Come On In!

Have you ever experienced something that you disliked more than anything? Something that you've expended great amounts of effort and energy to avoid?  Perhaps the dentist, or airplanes, dining alone or your in-laws?  Conversely, is there something that was so lovely and wonderful that you just couldn't quite let go of the memory of it, so much so that nothing else quite measures up?  The truth is we all have had these experiences to one degree or another. We all have emotions (joy, anger, sorrow) or possibly ideas (insecurity, judgement, expectation) that we cling to, or things that we push away.

This morning, just prior to class, I had an appointment that I had been avoiding for several weeks.  To an observer it probably would have looked like something that was simple enough and really shouldn't have demanded the energy that I put into resisting it. I could see that I was fighting it, so I sat with the resistance for a while and then made the call to set up the appointment.  Let me tell you, I was cranky about it up until I got there - it wasn't a pretty sight!   After the appointment was set up, I thought of how very indicative it is of us as humans to have a tendency to push away what we don't wish to see or feel, or to clog ourselves with things that we just can't let go of. The wise ol' yogis of yore called this "attachment" and "aversion", and believed that these two actions are what cause the bulk of our suffering. For the past few weeks I had been feeling aversion to the appointment and it was causing me to suffer.

The yoga sutras say that attachment is "that which dwells upon pleasure" and aversion is "that which dwells upon pain".  We can hold on to memories of the past, or knowledge, beliefs, or expectations of how things should or should not be, thinking that this will bring us happiness.  We can beat ourselves up for dark or mean-spirited thoughts that we've had or an unkind word that was spoken.

So we practice to honestly observe when and where we are holding on or pushing away. We practice to physically, mentally and spiritually create space to welcome all the things that arrive at our door with compassion, acceptance and equanimity. To clean house so to speak, we seek to accept that there are things within our day-to-day experience that we have aversion to. It's a fact of life. But rather than push them away (aversion!), or cling onto them for dear life (attachment!), we allow them to pass through as friends, joyfully greeting them with open arms as they arrive and wishing them well as they leave.

After sitting with my aversion, the reason behind it started to become clear to me. With this clarity, I was ready to accept my fears about the appointment and invite them in with compassion and even a sense of gratitude. 

What are you currently pushing away or holding on to?  What are the things that you have been pushing away or clinging to for many months or even years?

The idea is not to stop the resisting or the clinging. Rather, the idea is to make room for them, invite them in and then let them be.

"Do not try stopping or pushing thoughts away.  Make room for them, observing them as thoughts and letting them be." -Jon Kabat-Zinn

What's clogging your inner guest house?  What are you spending time and energy pushing away?  What are you unwilling to let go of?  What are you stubbornly resisting?

Whatever the cause of your resistance open to receiving these guests. Welcome whatever arrives at your door.

Until next time...

The Guest House

by Rumi 

This being human is a guest house. 

Every morning a new arrival. 

A joy, a depression, a meanness, 

some momentary awareness comes 

as an unexpected visitor. 

Welcome and entertain them all! 

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, 

who violently sweep your house 

empty of its furniture, 

still, treat each guest honorably. 

He may be clearing you out 

for some new delight. 

The dark thought, the shame, the malice, 

meet them at the door laughing, 

and invite them in. 

Be grateful for whoever comes, 

because each has been sent 

as a guide from beyond.

To help accept new guests, try this:

From Posture to Breath Awareness

by Rolf Sovik

Space is around you and within you. The entire universe is pervaded by space. Normally we pay attention to the objects that rest in space, but you can also sense the space in which things rest. But to do this you will need to tune yourself to it. The sense of space is apparent when you are quiet, breathing, and paying attention.

With your eyes closed, the most self-evident space is the one you are occupying in your sitting posture. As you relax, your body becomes like a space within a space. You perceive it as almost void—as space-like—resting in the vaster space around you.

Now let your breath flow into this space as you inhale. Let the inhalation seem to expand within you until the entire space is filled. As you exhale, your breath shrinks within you as if it were disappearing into your heart center, at the top of the diaphragm. Regularly pulsing in this way, the breath expands, filling the space in which your body rests, and then emptying it. You breathe as if your whole body breathes.

Continue watching the flow of the breath. Don’t imagine that you are reaching enlightenment, dissolving your ego, awakening kundalini, or undergoing any other radical transformation. There are many, many miles to go before any such profound experience will take place. Simply watch the flow of breath with a sense of contentment.

As you continue you may notice that you develop a less forceful and more serene breath. One of the effects of the practice is that the flow of breath becomes very fine. As it does, your awareness is freed to turn even further inward.

Freedom

"Inhale, and God approaches you.  Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you.  Exhale, and you approach God.  Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God." 

-Krishnamacharya

In Monday's class we explored the concept of four part breathing.  In yoga, breathing is the most central and vital practice.  The breath opens a doorway into the deeper aspects of the practice such as freedom, intuition, lovingkindness, mindfulness, meditation, movement of energy, and a deep sense of connection to all things (to name a few).


