by

Don’t Try to Clear the Mind

I want to recommend you stop telling the mind to be quiet.

It is sort of like telling someone not to think of a purple horse that is jumping on top of igloos.  -  You pictured it didn’t you?

The mind has it’s own intentions, and they are appropriate for some things, but not particularly helpful in regards to sitting still for meditation or  practicing yoga. So, my suggestion is to refrain from being too aggressive. Instead of “trying to clear the mind of any thoughts,”  see what happens if you just allow them to run, but quietly over to the side. While the thinking is happening, you can be experiencing a sense of calm and peace on the side. Gradually, the mind will become quieter and quieter, as you just allow it, but don’t pay attention.

How much attention you give to the thoughts can be key.

by: digitalart

Of course, this will not work for some people. That is fine, but see if you can refrain from being harsh toward the mind. Allow it to do what it does. But your attention can go elsewhere.

If you consistently spend time thinking when you are in meditation or doing yoga asana, see if you can turn the attention away to something else. This has to be done again and again. This does not indicate a problem. It isn’t a problem. It is just that thinking is a habit. We must have regular practice to break habits. Let go again and again.

Steady effort, unceasing, will bring us into a different experience. Do not be surprised at how vigilant you will need to be to let go of the thinking again, and again. The mind will be creative to come up with something interesting or upsetting, or something that otherwise has “pull” with you. Just let it go, again and again.

In some Buddhist traditions, the practice of labeling thinking (when you notice, you simply say “thinking” in the mind, and then let go) is shared. This could be useful for anyone. If you notice yourself telling a story or following a story-line  just notice and let it go. There is no reason to feel good or bad about it. It is simply a practice. Also, doing this practice will eventually lead to other experiences. Some of those experiences may include a sense of peacefulness or clear- headedness, but allowing this to arise is very different from actively clearing the mind, or telling your mind to be quiet.

Yoga Pose of the Day: Upward-Facing Dog – Urdhva Mukha Svanasana

Yogic Concept of the Day: Refrain from clearing the mind. Be gentle and turn attention somewhere else.

by

The Fourth Path – Karma Yoga (Action)

The Fourth and final of the major paths of yoga is Karma Yoga, or the yoga of action. My understanding of the word karma is that it translates most literally as “habit.” You do not have to believe in reincarnation or anything like that to look at this principle because it really doesn’t need to be related to that. This path, karma yoga, involves doing actions in the world that benefit others. Plain and simple, it is about allowing yourself to do things you might not normally do, to offer service. Placing ones primary attention on the giving of all actions to the benefit of others is a path not entirely foreign to those outside of India. It could be said that Mother Teresa was a karma yogini, or that Martin Luther King, Jr. was. It is the level at which a person performs selfless service. Many people around the world have demonstrated inspiring acts of service to others without regard for themselves.

One can perform actions of any of the various paths (raja, jnana, bhakti, karma) of yoga without needing to dedicate oneself solely to that path of yoga – as a way of directing the whole life.. Raja Yoga seems to be a blend of all the various paths, and includes hatha yoga, jnana yoga, bhakti and karma yoga for sure. When I was in my studies for becoming a yoga teacher, we were taught raja yoga and about the other three. Bhakti yoga was offered as an option without pressure to actually participate, though we were given the opportunity to ask questions and be taught by those who have chosen bhakti yoga as their path.

Karma yoga often takes the form of doing actions that others may not want to perform, but would appreciate your doing. Opportunities for karma yoga at the ashram where I studied included washing dishes, cooking, cleaning the dorms, gardening and weeding, cleaning, and repairing various equipment or facilities. Karma yoga could mean offering ones life to serve others in any way that you can see. Holding the door for someone when you are in a hurry, cleaning the bottom of the trash can when the bad has ripped and it is smelly, mowing the lawn and fixing the plumbing all can be acts of selfless service. You can offer these, without complaint or even a discussion, by simply seeing it as a moment to act for the good of others, with no desire to benefit yourself.

That is the key. It is meant to be giving up your own desire to benefit from your action.

Swami Satchidananda, the root teacher of Integral Yoga, talked about how the apple tree is a good example of a karma yogi. It offers so much fruit and never complains that others are the ones who receive the benefits of its fruits. He suggests that we also should be able to give of the fruits of our actions without thinking we should be the ones benefiting. “Don’t eat the fruits of your life. Instead, offer them to others.” He suggests that we are not meant to be the ones who benefit from the fruits of our actions.

