|
“We participate in our natural spaciousness so seldom that we have come to believe we are whatever arises in the mind.” Stephen Levine You have probably heard your yoga or meditation teacher say it before: - YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS - Central to yogic philosophy is the concept that we are not the thoughts and impressions that arise in our minds, but rather witnesses who watch the thoughts come and go. As external seers, we have the ability to transform our reality by remaining unattached to these thoughts, recognizing that they are merely changeable clouds within the limitless sky of our True selves. Patanjali states in the Yoga Sutras that yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. The true objective of the yoga practice is not a bendy back, long hamstrings, or a solid handstand, but rather to awaken the practitioner to the spaciousness of his/her True self. This “True” self is a reality only recognized when the mind’s chatter is silenced. As long as we remain preoccupied with wavering thought patterns (“small mind”), there will be little peace, clarity, or ability to grasp our ultimate capacity (our “big mind”). Analyzing, defining, and judging are acts of our small mind, or ego. When we act from the standpoint of our egos, we remain reactive, habitual, and limited in the scope of our thinking; our awareness is honed in on specific objects or situations. This mindset can be very useful at times; for example, solving a mathematical equation with a well-defined solution. If, however, the mathematical equation is of a new order and has been heretofore considered unsolvable, then relying on usual patterns of problem-solving would not likely lead to success and a wider viewpoint would need to be employed. Inventors, pioneers, and notable artists necessarily utilize this Big Mind perspective because innovation requires the capacity to think outside the box of small mind. Unfortunately, I find myself frequently viewing the world from a small mind perspective. Whatever my mind is focused on is experienced as my entire, all-consuming reality. Sometimes it is pleasant, sometimes it is agonizing. Forgetting that I am more than these fluctuating thoughts, I become a victim of my own mind, at the whim of the next notion that arises and I forget the boundless wisdom that is available to me in every moment. My goal this month is to be more attentive to tapping into this wisdom, this Big Mind perspective, rather than merely reacting to situations. This simply requires stepping back from my limited vantage point and asking “what should I do now?” It is not so important who or what I believe I am asking for guidance, be it God, my True Self, my intuition. What matters is that I let go of the need to immediately act (or react) and instead take a moment for an extra breath, to become receptive, to allow the mud to settle, and to patiently wait for the answers. The beauty of this practice is that the answers will come; things will get better! Whether it is because the situation itself changes or just because my perspective on it does, things will improve. And in the meantime, I am enjoying life more, appreciating life more, because I am allowing it to unfold without so much struggle. | Playlist #8: Yoga Flow | | Bija Mantras | Ben Leinbach & Jai Uttal
| | | Offshore | Chicane
| | | Vai Vai | Thunderball
| | | No Saint | Wasis Diop | | | Early Daiquiris | Club des Belugas
| | | Funky Guru | Prem Joshua
| | | Troubled Girl | Karen Ramirez
| | | Solar | Thunderball
| | | Leo Leo | Indo Animata
| | | Lying in the Hands of God | Dave Matthews Band
| | | Gopala Lullaby | Ben Leinbach & Jai Uttal | |
|
|
The April Inspiration is up late this month as I just arrived home from an extended trip, which included leading True Flow Yoga’s Yoga and Live Music Retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii. The place, the sounds, the people, and the spirit there were all absolutely incredible! Traveling is an opportunity to step outside of one’s usual environment and open oneself to new experiences. Along with all the advantages of travel also comes the upheaval of changing time zones, climates, diet, etc., which can be a bit disconcerting. As I voyaged from one adventure to the next, there were a lot of unknowns and many unpredictable circumstances. In travel as in life, there is not much that we can count on in any absolute sense. One exception, however, is breath. As long as we are alive, by definition, we can depend on having breath and thus connecting to it in times of uncertainty is like embracing an anchor of stability. Pausing to focus on my breath is akin to standing directly in the eye of the storm: I am still aware of the chaos and the flux around me, but in the calm of my breath, there is stillness. Breath is a constant guide and companion to those who remember to notice it. No matter where we go, no matter what is happening around us, it is always there as a stable harbor. There is no specific technique necessary; just breathe. What is a trip without bringing back a souvenir? After teaching one of our afternoon yoga with live music classes on the retreat, the musicians decided to stay and jam for a bit. The sound was beautiful and having not gotten a chance to practice myself that day, I rolled out my mat. This video is a one-take, impromptu video shot by one of the retreat attendees. I hope you enjoy it! PLAYLIST #7 The playlist this month is the DownTemple Dub:Waves album by Desert Dwellers. It is a beautiful collection of music that is wonderful to breathe and flow to. | Playlist #7: Desert Dwellers - DownTemple Dub:Waves | | Prana Shakti | Desert Dwellers