In order to cultivate an awareness and reverence for the breath, we need to start by taking a look at its structure.  The complete yogic breath has four parts: the inhalation (called puraka in sanskrit), the retention (kumbhaka), the exhalation (rechaka), and the absence of breath within the body (shunyata).  The idea is that by simply becoming aware of their existence and differences as we breathe, we strengthen and slow down our breath.  As a result we begin to find clarity, focus and freedom.


Once we become aware of our breathing and recognize that it is the way in which we can control the energy of our body and mind, we can begin to use it most effectively. Without established breathing, hatha yoga is simply a physical exercise. When we start to move with the breath (vinyasa), we experience a change in our state of mind. We become relaxed, focused, and peaceful. We also begin to enjoy and feel at home in our bodies.  With mindfulness and concentration, we can send the energy of the breath throughout the body, releasing tensions, build strength, and bringing stillness to areas where we are ill at ease. When practicing yoga, we often discover parts of our body that are tight, sore, congested, closed off, numb, or painful of which we were not even aware. This is the process of developing mindfulness.


"Yoga is all about freedom. Only a fraction of the world’s population is formally imprisoned, but the entire human race is imprisoned in the body and the earth itself. None are free from the inevitability of sickness, age, and death, however free of them they may be at the moment. The human condition is subject to innumerable limitations. Who really controls his life fully, attains all his goals, and knows no setbacks of any kind? No one.

Our real self, the spirit, is always perfect and free. But we have forgotten that. So we identify with our present experience of bondage and consequently suffer in countless ways. Our situation is like someone who is asleep and dreaming that he is being tortured and beaten. In reality he is not being touched at all; yet he is experiencing very real pain and fear. He need not placate, overpower, or escape his torturers. He needs only to wake up. Yoga is the practice of self-awakening." (Swami Nirmalananda Giri )


Ultimately, yoga is the practice of freedom. It's about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents us from living in the most full and whole way. Yoga is connecting all of the powers of the body, mind and soul to something greater and more profound.  It is the path of balance and equanimity. 
The poses and the breath are just a way in.  Once we understand how to "be" in a pose or how to breathe, it's then up to us to be brave enough to take what we observe and use it to evolve, to grow, to remove the obstacles placed in our path, and to free ourselves from suffering.

It all starts with the breath.

Until next time...

Try this:

Four-Part Breath
The point of this pranayama exercise is simply to bring your mind more clearly to your breath, so your breath can inspire your movements, rather than the other way around. It is also a lovely way to bring yourself back to the stillness we seek in yoga. I recommend establishing the four-part breath at the beginning of your practice, as you sit still. Then incorporate it as you begin to move. See if you can hold onto it through your entire practice, until you consciously let it go in Savasana.
1) Take a few rounds of breath, just observing the natural rhythm and feel of your breath. Be sure to breathe through your nose and take particular note of the feel of the air entering and exiting your nostrils, establishing your connection to something bigger.
2) Begin to observe the space between your breaths — that brief moment of stillness between the exhale and the inhale, and between the inhale and the exhale. Don’t alter it, just observe how you are perfectly still before reversing directions, like when you're on a swing!

3) When you are ready, take a long, slow inhale, counting to four to fill your lungs.
4) Pause at the top of the inhale, and count to four. Don’t struggle to hold your breath. Just be with the stillness.
5) Exhale slowly and with control for four counts.
6) Count to four at the bottom of your breath. Again, take care not to struggle. Just observe the stillness.
7) After a couple of rounds, you may wish to lengthen to counts of five for a round or two and then maybe even six. Take your time, complete each round, and if you start to struggle, back off. You are looking for peace and ease in this pranayama exercise.
8) When you are ready, stop counting and instead just feel the evenness of your four-part breath, giving equal space to the stillness between the exhales and the inhales as you give to the exhales and inhales themselves.
9) Carry this sense of balance and equanimity and peace into the rest of your practice and the rest of your day.
(From: http://www.yogamamame.com/pranayama/)


ONLY BREATH 
by Rumi
Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu,
Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion 
or cultural system. I am not from the East
or the West, not out of the ocean or up
from the ground, not natural or ethereal, 
not composed of elements at all. I do not exist,
am not an entity in this world or the next,
did not descend from Adam or Eve or any 
origin story. My place is placeless, a trace
of the traceless. Neither body or soul.
I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
worlds as one and that one call to and know,
first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being.

Breath Is Enough 

by Robert Service

I draw sweet air

Deeply and long,

As pure as prayer,

As sweet as song.

Where lilies glow

And roses wreath,

Heart-joy I know

Is just to breathe.

Aye, so I think

By shore or sea,

As deep I drink

Of purity.

This brave machine,

Bare to the buff,

I keep ice-clean,

Breath is enough.

From mountain stream

To covert cool

The world, I deem,

Is wonderful;

The great, the small,

The smooth, the rough,

I love it all,--

Breath is enough.