“On the outside everyone presents their uniqueness. On the inside we are surprisingly similar.
As a teaching and playing tool, Yogi Doli offers tremendous insights.”
— Nevine Michaan, founder of Katonah Yoga and creator of Yogi Doli
The design of Yogi Doli
I think the collective nature of our beings can be seen in our organs and glands, in our collective chemistry, our profound similarities and I have spent years teaching a practice that defined our organs, glands, chemistry, structure and outlook.
Through our Katonah Yoga practices, integrating the mind, body and breath are embodied through technique and metaphor.
Building meditation maps and charts have allowed me to organize structure and theory; you will see that all of the designs on and in Yogi Doli are taken from our maps and charts.
The maps are blueprints, the dolis are models.
With a doli it becomes easy to see, to identify, to envision.
To play.
A doll that adds dimensions of insight
We designed our circuit breaker panel on the back flap by the kidneys.
Our “circuit breaker panel” along with the color codes of our organs and glands are modeled on classical Chinese 5 Element Theory. All of the sense portals of the body (eyes, ears, mouth, nose) are associated with specific glands and organs. Their internal and external relationships can be used to support health and well-being!
Ten to Two
Yogi Doli’s watches are set for ten to two, and we call this time
the Drishti of joy, the vision of potential. When the heart is singing out in potential and the vision is honing in with perception; it orients directions for a joyful future.
The Sun and the Moon, the breath rhythms of great nature internalized in personal nature and one’s own breath. The flow sequence of these breaths and postures move with the rhythms of our planet in the universe.
Leo is wearing a shirt with our Sun Salutation illustrations and Chloe-Elle’s has the Moon Salutation.
Archetype of Numbers
We coded the archetypes of numbers on fingers and toes and elemental theories are coded in our glyphs.
Our compass on the inside of the head orients and positions oneself in center, surrounding and organizing the polarities and circuitry of great nature and its surroundings.
Fire rising and water descending are presenting the polarities of temperature. The seasons - Spring rising, Autumn descending; Summer ripening in its heights and Winter providing insights in its depths - share their polarities as well. Morning and Night, the time of day, all offering polarities in which we mediate through positioning ourselves in the middle of.
9 Parts
The structure of bodies hold direction and dimension. All bodies can be divided into its 9 parts. Here, the energy of life is coded into embodiment, with Yogi Doli holding the energies inherent in an individual.
Everyone has solar, lunar and stellar energies and everyone has a past full of memories, a present moment, and a future full of potential.
The Magic Square
Our magic square template offers a framework to explore lots of the dimensions of being in a body. When superimposed on the body, the template can be used for organizing and orienting.
Yoga is like Origami
Bodies and Minds are multi-dimensional.
They are designed to fit. Your kneecap fits your armpits like a ball in a mit.
The origami aspect of yoga, making forms, transforming it, shaping it, changing its positions, functions and connections.
The better one fits oneself, the better one functions.
The goal of inspired and creative play
I hope Yogi Doli inspires individuals to know themselves and reflect on others.
See that inside we have a chemistry and organizational make up that is both mystical and practically, very sensible. The goal of all yoga practice is insight and inspiration. A yogi doli helps one conceptualize on a firm foundation of our embodiment.
Insights are multigenerational; collective but very individualized. My hope is to be inspirational.
Through teaching yoga for over 45 years and with my family, three children and grandchildren, the joy is playing together.
I think the collective nature of our beings can be seen in our organs and glands,
in our collective chemistry, our profound similarities.
Want to learn more about Katonah Yoga theory and our maps? Visit us at Katonah Yoga Online.