Weightless

"Do not fight the body.  Do not carry the world on your shoulders like Atlas.  Drop the heavy load of unnecessary baggage and you will feel better."

-Swami Karmananda Saraswati

In Greek mythology, Atlas was a Titan, one of the firstborn sons of Earth.  He personified the quality of endurance. In an extremely abridged version of the myth, we find Atlas sentenced to hold the weight of the heavens/world on his immensely strong shoulders for pretty much all of eternity.  He spends his time reflecting on past loves, past mistakes, and, of course, the weight. At one point, Atlas finds a way to transfer his burden to Hercules and once free, feels so delightful that he decides to leave Hercules to bear the weight of the world.  But, of course, Hercules finds a way to trick Atlas into once again holding up the heavens while he, himself moseys off into the sunset.  Once again, Atlas finds himself weighed down by the heaviness of all things.

Carrying burdens may strengthen us and give us a strong back, but it's the setting down of those burdens that gives us the most power.  "Baros” is the Greek word for "burdens".  It means "heaviness, weight, burden, trouble." Our burdens can take the form of grief, sorrow, loneliness, excessive ego, low self esteem, resentment, addiction, guilt, despair, financial worry, etc.  The weight of our world can cause us to suffer greatly.

The introspection involved in a yoga or meditation practice allows us to ask "How did I get here?" or "What decisions or circumstances brought me to bear such a heavy load?"  Sometimes knowing how we arrived with the world on our shoulders can help us to find a way to set it down.

Take a moment to ask yourself: "What heavy burden am I carrying in this moment?" Become clear about what it is.  Feel its weight.  Feel what carrying this burden costs you (in energy, emotion, physical sensations). What would happen if you simply put it down - even if, like Atlas, just for a little while?  Can you allow yourself to become weightless?

Our practice, be it meditation, asana or mindfulness teaches to to find clarity, and through this clarity, the ability to relax our grip on the heavy load(s) we shoulder.  As human beings, there will always be burdens for us to bear.  We practice refining our ability to handle the weight when it arrives, but then be strong enough to set it down and become weightless when it no longer serves us.

A wonderful way to practice releasing burdens is by mentally reciting a mantra for dissolving obstacles.  Ancient yogis taught that if you repeat a "bija" or seed mantra over and over and over (this is called japa), the sound resonates internally, and brings about subtle changes in consciousness.  The mantra GAM (pronounced "gum") is invoked for dissolving mental burdens.  Close your eyes and repeat it until you start to feel lighter in body, mind and spirit.

Until next time...

"Let the past drift away with the water." 

-Japanese Saying

Two Myths Take A Hike

by Danna Faulds

Atlas is always shouldering his load.

You know that feeling - the weight

of everything pressing in, suffocating.

And there is Sisyphus pushing the

boulder uphill, over and over.  Two

poster boys for ceaseless effort.

But what if (now here's a radical idea,)

the way of transformation is not a 

long or tortured change?

What if it's just being here, this moment,

now, complete and whole?  What if you

could whisper in Atlas's big ear,"It's

time to let go. Really. The heavens will

not disappear if you put your burden down."

Imagine him thinking about it.  Imagine

him believing.  See him set the load down,

straighten up, stretch, smile, stride over to

Sisyphus and say something you can't hear.

See the stone roll down, and Sisyphus

choose not to follow.  You are the witness

to the shouts of joy, the head shaking

wonder and relief - you mean it's this easy?

Imagine the spring in their step, the lightness

of their laughter as they climb that hill and 

disappear from view.

Here's Your Mat, What's Your Hurry?

‎"As I make my slow pilgrimage through the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery seems to gather

and grow."

Sometimes the fastest way to speed things up is to slow down. The longer I practice the more I realize this.  We may sometimes feel that if we speed through life or our practice, we'll get more done, become stronger, wiser, more enlightened. But in reality, the fast pace we set for ourselves more often than not finds us exhausted, out of time, cluttered and clouded.

