Essential Reading for Asana Practice

Basics of Patheya Yoga

Asana Videos

Baptiste  Power

Baptiste yoga door

Stopping the Chase

On Sunday I experienced a shift in awareness that bought on migraines and  pain in my upper back. All I know what to do is move the body. The only message I am getting is to practice asanas more and do the chi ball exercise daily.  Remain for longer and longer periods in full Awareness.

My mind wants to know 'and what next', and all I get is 'dwell in Presence'.  Full stop.

(As a side note, my computer screen is playing up (I can only see two thirds of it), my space bar is stuck and I need to strike it heavily to create a 'space' and the sound connected to the speakers is fading in and out.   Seems typical, yes?  Also some of my English students have decided to take yoga with me next week. When the teacher is ready, the students appear. )



Photo: Tiffany Jones Tossa del Mar

Yoga Workshop, Espern, Hamar, December 2009 - Part Four

Yoga

We are one. The author of New Age Thinking wrote that our urge to be ‘one’ was a regressive state of consciousness that harkened back to our inability to let go of the mother.

Let me remind you of what ‘mother’ we can not let go of.  The Great Earth Mother. 

Mother Earth

For those of you that doubt the word ‘mother’ should be given to earth, and see this as some form of romantic or even pagan labelling, let us think of what the earth means to us.

It protects us, it shelters us, it gives us food, it sustains us, because of its existence, we are here. It gives us air to breath, food to eat and a place to live. Traditionally, the role of the care givers has been given to women. To bring the earth into our hearts and minds, and to bring full appreciation of its value to us, we give her the name ‘Mother Earth.’

And what do we do to her, in exchange? We take from her without thought, we poison her veins, we turn our back on her when she struggles to cope with our abuse, we dig into her skin and take out the parts we want, we ignore her importance in celebrations and harden our hearts towards giving thanks, and naively we think we are independent from her, just like most ignorant teenagers feel towards their parents.

But it’s a process. We are growing with awareness. We understand that we can not continue to act so foolishly, and all the children of the world need to come together to help give back to the earth what we have taken. To claim responsibility for our actions. And this is an act of unity. It is yoga off the mat.  We are coming together, slowly, in appreciation and awareness for our great Mother.

We can never let go of Mother Earth. Instead, we need to stand and plant our feet in Mountain Pose, and claim our stance and our belonging right here, where we are, on the earth. 

Mountain Pose

The feet firmly grounded into the earth. During the yoga workshop, we talked about two energies. One of them was the gravitational pull of Mother Earth. When we are in asana practice, we must always connect to the earth and stabilize. We need to ground ourselves and claim our position. We can not build our pose upon hesitant footing.

You can do that on a physical level, but can you reach into your being and send your heart into the ground and claim your space. Do you belong, where you are? Do you belong, right here? Have you taken responsibility and a shared partnership for your relationship to our shared Mother? In your heart? In your mind? In your soul?

You are my brother and you are my sister. We share this Earth Mother. From my heart, to yours, I ask you to open and explore your relationship with our Mother, and to claim the relationship as valid and one of the most important of our lives.  Everything we do, is reliant upon her. Our very being. What does that mean? What is our responsibility? How does this concern you?

Unity with Mother Earth

We can not let go of the Mother Earth, of creation, of life itself.  Its impossible. We are a part of life, of creation – no matter what we think. We were born of the earth, we live from the earth and we will return to the earth. 


One of the most fundamental moments of bringing ourselves into alignment with what yoga means, is becoming aware of our relationship to the earth and to all life forms who share the air, and shelter, and clothing and food that our Mother gives us. 


Part Three of the Workshop
Part Five of the Workshop 

Yoga Asanas are Purification

Yoga is unity and harnessing energy. Yoga is about unity. The enemy of unity, is ‘me, me, me’ thinking.

Asanas (poses), pranayama (breathing) and dhyana (meditation) are ways to clean the body of ‘me, me, me’ so there is more of ‘thee, thee, thee’.

