Light the Dark

We are headed toward a milestone for almost everyone. The month of December has so many reasons to celebrate. Yet there are elements that can cause suffering. The winter solstice happens to mark the day with the least light for our region of the world. It’s going to be cold and dark and for many that’s a daunting situation to face. The question then becomes: why? Many are afraid of the dark and cold because they are afraid of being uncomfortable and they are afraid of change. The cold is something to be endured for many. It is the reason to perpetuate hibernation tendencies and become mired in ourselves. Dark is to be overly lit. Bad things are said to happen in the dark. This is but a reflection of our own fear of our own dark.
Yoga teaches the path of growth lies in shedding light into our internal dark corners. Those things we are reluctant to look at are the things holding us back.
Sukha is a Sanskrit word that refers to an open and illuminated space. Dukha is the opposite. We can embody either term, and maybe through your practice you have noticed positions or situations in which you feel light and at ease, or closed off and upset.
The beauty of claiming your life is that you get to choose. You get to choose how you practice, you get to choose how you feel about winter and you get to choose whether you increase your inner space or increase (or maintain) your suffering.
Getting yourself motivated when you're feeling down can be a real challenge, and the yogic concept of Agni is an important element to increase at this time of year. The seat of fire in our beings is in the region of our navels. When nature is at its darkest we must remember we carry light and warmth within us every day.

Presence

Don't short change yourself.

I spend a lot of time in my car. On Rt 29 between Saratoga and Johnstown, someone has posted a billboard that says Are You Here? 

The first thing that comes to my mind is who has the disposable income to be able to put up a random reminder to be present? 

More importantly, thanks for the reminder.

Being present isn't something we do well. It's not taught, nor is it encouraged. Multitasking has become an important part of our society, even though we know it is detrimental. Being the parent of a toddler means that you have to be able to multitask, but it lowers the quality of your performance. 

I've noticed being in a relationship distracts me like nothing else. If I have uncertainty I worry over it like someone picking a scab. I had a conversation with a student recently in which we discovered we had similar tendencies. She is the type to reminisce. She tells stories of what she's done. I'm the type to plan. I spend more of my time projecting what could happen than paying attention to what is happening.

No where is this more evident than in my car. Whether it be going over a situation I feel I could have handled better or imagining what will happen at some point in the future, I'm rarely thinking about the drive. Unless someone is driving in a way that annoys me. It occurred to me that I'm short changing my own life. Have you ever had someone who caused such a strong emotional reaction in you that you think of them all day? It can be either extreme. Someone you think is amazing can bleed into your thoughts all day. Someone you think is mean, stupid or arrogant can take out a couple.
The real problem here isn't that you're thinking of someone else, or that you've reacted to them. It's that you are spending your time and energy on them when they're not around. You're detracting from your own present.

Yoga has techniques which we can apply, practice and thereby increase our capacity to be present. Moving the body through postures linked to the flow of the breath, all the while keeping your awareness on the process leaves little room for wandering musings. That doesn't mean it won't happen, but your intention is the icing. How aware do you want to be? How dedicated are you willing to be?

It can be daunting, especially when you're first starting out. You may have to bring yourself back to the task at hand for what seems like a hundred times. But, you'll gradually find it gets easier.

Spend time this week noticing where your mind leads you. Sometimes it's a distraction from a difficult, stressful task. Sometimes it's laziness, or boredom. Pay attention to whether or not you're paying attention.

Know Thyself

Recently I listened to Kyle Cease speak about the idea of an external locus of control. When we're children we have nothing but an external locus of control. We are born two people, we are born to the circumstances of those people. And then, as parents, we assume our children lie (because they do). When you are only ever at the mercy of your circumstances you learn to become manipulative to get what you want. But, in this crucial time of development we convince our children that we know how they feel better than they do. That mentality becomes ingrained in our worldview to such an extent that there are adults out there complaining that things are happening to them. They've completely given up the concept of creating their reality, of knowing who they are. Because they think someone else knows better. They spend their time manipulating those around them to get what they want. (What they think they want) They blame circumstances they have the power to change without realizing they've come into a position to do it.

This kind of mentality is why we give doctors so much authority over us, how the student/teacher relationship works, how some religions work. And society. Keep yourself small and ignorant and let those who know tell you what's true. 