The fact is that slowing down often allows us not only to see, feel, and experience what is present with a fullness that can't be felt when rushing, but it also allows us to touch our awareness upon the areas in our lives that we purposefully or unknowingly avoid.  When brought face to face with where we are stuck, resistant, angry or creating suffering, awareness awakens the possibility of giving ourselves permission to feel, breathe and work through the blockage. 

Let's face it, we live in a fast-paced world that only promises (through technology) to get more harried.  It takes strength and trust to maneuver through our days. We develop this by practicing steadiness. The sage Patanjali declared that our asana practice should embody what he called sthiram sukham or steadiness and ease. The idea is that if we establish a steady body by practicing postures (asana) and breathing (pranayama), a steady mind will follow suit and we will develop the inner and outer strength and self-trust to meet any challenges - both physical or emotional - on and off the mat.

We repeatedly bring our caffeine fueled world to the mat or meditation cushion by trying to rush through the practice, by pushing ourselves beyond where we should be or by being distracted instead of aware.  We often make the mistake of thinking that if we move fast enough through our asana practice, we'll "advance" more quickly or that by going faster we'll be getting "more".  Yoga teaches us that to get stronger inside and out, we must slow down and connect with the currents of energy within. When we ask ourselves, "Where can I soften in this pose"? or "Where is the edge between opening and force in this moment"? or "Where is the line between too much effort and not enough?", we offer ourselves another chance to deepen, release, strengthen and find steadiness. To truly advance in our practice, we must find unshakable peace and steadiness in the most basic postures and moments. How can you stand on your head with ease if you can't find unwavering stillness and awareness while standing on your feet?  When we slow down our physical practice we build strength and endurance faster than if we rely on momentum.  When we tune into being rooted and awake - physically, emotionally and spiritually - we open the door to finding those same qualities while experiencing challenge on our mats or in the world.

Until next time...try these two short practices:

First, establish yourself in your breath.  Breathe deeply and slowly through your nose.  Once fully aware of and connected to the breath, practice each of the following poses, staying for 10 full breath cycles (a cycle is a long, full inhale and long, emptying exhales):

Tadasana (Mountain Pose). Feel your feet rooted, energy rising from the earth through your feet, and the breath energizing but also steadying your body.  

After 10 breaths, fold forward into:

Uttanasana (Standing Forward Fold).  

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog)

Plank (yes, 10 breath cycles!)

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down Dog)

Uttanasana (Standing Forward Fold)

Tadasana (Mountain Pose)

Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast. – Shakespeare


Try Your Hand 
by Jonathan Foust


1. Sit comfortably and shake out your hands, as if you were flinging water off your fingertips. Deepen your breath slightly. When your hands feel energized, place them on your thighs, palms facing up. Take a few moments to focus on the sensations in your hands. Feel, if you can, the pulse in your fingertips. 

2. As your breath deepens, see if you can activate your belly, diaphragm, rib cage, and upper chest. Breathe deep into your belly. Fill your upper chest with air at the top of the inhalation, then see how much you can relax with each exhalation.

3. Imagine a light at the core of your being. As you breathe in, let the light pulse a little brighter. When you exhale, let it pulse a little dimmer. You can even give it a temperature or assign a color to the sensations in your belly.

4. With each breath, imagine this energy filling your chest and shoulders. Feel it flow down your arms and into your palms. Notice light and warmth filling your chest cavity, your rib cage, your arms, your hands.

5. Rest your awareness in and around your hands. Feel the air touching your palms, fingers, and thumbs. Feel the outline of your hands and the space between your fingers. When you're ready, gently lift your hands off your body just enough to release them into the air, then let them be perfectly still. Relax your shoulders, arms, and palms.

6. Then lift your hands as slowly as possible, almost imperceptibly. Feel the smallest movement in your awareness as you continue to life your hands. See how much you can slow down. Imagine the molecules of air rolling between your fingers. See if you can slow the motion down so much that your hands feel as if they're moving by themselves.

7. When it feels right, turn your palms toward each other. As your hands come together, pulse them ever so slowly. Imagine, if you can, the edges of the energy field between your hands. You may feel as if you're holding a ball of pulsing energy, or as if your hands were opposite poles of a magnet. Your mind is relaxed but also aware, witnessing the flow of sensation into your hands.

