What's New at Jungleyoga...

Jungleyoga is Randall O'Leary's combination of yoga postures, breaths, Tantric philosophy and humor with an eye on transformation! Teacher Trainings are offered in Thailand in February and July, including both 200 Hour (Level 1) and 500 Hour (Level 2), courses. We try to offer, true, authentic, high quality and fun yoga, largely free of ego, dogma and attitude. Our motto: "Yoga should be intense without being serious!"

Welcome to Jungleyoga News and Information

A Review of the Last Training by a Student

Neither careless yoga holidays by the sea, nor «do it or die» intensive, the JungleYoga course has turned out to be a place for learning a lot, finding like-minded friends from all different countries, being creative, growing personally and definitely having a good time doing yoga.

The four-week course is a solid wealth of information. It doesn't focus exclusively on what to do on the mat, but offers a much deeper insight into «yoga living».

Rather than teaching you from a «Guru pedestal» and giving you ready-made recipes to follow unaltered, Randall shares his experience and thoughts on yoga, offering you a range of ingredients and tools and inviting you to cook your own yummy yoga practice.

You are being guided to understand how and why asanas and breathing patterns work, what to look after in alignment, how to sequence a yoga practice depending on your needs and level. Expect a lot of yoga philosophy giving you food for thought, a beautiful experience chanting mantras to express your creativity, as well as many tips on how to be more disciplined in practice, improve your communication and enjoy life on and off the mat.

Some parts definitely require digesting over time when back home, while others, being undoubtedly sound and wholesome, have replied to many questions I had before coming and along the course time. I am proud to call Randall and Ushma my teachers and hope all others have enjoyed the training as much as I did.

My Adventures:

San Fran Cisco, USA

Ah, America, what a mixed up blessing and curse of a country! I love the nature, the parks, the trees, the streams and mountains and sea... I hate the politics and the sheltered, Ameri-centric view that so many people have here. Then there is the rampant waste and greed that is so ingrained that people take it as a way of life. After seeing so many people trying to get by on so little, the much greed/need seems a horrible crime. Plus the war-mongering and violence in society. It just seems to be a big mess to me. But i go to the park, the forest, the river and i am happy.

Byron Bay, NSW, Australia

After a steamy time in 'hot season' Thailand, i have made it to the cool and rainy Byron Bay, Australia. One of my fav spots in the many places i have been on this earth, it is as beautiful as ever. The beaches are long and spectacular, with the view up the coast taking in the soft 'mountains' of the Mullum area, coverd in jungle. I stayed with friends here and there, did some full power gardening for a few days in exhange for a roof over my head and have now moved into the jungle proper!

I am staying here with my friend and guide, Gulabiji, up at the end of the road (and beyond). I have great chats with her and get out into the garden regularly (when it is not down-pouring). Mud. leaches, machetes and plenty of fun! What more does a boy need?? Well, i can think of a few things... Ha ha ha... We do fire pujas on Saturdays to refine our Prana and otherwise live well and happily.

On to San Fran and points east for May and June. Hope to see you!

Rishikesh and other points, India: Nov and Dec, 2011:

Our exit from India took us through Delhi, Varanasi and Calcutta... some hardcore cities! There was much beauty along the way, however, especially the Juna Akhara in Varanasi and the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta. Amazing places, but never go to Calcutta for new year's, just in case you were thinking it was a good idea!

The Asiatic Society was also interesting, the original institution (western) founded to study the knowledge of the East... I had a look when in Calcutta, at the original building, which is in a sad state of repair...

Ha ha ha, Varanasi, this says it all....

I spent some time with my favorite Sadhu in Rishikesh: Amarnath Baba (above). Part of the money i make in the trainings goes to him, to help him eat and live and continue the dharma of the sadhus. He is a very good baba, with a great and generous heart and a big smile. I know him because he was a friend of my guru's when my guru lived in Rishikesh.

The highlights of the trip were when we went on the motorbike up to some of the holy points in the Himalaya. Truly, they are some of the most amazing spots in the world. We went to temples on the mountain-tops and holy places where rivers come together (called prayags). Thus we did plenty of river and mountain worship!