Yoga offers the practitioner so many opportunities of growth. One if them is the opportunity to move your locus of control from outside of yourself to inside. From the world happens to me to I happen to the world. 

As you begin to peel back layers of conditioning you learn who you are, what your baseline assumptions are and if they're useful. If they're not you can begin to change them. 

Practice this week without falling into your habitual student mindset. Practice without letting your teacher be over or above you. Most teachers want to serve you. You practice in the service of your highest self, not to placate another person, not even your own ego. Keep polishing your perspective until you are a beacon in the world. A lighthouse. 

It's Just Play

Open to a broader perspective. 

Deepak Chopra was interviewed by someone wowed by his retreat center. When asked how he accomplished all of his success he answered "It's just play".

What an incredible mindset! How often do you feel weighed down by your responsibilities? How often have you wished for bigger and better? How often have you striven for something or watched someone else accomplish something incredible with a twinge of jealousy? We spend so much time waiting for what we hope will happen we rob ourself of the moment and the peace that can be found therein. 

Kids are all over this. We used to run and swim and bike and laugh all day long. We didn't know running and biking were good for us. They were just fun. We didn't stop and let our day be ruined because we fell and scrapped our knees. We got up and played more. 

I don't want to discount the mental exhaustion that comes with responsibility but a change in perspective can make a huge difference. One of my goals in life is to grow as a person and retain my sense of wonder. Having a todler helps. We are so much less restricted as children. We haven't learned the restrictions yet. 

Let's try life today with these circumstances and play. If you can navigate life with a playful mindset, then challenges become parameters for the game. Ever played with your gums after you lost a tooth? Ever picked a scab? I don't want you to do it to cause yourself pain, but I don't want to you avoid the pain if it's there either. It's all play. 

Non-attachment

We attach to so many things. We are particularly attached to our bodies, literally and figuratively. We are concerned with way we look, especially as compared to the way other people look. As we age, are injured or sick we lament what we were once capable of. 

We attach to things. We have a consumer driven culture, and I am no exception. I love shiny things. I will expend resources on new tech and be sad when I don't have it with me or can't use it any more. 

We attach to people. We may be drawn to certain personalities or physical traits. I'm reading Living with the Himalayan Masters by Swami Rama, which is a detailed account of his life with his teacher as a student of yoga. He relates a lesson he learned, his teacher tells him "Many people confuse attachment with love. But, in attachment you become selfish, interested in your own pleasure, and you misuse love. You become possessive and try to gain the objects of your desires. Attachment creates bondage, while love bestows freedom. When yogis speak of non-attachment, they are not teaching indifference, but are teaching how to genuinely and selflessly love others. Non-attachment, properly understood, means love. Non-attachment, or love, can be practiced by those who live in the world as well as by those who are renunciates."

It can be scary to let go. Understanding my neuroses better and moving past them will never fundamentally change who I am. Letting go of prior conditioning and growing as human adults can only make us freer to be ourselves. Less fear. More love. 

I am the kind of person who welcomes change to such and extent that I'm more afraid of stagnation. Living in extremes is the least healthy modus operandi. But the extremes 

can be so much fun. 

We can get caught up and attached to negative narratives. Stop devaluing yourself. What are you afraid of? Achieving your dreams? Losing out? Change? 

Be grounded in yourself. Deny no part of your being. Settle into your internal environment and watch with non-attachment. Do not work for results. You are not your muscles or your senes.

Awesome

I mean the literal definition, not the way we use it casually. 

I'm sure you've heard the phrase simple minds like simple pleasures. It is a statement made by those who think the more involved something is, the better. (Or it's something people say to be funny) The question arises for me: what do you consider simple? A sunset may seem to be a simple thing but it's existence is the result of one of the greatest mysteries we contemplate. The universe is an ever expanding, fascinating place, in which we are a speck. Speaking of contemplating, the fact that we have the capacity to see the sunset and think it's pretty, understand that it's a sunset, know what a sunset is and contemplate our place within the larger picture is amazing.

Be amazed! I have actually had someone tell me that they are no longer impressed with the beauty of sunsets. That they had seen so many it wasn't impressive anymore. Have you ever been in the mindset that is convinced that things would be better if or that you will be happy when some kind of circumstances are met? It's interesting to watch the movement of the mind in relation to how you feel. One day you may be ambivalent to the most beautiful scene, but the next seeming to see every thing in the world laid out just for you.