8. For the next few minutes, let your hands move naturally and your mind observe the smallest details of sensation. At some point, bring your hands to a place on your body that needs healing or attention.

9. In your own time, let your hands come to rest in your lap and sit for a few more minutes in silence


"Surrender the mind's need to know, the ego's desire to control...
Every moment is the journey.  You are always in the midst of it,
always there, always arriving, always setting out.  Your focus on
the peak moments or the goal misses the point.  Awareness is
everywhere.  Awareness underlies the most mundane, day-to-day, 
utterly unremarkable, he-said, she-said, just-burned-the-rice moments.
Either you bring awakening with you into every single experience, or you 
are only half alive." -Danna Faulds

The Eye Of The Storm

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."  

~Rabindranath Tagore

On Sunday, just as our Yin Yoga class was getting ready to start, a fierce storm blew in.

The storm started off with the distant, rumbling sound of thunder followed by brilliant flashes of lightning.

As we settled into the practice, the wind picked up and the resonance of thunder grew closer. Rain began to sputter against the studio's windows with big plopping sounds.

In the midst of this, we silently held our postures and followed the steady rise and fall of our breath and, from the safety of the cozy studio, listened to the storm grow stronger.

Pretty soon the wind picked up intensity and the rain started coming down hard.  We could hear the vibration of the downpour falling on the metal roof of the building and the now crashing lightning strikes and thunder claps overhead.  And yet we stayed motionless, breathing deeply into our bodies and witnessing our own inner tempests from the shelter of our awareness.

The barrage of rain, wind, thunder and lightning continued to rage outside and it seemed like the more the storm grew in intensity, the quieter the room became.  Near the end of the practice, the thunder moved away into the distance, the wind died down, and the atmosphere became less charged.  That's when the sirens started to sound in the distance and grow closer and closer as they raced toward some unknown storm related emergency.  Pretty soon the wail of sirens faded into the sound of rain falling.  As we came to rest in savasana (corpse pose), the rain stopped and the only sound that could be heard was the passing of cars on the wet pavement on Pelham Drive.  It was amazing.

In Monday's Yin and Flow class, we talked about how the storm was a beautiful metaphor for our yoga and meditation practices.  There are times when the busyness and noise of the mind become thunderous and threatens to overwhelm us.  Our thoughts may often seem to be shrieking around inside our mind like gale force winds.  Our worries, anger or anxiety may cause a deluge of emotions. The storms we encounter in life are unavoidable.  However, how we choose to react to them is.  Just as the class witnessed the fury of the storm from the stillness of the room, when we are balanced and steady within the uproar of physical or mental storms, we can ride them out from the shelter of our own peaceful sanctuary. Observing what is without being tossed around by it.

In Monday's asana practice we explored deep hip openers.  The hips are often where we hold onto a lot of tension and suppressed emotions.  During class we held each pose for 10 breaths (yin poses were held for up to 4 minutes) to practice watching in silence whatever inner tempest showed up. We practiced breathing deeply into the turbulent storm of the mind, following each inhale and exhale into the shelter and sanctuary of inner peace that resides beneath the tumult.  As we moved through the practice, we focused on progressing up the chakras to find balance and calm in the midst of the activity of the mind (chakras are focal points of energy that we use, whether consciously or unconsciously, to affect reality and allow us to fully experience and realize events that unfold before us).  

Below, find Monday's flow for your home practice.

Until next time...

YIN AND FLOW-DEEP HIPS

OPEN:

LAY ON BACK W/BHRAMARI PRANAYAMA (BEE BREATH) THEN CHAKRA AWARENESS MEDITATION 

WARM UPS

HUG KNEES

RECLINING LEG STRETCH W/STRAP (THEN OUT TO SIDE) BOTH SIDES

RECLINING PIGEON-BOTH SIDES 

HUG KNEES ROLL UP TO HANDS AND KNEES

DOWN DOG

DOWN DOG SPLITS-R 

LOW LUNGE-R ARMS UP

PLANK
SLOW CHATURANGA

UPDOG

DOWN DOG

REPEAT-L

STANDING-

WARRIOR I/REACHING WARRIOR-R DYNAMICALLY INTO

REACHING WARRIOR-R

PYRAMID-R 

REVOLVING TRIANGLE-R 

MODIFIED WARRIOR I-R 

PLANK
SLOW CHATURANGA

UPDOG

DOWN DOG

REPEAT-L

DOWN DOG SPLITS-R  INTO

LOW LUNGE-R (HANDS TO FLOOR OR BLOCKS) 3 MINUTES

DRAGON FLYING LOW TWIST-R HANDS OR LEFT FOREARM TO FLOOR 1 MINUTE

SLEEPING PIGEON-R 4 MINUTES

DOWN DOG 
REPEAT-L


LAY ON BELLY W/PRANAYAMA


SAVASANA CAN EITHER BE DONE ON YOUR BELLY OR ON YOUR BACK 


Let The Mind Be The Mind

by Danna Faulds


Let the mind be the mind.
Behind its restless activity,
just one layer deeper
is stillness, and beneath
even that, is an ocean
of mystery and truth.


Swim in this eternal sea
until you know yourself
to be infinity, and bring
that knowing back into
your day.  Why struggle
to be what you are already?


Let the mind be the mind,
but don't bind yourself 
to its limited reality.
Trust your experience of
vastness.  Trust the truth
that never loses potency
or disappears in fear.


Let the mind be the mind
and identify not with
thought, but silence.

The Flavor of Fun!

"

"From joy springs all creation, by joy it is sustained, toward joy it proceeds, and to joy it returns." -Mundaka Upanishad


Fun comes in many flavors and last night fun tasted like the 80's!  We celebrated the magic of the 80's at the yoga studio with a special "I Love The 80's" yoga class.  It was an incredibly FUN and joyful evening of practicing together in a relaxed and lighthearted way.  It was, dare I say "Like, oh my God! Totally bitchin'!"

I spent the years between 1979-1987 in middle school and high school. I am also part of the "MTV" generation. As a kid, my life was ruled by new wave music, music videos and all things 80's, like Pop Rocks, outlandish fashions (which all came from the crazy music videos we were exposed to) and John Hughes movies. When I look back at those days, I get the warm and fuzzies. They were carefree, happy and playful times where the world was safe (as only it can be when you live at home with mom and dad), but also the future was wide open and  unknown, full of mystery and possibility.

Somewhere along the line though, as we get pushed through our school years and into college, and from college into the world where a career or family take precedence, we forget the importance of fun and why we need it in order to grow spiritually.

Ever wondered why time flies when you’re having fun? It’s because you become so absorbed and immersed in what you’re doing that you forget to look at your watch. You think only of the present without comparing it to the future or the past.  Fun is the purest form of mindfulness practice.  Pure, unadulterated JOY in motion!  That's what last night's class was... joyful!  A beautiful coming together of folks from the yoga community to celebrate, sing and have fun.  It was pure magic (cue the Cars song)!

“Joy is the feeling of grinning inside.”
-Melba Colgrove

Having been a student and teacher of yoga for several years now, I am often reminded of how we as practitioners can become so engrossed in perfecting the physical or spiritual aspects of the practice that we lose sight of what the essence of the practice is all about... living fully, joyfully, and lovingly in this moment. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the reverence of our practice that we actually end up closing ourselves off to the feeling of joy.  We can become so engrossed in our asana or meditation practices or so enmeshed in presenting ourselves as "spiritual" beings to the world, that we miss the deeper purpose of the practice entirely. 


The larger purpose of yoga seeks to reveal the true nature of the self and to have us live as that true nature. The true nature of the self is not closed off, but rather open and connected to all things. The true nature of the self is not having one leg beautifully stretched behind the head, but rather opening the heart to embrace all of life as it unfolds. The ultimate aim of yoga is freedom and to experience one's innermost being or "soul" (in Sanskrit: the Purusa).


“Enjoy life. This is not a dress rehearsal.”


Last night's practice was a beautiful example of experiencing the joy of yoga.  Of being so completely absorbed in the fun of the moment that time stood still.


It was a wonderful reminder to incorporate fun into your daily life and to taste the sweet flavor of fun.