Who is ‘thee’?

The ‘thee’, in this circumstance, is the will of nature, of tao, of the way, of ‘what is’, mindfulness, of the universal consciousness – what ever you’d like to call it.

Every experience we have, every thought, ever action, every moment, we create. The act of creation causes a consequence, repercussions, even if we can’t see it right now. The mind takes in so much information at a moment’s glance, at a moment’s rise or fall in emotion, in an idea – we leave traces of the past where ever we go.

Yoga helps to clean us from the out side in – by releasing the hold the past has on our body tissue. There is a school of thought that suggests the body holds the memories of the past. Not the mind. Our body freezes when we hear certain noises. The ‘feeling’ we have is from our body. The mind is quiet, waiting, while the dinosaur walks past the cave.

Yoga is purification of the mind and body, so that we can move the self aside, and reside in the Self that is unity.

Cleansing Processes

Yoga Journal – purification

Blue Yoga

Three Words On The Way to Unity

Belonging

When we come into our yoga class, we have an opportunity to practice unity. We start by gathering our mind together. Releasing the memories of the day. Letting go of the tomorrow. And we use the presence of our body to bring our awareness into focus.

This is the first level of unity for us during asana practice.

Practicing acceptance

When we resist what is, when we fight it, we are against it. It is different from us. It is something our mind does not want or comprehend and we reject it. This is not yoga.

During yoga practice, let’s say ‘its ok’. Let’s accept our limitations. Let’s understand that getting it ‘right’ or getting it ‘wrong’ is the same thing. It is. If it is – then its ok.

Once we start judging, we can’t see clearly. Once we get emotional, foggy is the word for our vision. One breath at a time. Because it is.

Belonging

Belonging is an extension of acceptance. In savasana (corpse pose) I like to use the words ‘you belong in your body’, or ‘you belong, right here, right now’. There is no other place you should be. Should is a term the mind made up. We want to get closer to the ‘what is’ – not further away. Thinking in terms of ‘should’ turns us away from the centre.

Grasp it. Embrace it. Because it is.

The Human Mind and The Universal Mind

The human mind can’t understand a fragment of it all. Don’t try. The human heart understands. But we have to give up trying to figure stuff out. We just get angry, sick, unhappy, frustrated, depressed and confused.

Breathe through the heart. The world works on an energetic level. Your heart understands it. But listening with your heart is painful. It hurts. It breaks. It tears. And it knows that the bigger it gets, the more it understands. Your heart belongs. It is. Its pulse is the pulse of life. The gentle breeze in the evening. The rhythm of the ocean.

Trust

God or Universal Consciousness – what ever you want to call it – trust it. Because it is. Your mind resists. But when was a human right?

Nature is. It’s a fact. It does its thing no matter what we do to try to stop it. We chop and change and burn and pollute and still flowers bloom. Still the storms come, and still the sun shines.

Because it is – trust it. We change our mind at a moment’s notice. We say we like this, and like that – and if we don’t get it, then change – and what ever – inconsistent and ever changing is the way of the mind. But It – is. Never changing. Always present. It’s the only thing worth putting our trust in.

Acceptance, Belonging, Trust.

Three steps to Unity.

Asanas as a means to help Spiritual Emergence

Lately I’ve discovered how important asana practice is in helping the body assimilate the energy shifts in spiritual awakening.

This is not the same as kundalini yoga.

This is not the same as healing by using anana practice.

People all across the planet are awakening. There is something happening to the world. Its everywhere. People talking about 2012, strange dreams, weird sightings of spirits and increased clairvoyant activity.

I don’t know what’s happening to the world. I don’t claim to have a higher source of information. I only know that many people are talking about their spiritual emergence, their awakening.

Awakening to what? To another life beyond the constant round of shopping trips, and materialistic gains, and entertainment. A life that points at possible fulfilment on a spiritual level. At something more profound, more deep, more lasting.