Embrace coincidence. Maybe serendipitous things occur in your life but you write them off as coincidences. So what? Does the coincidence make it less fun to say it was just for you? Try existing with the mentality that everything is just for you. For example, this weekend I brought home a bike to ride with my son. On the way home, there was portion of a road blocked off because a car had hit a bicycle. That's ominous and freaky. I chose to see it as a warning to be careful and diligent while riding. So I went home and had a wonderful time riding and paying attention. 

There are so many examples of things to be delighted by in the world. I'm glad my mother is who she is because this is a lesson I learned from her. Nature is amazing, beautiful and cathartic. We can also say the same of human achievement. Because we're of nature and we are capable of creating wonders; whether through our biology (read make babies) or through our ingenuity. If we have a reverence for, and a sense of awe of, the world and it's inhabitants, what we choose to do in the world will reflect that awe and will improve conditions. Apathy, being comfortable in our ruts, can't lead to improvement. It can only breed more of the same. So if you are feeling disheartened by the state of affairs, find something to feel in awe of. Move in the world from that mentality. You can try it any time you feel sad or upset. Instead of spinning your wheels and cocooning yourself into that painful mentality, find something to be in awe of. It's rainy today. I'm tired and at work. But, water creates amazing changes in life. Water has very particular properties that support life. It allows life to exisit on our planet.
What about our capacity to endure pain? What have you endured? How much have you over come? Stand in awe of your resilience.

Acceptance

Everything is ok.

Make everything ok! Everything you hate or find fault with or judge. Let it be ok for(ever) this week. Treat yourself with kindness and acceptance. Forgive what you hold against yourself. Notice what you find fault in yourself is what you hold against others. 

We find ourselves in ruts and many who regularly practice yoga do so for the increased ability to effect positive change in their life. In order to move past what your stuck in, you have to accept where you are, what you're capable of and how you feel right now. Then you can move on with a light heart and a sense of adventure because you've come to terms with what is. It can't haunt you any more. It can't influence your behavior; effect your decision making process. 

Even in others. Typically you are witness to behavior that has been shaped in the years before you knew someone. Getting upset about it can't help. If possible, understand that what comes out of anyones mouth is more about them than it can possibly be about you.

This is not about giving yourself a free pass to hurt yourself. This is not about indulging in things that are slowly beating you down. This is about not using guilt as yet another way to hurt yourself. Examine your relationship to pain. Understand your feelings about your own worth. How often do you indulge in something you have been conditioned to feel guilty about then flogged yourself with the guilt later? That is no way to live! If you're going to do it, do it. If it truly hurts you, figure out a way to let go of it. 

This is not about giving up. Maybe you have come across someone who has been so beaten down by their pain that everything is okay because they don't care anymore. Allowing what is to be acceptable is not the same as giving up. 

You can consciously choose to suffer less. But if you are suffering, let that be ok! This is an area I am still working on. Know who you are when you suffer. Pushing it down or away will only intesnify it later. The self medicating we do is only temporary. But, this week, let it be ok. Whatever your   "medication" is. It's ok. And, maybe, eventually you'll find the suffering ok too. 

Moving into Stillness

"Time is the flow of experience around the still point of the moment." - Deepak Chopra The weather is finally cooperating and it is going to affect our mood and behavior. Understandably so. What a relief it is to have temperate weather after such extreme. One of the ways that yoga helps us navigate our life skillfully is to help us weather some of the extremes of our life. During the winter we tend toward sedentary behavior. And, with the relief of not having to bundle up in four layers to be able to go outside and be comfortable, we might may feel some elation and, the potential for extreme excitement.  Yoga can help us to have a more even keel. The tendency toward lethargy during winter weather is not relaxation. The tendency toward mania during nice weather is not energized action.  There is a concept in yoga called sattva. It is quality of being in which you are energized yet calm. It is the quality of light. The breath exemplifies this duality. The inhalation energizes and enlivens, the exhalation calms and centers.  So go out and play. Enjoy the weather; be active. But make time for stillness and quiet so that you can achieve the inner space in which to live a more balanced life.