So, even if you do not choose to dedicate your whole life to the path of karma yoga, you can offer an action each day. Choose to do something you wouldn’t normally want to do, and offer it selflessly. You can also choose one thing that you want, and decide to refrain, selflessly, as an act of giving to others.

To see more about karma yoga and the other paths of yoga:

http://www.sivananda.org/teachings/fourpaths.html

 

Yoga pose of the Day: Do something nice and don’t wait to see how it is received.

Yogic thought of the Day: I allow my efforts to go out and be in the world. I do not need to benefit from my own efforts.

by

Yogi diet: Do you know where your sugar is hiding?

The Confluence Countdown, a blog I have been following for quite some, time put out a really great post today. You can find it below for your perusal. In this article there is a link to a recent study concerning calorie, and specifically sugar consumption in the United States. Worth a read, if you ask me.

Honestly, thinking about what % of food you eat that has added sugar would be a nice step. Think of the portion on your plate, and how many plates you eat in a day… it adds up quickly. If you can add a piece of fruit, or a sweet vegetable instead of that pop tart, or packaged food, it can really add up, too. 9 days to a new habit, 21 days to make it well established. Consider that you could nurture yourself, mother yourself, for Mother’s Day by choosing to eat for your health.

Making the % of foods containing added sugar that you consume lower is a great way to begin to eat for health. In yoga we want to make slow changes and allow the body to adjust to them. In this way, we will not set off quick reactions in the body. You can make the change slow and lasting. :)

The article:

Yogi diet: Do you know where your sugar is hiding?.

by

108 Sun Salutations!

108 Sun Salutations Summer 2013

When: Saturday, June 15th at 11:00 a.m.

Friends and Family Arrive for party 12:30 p.m.

 

Practices:

Wednesdays and Saturdays

Wed. 6:00 p.m.

Sat. 2:00 p.m.

At the new Park on Sprague (near Garfield)  - if rain, go to the Dance Factory

 

Practice Schedule:

(Date – How many Sun Salutations)

May

11th – 25

15th – 36

18th – No Practice with Teacher (can meet on your own if you like)

22th – 40

25th- 45

29th – 50

 

June

1st – 62

5 th- 75

8th -80

12th -95

15th – 108 *** Party at 12:30 p.m. Please invite friends and family. Bring Food :)

 

Helpful suggestions to help the body adapt:

Use a mantra.

Get plenty of rest. Eat for health.

Be sure to take one day off each week, from any exercise. If you must miss a practice, or several, you should feel like you can keep up with the schedule at home and join us when you are able.

If you begin to feel pain, please acknowledge it and honor your body. Stop, and do what you need to.

Many changes happen to the body during this process! It is normal to have some soreness that goes away within 2-3 days. If you need to rest, even during practice, do. Be cautious and ease into the practice. You will get there.

It is recommended that you also do another day or two of Sun Salutations on your own during this process so you can help the body to acclimate to the practice.

by

No Joy – No Gain

Sometimes we think that steady effort is pain. We think of the adage ”No pain, no gain.” Do we not? We think, “I have to muster up the resolve somewhere inside to do it anyway” and then wonder why we have no joy once we are actually doing the work. Half-way through a project, any project, you can decide you wish you hadn’t chosen it if you start to feel it is a burden rather than cherished time. But this is not hard. What our challenge is is this: can you move your own mind to be more creative than that? Can you find a way to apply yourself so you do not get lost in the habits of the mind? Can you approach whatever is in front of you with more joy than that? This is the real work, isn’t it?

In yoga, we do not approach pain the same way you might in other practices. We are not looking for a smarting pain. But sometimes the pain we experience is actually more about the emotion of not wanting to feel intensity. This we can work with. You only add to your experience of pain if you treat the work you do like it is drudgery and a chore. Do you tend to let go of the creative aspects to how you approach what you are doing? Thinking of how you move, how you do the work, and how you apply the mind can make a huge difference in your experience of any process. It isn’t the work itself that is a problem. In fact, the work itself has absolutely nothing to do with how you experience the process of doing the work. Your habits of how you approach the work does.

Once there was a time I remember, when I did 35 sun salutations. The day before I did 31, and I was really thinking I would go for 41 the following day. But, I was also aware of the fact that my body was still in the soreness phase with this increased repetition. I wanted to apply effort, but I also found it important to honor my body, and what soreness means. So I did’t want to push too hard. Just to push hard enough required a sort of balance.

