Get Wiki With It: Ompedia
Ompedia welcomes you to Web 2.0.
Wiki wiki in the nonvirtual world
Wendy Spies, author of one of our most popular posts – Ashtanga During Pregnancy: One Ashtangi’s Experience – recently started a wiki about yoga.
(Yes, that’s a link to Wikipedia, which you can reach easiest by typing “wiki wiki” into Google, which is kind of funny if you’ve taken an interisland flight out of Honolulu.)
The logo on Ompedia says it all.
Back to Wendy’s project, it’s called Ompedia. The idea is that people – like us – contribute to it. So, take a look, write something and let’s see if we can help Ompedia gain some traction. There isn’t going to be much there unless you put it there.
Sunrise in Hawaii
from YogaSurf
For something sort of funny, check out the Shhhh link on Ompedia. The other pages (so far) on Ompedia are:
- Blogs: a place to list blogs of interest (or comment on the blogs listed).
- Discussions: answer some questions about yoga, like “Why do you practice?” I think this could be the most interesting section.
- History
- People: teachers, but could be any people.
- Postures
- Research: have you done any or know of any good yoga-related research?
- Travel: talk about your travel experiences related to yoga, maybe typical retreat locations
The thing about a wiki is that the contributors determine the structure. Maybe there is a page you think is missing? You can add it. And even though Wendy’s made suggestions as to what each page should cover, what it actually covers depends on what you, the writers, write on there.
So rather than wading through a million responses on EZBoard (which is great for public discussion), on Ompedia, all the information about a subject would be in one spot.
Bhavani Maki of Ashtanga Yoga Kauai
She also studies Sanskrit.
Another thing is that with Ompedia (or any wiki, for that matter) you can see the changes that have been made to that page using the History tab. Say, you make a change and then it disappears. You can see what replaced it and when. You can even register, so people can see what you’ve said and contact you (if you and they like).
I think what differentiates Ompedia from Wikipedia is that Ompedia is more personal and opinion-oriented while Wikipedia tends to be more Encyclopia Britannica-like.
But neither Ompedia or Wikipedia would be useful without contributions from readers like you. 
This makes me feel that I should write a page about how to use a wiki on Ompedia…
g said,
May 9, 2006 at 10:28 pm
Yeah, but: I asked somebody close to Guruji’s family about this different flavors business. The answer: “Ashtanga is everywhere and always the same method, is not changing. Is only people forgetting”
Lauren said,
May 10, 2006 at 12:24 pm
From a discussion I had with my teacher, who learned the method directly from SKPJ, I would have to agree with G on this. Much as I respect Arjuna for the physical beauty of his photographs and as an amazing fountain of information, I am not sure that what he has done is exactly within the bounds of the method as it is taught by Guruji – sounds a bit circular, I know. Nevertheless, Arjuna’s website is a constant resource for me – I practice only slightly more than half of Primary.
On another note, while I think this is a great site and I look at it every day to see what’s going on in “ashtanga news”, I have to say, there hasn’t been much “news” of late. Arjuna isn’t exactly news. Nor is Craig Snyder’s rant. On the other hand, having KJS comment daily on the NYC world tour: THAT was excellent! As was Govinda’s comment on his experiences teaching in Japan. I would very much like to see more new and original commentary, as opposed to the derivative stuff.
For example, perhaps you could have correspondents from various Ashtanga workshops going on around the world. Manju is in NYC next week. Darby is in NYC next week. Since I’m from NYC, that’s what is on my radar screen – but there must be plenty of ashtangis out there who are going to some of the various international workshops who are willing to give some interesting commentary. And we all know that Ashtangis are the best writers!
While we’re at it, how about a Mysore correspondent? How about a debate between devotees of the AYRI versus those who believe that they get more out of Mysore Mandala? How about a quick guide to what to do in Mysore?
Wow, this got long…
Hope to see some more “news” soon!
Lauren
g said,
May 10, 2006 at 9:40 pm
BTW, has anybody seen Matthew Sweeney’s new book? I practiced with him last year. Really good teacher, really good at explaining.
tracy said,
May 11, 2006 at 7:34 am
Lauren,
Thanks for your thoughtful comments!
Regarding news, we started AshtangaNews with the idea that one of the things that would make it really great is insightful contributions from the community, eg Govinda’s, KJS’ and Lori’s great posts.
Perhaps you could help by hooking AshtangaNews up with some good Ashtangi writers or contributing something consistent with AshtangaNews’ content yourself…
To many Ashtangis, Arjuna’s website is news – i.e. me before January 2006 when Philippe pointed it out to me – and Arjuna’s contribution can be quite helpful and interesting to Ashtangis residing in places like Puerto Rico, a far cry from New York Ashtanga-wise. I know an Ashtangi in Puerto Rico who really doesn’t have anyone to learn from and like many people, does not have the resources now to travel about to Mysore or elsewhere.
One of my favorite quotes (from Bernal Yoga in San Francisco), “Think globally, bend locally”. But for this commentary, I think I’d switch the order: bend locally, think globally.
cheers,
Tracy
philippe said,
May 11, 2006 at 10:19 am
I am getting a copy on Sunday so you should see a review here soon
Linda Maddocks said,
May 14, 2006 at 3:08 pm
I’ve seen Matthew Sweeney’s new book and it’s awesome. I haven’t bought a copy yet. I got to see the end of his practice @ AYRI in Feb when I was there. I was coming in as he was finishing. I’ve never seen such graceful backbends. Amazing really.
By the way, I am Boodiba, astanga blogger, formerly “First Trip to Mysore” from last October to early May. Now that I’m looking toward my second trip, I am, consistently enough, “Second Trip to Mysore’.
I practice @ Shiva Shala with Greg Tebb and will be doing Manju’s five day workshop next week. It’ll be interesting for me because I’ve never met him AND I’m at a new place in my practice. He’s Greg’s main teacher too so I can’t help but think the continuity will be good for me. I’d be happy to send an account of my experience.
In closing, let me say I love Arjuna’s site & have been using it as an easy reference tool for quite awhile.
Ralph Craig said,
May 18, 2006 at 7:59 pm
I don’t think it’s due to people forgetting. Guruji has changed his methods over the years to refine the practice. The way he taught David Williams, Nancy Gilgoff, and David Swenson back in the 70′s is different than the way he teaches now.
t-om said,
August 24, 2006 at 7:32 am
Btw, the latest videos from frikaloopa [0] show Pattabhi teaching in the 80′s.
[0] http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=frikaloopa