Until next time, wishing you the clarity to find joy right where you are...


80's Playlist:
"Don't Stop Believing" by Journey
"Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield
"Take On Me" by Aha
"Venus" by Bananarama
"Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles
"The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats
"Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams
"Working For The Weekend" by Loverboy
"We Got The Beat" by The Go-Go's
"Tainted Love" by Soft Cell
"Heat of The Moment" by Asia
"Is There Something I Should Know" by Duran Duran
"Whip" It by Devo
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard
"Down Under" by Men At Work
"Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant
"Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For Fears
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds
"Keep On Loving You" by REO Speedwagon
"Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper
"Life In A Northern Town" by Dream Academy
and for our special sing along chant...
"Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison


“Joy is not in things; it is in us” -Richard Wagner

Expire and Inspire!

"We too should make ourselves empty, that the great soul of the universe may fill us with its breath."  

~Laurence Binyon

I took Anne Miller's All Levels yoga class Thursday morning.  It was a beautiful practice in which she spoke about gratitude and how the elegant sound we give to our breath when we practice ujjayi pranayama is not only a gift we give to our fellow yogis in the room - the gift of our presence - but also a sweet reminder of the life we have been given.

Along with the gift of the sound of our breath, the breath itself is an amazing offering both to us and to the world around us. It is the act of inspiring and expiring, both the sparking of life within and a profound letting go, all in one cycle of breath.  

Much like leaves on a tree move with the wind, in yoga it is said that the mind moves with the breath. When the breath is controlled and calmed there is a soothing effect on the mind. Many people think of pranayama as just controlling the breath but it is much, much more. As we deepen our pranayama practice we begin to use retention (kumbhaka) at both the top of our inhales and the bottom of our exhales to expand our awareness of the divine within us. 

B.K.S. Iyengar says that "when you hold your breath, you hold your soul.  By retaining the full in-breath, you hold the divine infinite within yourself."  He says that at the moment you retain your breath you have reached the full potential of your individuality, but "it is a divine individuality and not the small, selfish creature you normally take yourself for." The idea is that when you inhale you are inspiring the divine to expand and grow within and when you exhale you generously surrender your divine self to the world. 

To breathe in is an inspiration, a receiving that engulfs the whole body.  When we breathe in we allow the divine infinite to expand into the space that we're making.  To hold the breath in is to experience the fullness and richness of this divinity. The exhalation surrenders everything that we think we are to the source of life - the giver of life.  The body moves in towards the core of being, like a baby nestling against its mother, secure and trusting. What dies is the "I", "me", "mine" which clings so passionately to its own identity. When we hold the breath out after exhalation, we experience expiration - a small death or letting go. 

Today, simply practice following the length of each inhale as it leads up into the spaciousness of your divine, true self at the top of the breath. Rest in its abundance for a few moments before sliding down the length of the exhale into the still, quiet space that resides at the bottom of the breath. Rest in the emptiness without feeling the need to add anything or wanting anything to be different. Feel the in-breath inspire you to live fully and to appreciate the amazing gift of taking the divine into yourself.  Allow the out-breath to be an expiration, a small death or a releasing of the divine within us back out into the world.

Until next time...

"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

Posture Flow
by Danna Faulds

This is a sacrament,
a prayer of breath, a
symphony of soul
and motion. This is
yoga, emerging from
the inside, out-all
here in this singular
meditation of spirit.
Trust that the body
knows what it needs
if you dare to follow
where it leads.

Use The Force

"Prayer is you talking to God.  Intuition is God talking back."

Wayne Dyer

One of my favorite quotes from a movie comes from a conversation between Luke Skywalker and Yoda in "The Empire Strikes Back" (where Yoda is teaching Luke how to save his spaceship from sinking in a swamp). Yoda is trying to teach Luke to "use the force", to tap into his connection to all things, but Luke's heart and mind are clouded and he is steeped in confusion. Feeling defeated with his training he is on the verge of giving up when Jedi Master Yoda wisely says: "...my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us… and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this… [nudging Luke's arm] crude matter! You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock… everywhere! Even between the land and the ship."   Luke regroups his efforts, closes his eyes and focuses on using the force around him to lift his spaceship out of the Dagobah swamp.  It's a powerful moment, one in which we see Luke connect to the power of 'the force'.  Watching, we can relate to our own struggles and ability to find clarity and connection to our own deep inner knowing.