What was interesting was this: I decided I would just continue to do the movements once I got to about number 20, and my body started showing some signs of fatigue. The mind jumped right in and started thinking “hmmm… maybe its okay if I don’t finish so many today. There is always tomorrow.” I had to remember that thinking something doesn’t make it true, and I needed to try to relax, see if I could enjoy.

I closed my eyes, while still doing the sun salutations. Can you believe –  a whole different world came into my experience. It was really one of those beautiful moments in yoga practice, where you realize there is more going on than the mind is really able to think about or process. I felt peace, and was able to use my thinking to count, but my emotions were not with the counting. This is the step that is so critical, right? My emotions were not invested with the thinking mind. My emotions were right with the feelings of, well, movement, and how much it felt like dancing. There is a joy that can come out as we do yoga. It felt so good to just be with the movement. Let the mind veg out with the counting and have my feelings/sensations take the lead for a little while.  If you are going to dance with a sense of drudgery – why dance? I mean, can you imagine someone on American Idol singing with a sense of obligation? The same is true with yoga, or cooking, or anything that we do.

Take a deep breath when you feel you are pushing yourself into the painful drudgery mindset, or the boredom of that “have to” sense of mind. Remember why and what this practice can be. There is something beautiful in the human psyche that is always available, if we will just bring our attention to it. All that we do can be done with a little creativity, if you decide to take that challenge.

Honestly, I can’t wait to get back to the mat. With the beginning of 108 Sun Salutations starting soon, I mean, what would happen if I thought about it like this:

No joy – no gain.

Really.

Maybe it will be difficult to make every single aspect of life about joy – but it will sure be more fun to try than not.

Poses of the Day: 10 – 15 Sun Salutations (try to do this each day this week, if you can)

Yoga thought for the Week:  What brings joy in this moment?

by

Indian Soul Food

Many of you know I have had some digestive issues over the years. There is a type of Indian food that settles the digestive system. Since we have talked about it in some of our yoga classes, I thought I would share a recipe. Note that there are changes to make if you have different body constitutions. I usually make mine without the ghee (clarified butter), and I substitute other types of beans for the yellow lentils when I can’t find them. It also makes the flavor really great if you dry roast the herb powders before adding them into the mix.

Here it is:  http://www.ayurveda.com/online_resource/kitchari_recipe.html

by

The Mind Says You’re Bored (but you aren’t)

Which way did you see the cat spinning?

They say if it is spinning clockwise you are right brain dominant, counter-clockwise would mean left brain dominant. Some people can see both. See if you can switch back and forth at will!

What does this have to do with boredom? Well… I think even looking at this for a little while is fun for the right brain.

If you find yourself practicing yoga asana (poses), or standing in line at the grocery store, waiting for a friend, or going through any daily routine and the mind says it is bored, this is a time to wake up. Really, pay attention. Do you recall the difference between the right brain and left brain? The left brain has the language faculties and wants constant stimulation. The right brain is perfectly happy hanging out without language or structure, but often isn’t what holds dominance (especially in current culture in the West)  because it doesn’t have language. So… when you sit and meditate, the right brain will keep on chattering away, telling you this is boring and to do something else would be more stimulating, more fun.

You don’t always have to listen to the left brain.

Today, notice when there are moments that lack intellectual or verbal stimulation, and try to just relax. Let the left brain tell you it is bored, if it does, but remain aware anyway. Bring your attention to the other sensations in the body.

To review, the work of the right brain, pay attention to:

  • Where the body is in space
  • Sensations in the body
  • Emotional feelings
  • What you appreciate in a situation
  • Symbols and relationships between yourself and what is around you
  • The big picture instead of the details

When the left brain is bored to tears, there may be plenty of stimulation for the right brain. Bringing our awareness to these aspects of who we are, and our ability to increase our attention for these ways of being, can make our lives richer (a sense of meaning and belonging is felt in the right brain) and make our skills more well-rounded.

Have a good time with this one. And remember… if your left brain tells you it is bored, you don’t have to believe it.

Pose of the Day: Simple Seated Postion (5 -10 minutes of meditation)

Yogic Concept of the Day: If I think I am bored, it doesn’t mean all of me is. I can pay attention to other ways of experiencing the world around me.