| | | Subterranean Sanctuary | Desert Dwellers | | | On Namo Bhagavate | Desert Dwellers | | | Misty Mountain | Desert Dwellers | | | Solar Prayers | Desert Dwellers | | | Bhodi Mandala | Desert Dwellers | |
Inspiration Archive March 2010: Celebrate Life! February 2010: Root Down to Rise Up January 2010: New Beginnings December 2009: Feeling Connected November 2009: Gratitude October 2009: Change September 2009: Beyond The Physical August 2009: Not Rushing July 2009: Aparigraha June 2009: The Mat - A Sacred Space; Your Body - A Temple May 2009: Identify with what you want, not with what you don't want |
|
|
March 2010: Celebrate Life! |
|
On March 20, the sun will cross directly over the Earth’s equator, creating a day of equal daylight and darkness on our planet. For the Northern hemisphere, this day is the Vernal Equinox and marks the first day of Spring. The next 6 months are symbolic of the victory of light over darkness, as days will be longer than nights. The lethargy of winter dissolves and the promise of new beginnings manifests as the leaves return to the trees, flowers come into bloom, and fresh green grass returns to the fields. What a beautiful time to celebrate life! I would like to share a meditation with you that I practice regularly to remind myself of the simple, yet profound joy of being alive. Either from a comfortable seated or prone position, place your right hand over your navel/belly center and your left hand over your heart/sternum. These locations are home to two powerful energy centers in the body. The masculine navel center houses personal power and sense of self, while the feminine heart center houses love, compassion, and the ability to relate to others. In this calming posture, do not attempt to do anything special. Merely close your eyes and become aware of the experience of being alive. Notice your heart beating, your breath rising and falling. Think of this as time to recharge your human battery. In order to keep a healthy perspective on what really matters in life, it is imperative that we take time often to consciously plug in and appreciate our natural, unadulterated existence. Otherwise, we tend to get caught up in day-to-day frustrations and wind up expending a great deal of energy on trivial incidents, while forgetting how fortunate we are to be here at all. Think what a miracle your life is: How many events had to happen in just the right way in order for you to come into being? What a staggering concept! If just one small thing had changed along the way, you may not be here today. So let us rejoice in the serendipity of life and dance through this month with a spirit of celebration. “The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.” – Thich Nhat Hanh | Playlist #6: 1 hour Reggae Celebration Flow | | Treasures | Thievery Corporation | | | Sun is Shining (Sand in my Shoe remix) | Bob Marley | | | Mantra Mix | Sacred Sound System | | | World a Reggae | Ini Kamoze | | | Beach in Hawaii | Ziggy Marley | | | Concrete Jungle | Bob Marley & the Wailers | | | We're Gonna Make It | Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley | | | Soul Rebel (Bonus Track) | Lee "Scratch" Perry | | | Warrior | Matisyahu | | | There for You | Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley | | | Gold to Me | Ben Harper | | | Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World | Israel Kamakawiwo'ole | | | One Road to Freedom | Ben Harper | |
Inspiration Archive February 2010: Root Down to Rise Up January 2010: New Beginnings December 2009: Feeling Connected November 2009: Gratitude October 2009: Change September 2009: Beyond The Physical August 2009: Not Rushing July 2009: Aparigraha June 2009: The Mat - A Sacred Space; Your Body - A Temple May 2009: Identify with what you want, not with what you don't want |
|
February 2010: Root Down to Rise Up |
Carry your body, but please do not let your body carry you! Walking in the streets, one can see people heavily following their bodies. Their heads lean forwards, pulled by their necks, on their insecure legs, their feet scarcely touching the ground. It is evident that they are slaves to their bodies, following the whispering of their minds. – Vanda Scaravelli