When we clear the clutter of the mind, our ability to see, hear, feel, and know expands and it is then that we are more easily able to enter the space of our intuition and our connection to the matrix of life we call "being".

My intuition has been a beautiful guide and friend to me for my whole life and I trust it more than anything. I have always had a deep, abiding faith in 'the force', though there have been times, like Luke Skywalker, that I have been clouded and unable to see, hear, or feel it clearly.  Regardless of our being able to see, hear or feel it, it is always there - like Yoda said: "its energy surrounds us and binds us."

The system of yoga asserts that this force can be most readily accessed through our sixth chakra, or "ajna", also known as the "third eye".  Ajna is the Sanskrit word that means "beyond wisdom".  It is located between, and just above the eyes (in the area of the pituitary gland). It is said to be the seat of our intuition or inner knowing, our direct connection to "the force".  Oshonews.com says: "This chakra resonates with clear thinking, native intelligence, and intuition. It is from here that we develop our psychic ability, our memories of the past and visualizations for the future, and can stand unafraid to see the truth about what’s happening in our lives."

We can strengthen our mental clarity (sixth chakra energy), by taking the time to calm our scattered thoughts and focus on what is happening in the moment (sort of like Luke Skywalker trying to lift his spaceship out of the swamp!).  We cultivate the power of our intuition when we accept that there are many ways of thinking and living in the world, and we open ourselves to understanding - without pride or negative judgement - that we don't always need to conform to those ways.

When we are fully grounded and centered, we are better able to determine whether our intuition is coming from a place of deep inner guidance or if it is stemming from a fear-based idea.  When we practice being inwardly still, we stop being afraid to know the truth.

Yogi Bhajan of the Kundalini Yoga tradition sums it up beautifully:

"Silence is core to all spiritual practices. The Buddhists are masters of silence. Or at least they recognize its value and practice the discipline. One must be silent to 'hear' the Divine. Silence is an art that we cultivate. Your experiences will be more profound and your practice more effective if you incorporate silence into your spiritual practice and into your daily life.

The purpose of silence is to turn our attention inward. As we tune into our inner space we are able to identify and stop relating to what is called "excess personality" or "externalized ego". We begin relating to our Essential Self or Soul. It is our Essential Self that accesses our intuition and finds the Infinite within. Cultivate the art of silence and listening.  To be silent requires being able to listen. There is a silent channel in our mind.  First we have to access it.  Second we have to listen to the silence and be with it.  The silence is always there.  Our challenge is to train ourselves to pay attention to it." 

Just as Luke Skywalker needed to connect with this ever-present silence within in order to "feel the force" (his connection to all things), we too need to practice exercising our third eye.  Sometimes the only way to know is through experience.  But whether the question is that there's something we need to do or something to avoid, when the gift of intuition presents itself and kindly offers to guide us, our practice is to be awake enough to hear and respect its voice.

Try it now: close your eyes.  Draw  your attention to the area of your third eye and allow yourself to expand into the boundary-less space behind your forehead.  Ask yourself: "What do I need?", "What no longer serves me, even if it once did?", "What is God/the universe trying to tell me?". Then silently remain open to the answers without trying to analyze, formulate or visualize a response.  Sit in the silence of this space for a while then slowly open your eyes and feel yourself being moved by something greater than your little 'ol ego.

Until next time...
Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply points the way.  ~Florence Scovel Shinn

One With Truth
by Dana Faulds

When I recognize that
I am one with truth and
the whole searing, seamless
universe, I don't need proof.
I stop seeking reassurance.

This knowing is too strong
to second-guess or oush
away-it's what I am.
It seeps in, leaks out,
changes everything and
leaves me much the same.

It isn't a realization, really-
more of an experience of what
has always been, and will be.
There are no separate pieces
in this creation-not one of
us exists outside the whole.