation by accepting my mistake, learning from it and doing better. While this recent event with Jawahar has humbled me and made me feel disappointed in myself, I find that I am uncertain of whether I am able to find the strength to step up to this situation. Just looking at the wall brings me a sense of dread.

But, I have never been a quitter. At least I have not quit on anything I believed in. So, for now, I have decided to re-learn Salamba Sirsasana (and all the other asanas).