But to get to such a place, we need to drop our little bag of knowledge. We need to give up a big part of our known, so that we can see into the possibility of the unknown.

People are struggling with the inner self and the outer self. They have headaches, sweating, pain, random itching and when the go to the doctor, as they should, for their check up – the doctor says, well, you can have a few (expensive) tests, but it looks like there’s nothing wrong with you. Possibly, you take the tests, and still, there’s nothing wrong with you – nothing that the medical profession can pin point.

What’s happening?

Some say its kundalini rising. Some call it spiritual awakening. Some say it’s the flowering of human consciousness. I don't know what to call it.

Remember, we are all changing. All of us have been afraid and fearing our own madness.

There is a template that can help us through this. It’s the chakra system. Feel free to read about what I wrote on suite101 about the Chakra Basics.

Now I’ve been practicing a mixture of yoga and qigong and meditation since 1989. Its not that long in a life time, and I’m the first one to say I’m still learning. But there is something I have discovered.

And that is asana practice and qigong can help keep the body open to the flow and changes of energy within the body. The energy moves – people feel it – and if your body is open, strong and flexible – it doesn’t block the flow. The asana practice keeps your body from holding the pain of spiritual emergence.

Everybody’s body is different. Ask your yoga teacher for help, if you think these symptoms sound like yours. Otherwise feel free to contact me.

Remember, you are highly recommended to visit your doctor first, before you try alternative therapies.

Spiritual Crisis - an interview with Christina Grof

Signs of Spiritual Awakening on Spiritual Blessings Forum

Two Energies in Yoga.

a
Mountain Pose in Practice

There are two forces at work.
One is positive and one is negative.
They can be expressed by the Taoist symbol.

One is not more important than the other.
They are interrelated and interdependent.

All of life can be expressed by their interplay.

Hatha Yoga
In hatha yoga, when standing in Mountain Pose, we can tap into these two energies very simply.

* Remember, the exercises in them selves are not magical or a ‘cure all’. The asanas, the meditation, the pranayama – all of these things are tools to help us get to know and express the basic philosophy of yoga – that of unity and wholeness.

Mountain Pose
Try this exercise outside.

Posture
- Feet together or hip distance apart.

- Lift and place the toes. Rock gently from side to side to bring your awareness into your feet.

- As you move up to your knees, see the connection between the feet, though the calf and up into the knee. See, in your minds eye, the connection and flow of skin, blood, and bones.

- Lift and tighten the knees.

- Pull up the thighs.

- Remember, while everything is lifted and aware – it is still ‘ light and strong’, rather than ‘tense and brittle’. Feel the difference.

- Tuck the tail bone through – we want the jutting hip bones and the pubic bone on a similar vertical plane.

- Take in a deep breath. As you breath out, gently draw the lower muscles of your stomach in.

- Lengthen through the spine. Long and tall.

- Keep the movements soft, gentle and smile a little with love and care towards your body.

- Lift the shoulders up, roll them back and gently let them settle into place. Check your ribs don’t stick out.

- Relax your arms beside your body

- Lengthen through the back of your neck.

- Soften the face. Soften the back of the neck and head. Soften the jaw. Relax the eyes.

The meditation
Once you are comfortable in your pose. Once you have breathed and felt your body. Take a slightly different perspective. See yourself as one person, standing on the face of the earth. Your feet are connected to the earth. Your head is reaching up towards the sky.

Now, as a matter of fact, you are now in the position for being the perfect conduit for the two energies – just as you stand. The earth is heavy, dark and passive. The sky is light, bright and active.

Begin with your feet. Begin to draw up the energy through the earth up into your body. As you begin to feel ‘something’ – visualize the great expanse of the sky above you. Imagine the energy of the sky begin to pour into your body through your head.

Keep both energies flowing up into your body.

They meet in your centre. In your navel. Your navel is the meeting point for the two energies. You are the perfect vessel to hold these two energies in balance in your body.

Breath.

Continue your practice.