Students often tell me that they are puzzled by their difficulty with balancing poses. While I realize they are speaking of poses like Vrksasana (Tree), Garudasana (Eagle), and Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon), we need to remember that EVERY yoga posture is a balancing asana. We should always be challenging ourselves to create an equal distribution of weight among the parts of the body that are contacting the earth. The most basic of yoga postures, Tadasana (Mountain) is often referred to by the command to attention: Samasthiti; Sama = equal, Sthiti = balance. It is sometimes said that in all yoga poses, one searches for the balance of Tadasana – hence the reason this pose is taught at the beginning of nearly every yoga class. While small children have to make a determined effort to learn to balance their weight between their two feet, we all assume to have mastered the art of standing at this point in our lives. However, if we look down at our feet while standing we may notice some interesting things. Are our feet parallel? Are all 10 toes facing directly forward? Is the weight equally distributed between the ball and heel of each foot and between the right and left foot? While this may seem trivial, imbalances at the base will weaken the entire structure over time. A beautiful, soaring building, no matter how elegantly built up above, will collapse on itself without a solid foundation. Let us consider Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I). The focus should not be just on the front knee bending. The pose is just as much about the back leg lengthening and both feet bearing equal weight in the posture. I often see students wobbly and unstable in this pose, not because they lack sufficient muscular strength, but because they are too focused in what I call “the drama of the pose.” “I’m really going to embody this pose by bending REALLY deeply into my front knee and reaching REALLY high with my arms! I am even going to drop my head back and look up today!” And then, uh-oh, we lose our balance. In our quest to strive higher, we forget the importance of the base and lose our grounding. We should reach to find that “edge” in our poses, but never at the sacrifice of weakening our foundation. I often remind students in class to stay focused on the Earth by noticing the parts of their bodies that are contacting the ground. That is the anchor and the foundation of that pose and their body weight should be equally distributed among those contact points. If we can be diligent about these principles in the basic poses (Sukhasana, Tadasana, Virabhadrasna), then balancing in other poses will become much easier. We must root down to rise up: the grounding is primary and the exciting “drama of the pose” is secondary. The legs and feet are governed by Muladhara (First chakra), the chakra of security and stability, thus moving our awareness down into our legs and feet provides us with a remarkably comforting feeling. Bringing awareness down into our base is like coming home. Beyond the mat, it is not so different. It is said that we develop First chakra deficiencies when we have to deal with big life changes such as relocating, changing jobs, relationship struggles, or incurring serious physical injuries. When these events occur, it feels as though the rug has been pulled out from under our feet. Feeling uprooted and unstable, our reaction is usually to try to rationalize events in our minds. However, we would probably find it more helpful in these situations to get out of heads (the top of the structure) and instead come home inside of our bodies to get grounded again. I once asked a guy where he lived and he replied, “Mother Earth is my home.” What a great perspective to have! Everything around us is always changing, but instead of getting swept up in the “drama of the pose,” can we learn to feel at home and grounded wherever we go? When we move to a new place, as our relationships change, or even as our bodies change, can we find one constant, one anchor, the foundation of our lives? Call it Energy, call it God, call it Allah, call it Soul, call it Love. The belief in that One underlying power is my foundation. What is yours? | Playlist #5: 1 hour Uplifting Yoga Flow | | Que Bonito | Jose Padilla | | | Times Like These | Jack Johnson | | | Here Comes the Sun | The Beatles | | | Dreams Be Dreams | Jack Johnson | | | Turn Your Lows Down Low | Bob Marley & Lauryn Hill | | | Michelle | Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals | | | Ghostwriter | RJD2 | | | Mangalam | Prem Joshua | | | Hard Sun | Eddie Vedder | | | Everything Will Flow | London Suede | | | Wild World | Cat Stevens | | | Lying in the Hands of God | Dave Matthews Band | | | Alone in Kyoto | Air | |
Inspiration Archive January 2010: New Beginnings December 2009: Feeling Connected November 2009: Gratitude October 2009: Change September 2009: Beyond The Physical August 2009: Not Rushing July 2009: Aparigraha June 2009: The Mat - A Sacred Space; Your Body - A Temple May 2009: Identify with what you want, not with what you don't want |
|