My recent trip to India has yielded yet another set of unexpected rewards. My visit, this time for about 3 months, was spent mostly in Rishikesh, Uttarkhand state. This is more or less my ‘home’ area in India, the place where I am comfortable and known by some of the local people. Despite Rishikesh being touted as the “Yoga Capitol of India”, I did only a single class. However, this class was given by a yogi who claimed to be (and appeared to be) 103 years old. It was a very funny approach and certainly very ‘old school’, nothing like the modern vinyasa obsessed styles we find today. The man was funny, abrupt and spoke only Hindi language. I did enjoy it, but would never go back.

However, the most profound experiences came outside Rishikesh. Due to the fact that i have a great love for the mountains, we got a motorbike and went up towards the high Himalayan mountains. We visited a temple called Tungnath Mandir, which was at over 4000 M (12,000 ft.) and had an amazing view of the huge snow-covered Himalaya, including the mountains of Badrinath and Kedarnath.

There are 4 highly important pilgrimage places in the high Himalaya, called the ‘Char Dham’. These places are in intense and powerful areas of the mountains, and are closed for 6 months of the year due to snow. The closer one gets to them, the more power and energy one can feel. Even though we were still about 100 Km from Badrinath, I started to feel that special and unique power that only this area has.

Not only does the area have the inherent beauty that mountains have, but they also have the reverence and prayers of millions of Hindus who worship Badrinath as an exceptionally holy place. Once can certainly feel this as Badrinath approaches. The area also has special significance to me, because the head of the Giri Order of Sadhus, to which i belong, has its head and most important place in Badrinath. Reverence for this place is included in our daily prayers and mantras.

The trip was amazing but i will spare you the details. However, on the way back, near the Terhi Dam just after sunset.... WE SAW A TIGER!!!!!  Yes, a Tiger. We were going to stop the motorcycle to put on warm clothes, but just at the place we were going to stop the bike, there was a Tiger. Truly an amazing moment in my life. I did not feel fear, but awe and reverence for such a magnificent and powerful creature.

The other life-changing experience for me was when we went to Varanasi. There, at Hanuman Ghat, is the headquarters of the Juna Akhada.  What the Juna Akhada is can be a little hard to explain to westerners. It is an ancient order of Sadhus which is independent of one’s individual membership in the other sadhu clans and in some ways more important. Their existence pre-dates many of the current sadhu orders such as the Dashnami Sanyasis, but  not the Nath order. The Juna Akahda traditionally was a highly powerful group of warrior monks and sadhus who defended the dharma of Hinduism and protected its secrets. The Akahada even used to have armies of sadhus who would fight enemies and invaders, such as the Moguls who invaded North India in the middle part of the first millennium.

I always felt some intense connection to the Juna Akhada, even though i knew little about it. While in Varanasi, i took the time to visit the headquarters of the order at Hanuman Ghat. What an amazing and powerful place it is! I was recognized and acknowledged as a member of the order and participated in the evening puja (ritual) to Dattatreya, the main diety of the Juna Akhada.

I spoke at length with a sadhu who had been in the order since his parents gave him to the Juna Akhada when he was 8 years old. He made me feel welcome, although i was being taught and disciplined in the way of the order from the first moment. He told me i could stay in the Akhada ashram if i liked and study and learn. This was especially important to me, as my Guru cannot be found and i have no guides at the moment. So I feel that i have found another guru in the Juna Akhada and i can once again learn and study and be a part of this spiritual system which has so powerfully shaped my life.

These photos were taken at the Juna Akhada ashram, which is a very intense place!!.

You can click to listen to Reggae as you Browse Jungleyoga!!

Reggae Yoga Section

Latest tracks by JungleG

After being gifted with a life-changing gift by my friend Dave, I have started producing songs and re-mixes with Ableton Live music program. Here are some songs i have made, you can listen and even download them if you like. Every song i make is a new exploration into some part of music playing, processing, production, compressing, EQing, Reverbing, etc!!! If you listen, you can tell that i have a great love of Dub, Reggae, reverb and delays and most of all: BASS!