Polish Your Perspective

There is no "should".

So many people, myself included, have been complaining about the weather. It's hard not to. We do have a president for what "should" be happening with the weather at this time of year. But it is a perfect example of how what we think should happen can't possibly be what always happens.

You can see this in the ways of human behavior as well. It's hard, if you insist on seeing the world only through your perspective, to understand how people can make decisions that don't mesh with your point of view. If you insist on making the world fit your expectation you will only be setting yourself up for disappointment and strife. 

What if you acted as if what you are perceiving as obstacles was what you were supposed to have? Be adventurous! What if you perceived those obstacles as stairs instead of boulders. Maybe you become a rock climber. Live with less shoulds this week. 

Get Out of Your Own Way

There is so only so far logic and analyzing can get you. It is unrealistic to think you could know every piece of every circumstance. Open to the present moment, let logic and analysis take a back seat to experience. As we practice becoming more aware, we react less and act more.

Let openness be more important than logic. Create a mind set into which you can place possibility instead of doubt. If you are constantly spinning your wheels on any given situation you may end up stuck in what could go wrong. While there is some benefit to being prepared for failure, opening up to what could happen invites it into your life.
A good friend of mine is attempting to decide whether or not to home school her daughter. You can't possibly know which one of those choices is the best. There are so many details and possibilities to consider. Each has its own pros and cons. At some point you have to allow decision come forward. 

Bravery

 Bravery is not the absence of fear but overcoming it.

(I'm sorry to start off cliche.)

Bhuddist monks create mandalas. They spend days creating an intricate pattern in colored sand; very meticulous and very present. It's the only thing they do in that time. Then, as practice in accepting the ever changing nature of the universe, they sweep it up. 

When we practiced willpower it was important to let go of planning the hows, and concentrate on the fact that you were moving yourself toward something you wanted. Freeing yourself of the hows is a practice in surrender. Concentrating your willpower on the act as opposed to how you could possibly complete the act is a better use of your willpower. I'm not suggesting that you sit around and wish, but that you purposefully direct your decision-making toward achieving whatever it is. 

The practice of surrendering to the moment is another way in which we can practice will power, as well as presence. If we are all the way present and not insisting on making our experience fit our expectation we can progress in our lives in a way that may be unexpected but incredibly fulfilling.

Decide to do something well by committing your whole being to meticulously completing whatever it is all the while excepting that you can't keep it when you're done. Experience beauty and joy in transience. Do not fear the end. Because you are a better human being for having committed yourself wholeheartedly. And it can never really be taken away from you completely.

Only you can prevent yourself from experiencing the totality of existence by cowing to fear, by creating walls and defenses. When you're in defense mode all you can think about is the good you used to experience. The present experiences pale in comparison. Don't wallow in the past. What are you afraid of? Really. What do you stand to lose by living wholeheartedly? Ask yourself these questions and quiet yourself until the answers come.

Willpower

I was thinking about presence while developing the class. I realized one of the ways yoga is unique in our culture is that it provides practical techniques to achieve goals that we have attributed strictly to willpower before. Such as being a 100% present. When you're in school (that's the best example I can think of) you're told to sit down and be quiet. Being an adult in a meeting is a good example of the progress that can be achieved. While I don't want to detract from the things that you can achieve through willpower, it helps when you have some techniques to enhance it.

My usual example of the strength of mind over body is the placebo effect. But that doesn't correlate exactly because will power is a function of the ego, not a subconscious process. You can talk yourself into wellness or illness. You can hold off on illness and even death. There are so many stories of terminally ill people waiting for a specific set of circumstances to die! Incredible. What do you want? Deciding to do something doesn't mean you have to have all the hows lined up. A more important first step is to decide to do it in the first place. Sometimes we have to practice thinking along a path we wouldn't normally consider. Neurons can develop new pathways. It is possible to create a mindset that can surprise even you.
Yoga gives us techniques that can improve our willpower. The sanskrit term tapas refers to a fiery determination. When you practice tapas you increase your capacity to get things done. With determined effort you can make decisions which lead you toward wellness. 

Today you're going to do things you never thought you could do. Without injury or force. To keep the internal fluidity is important. Even the strongest poses should have the look of being able to move at any moment.

You can do anything you set your mind to.

Presence

I have been progressively improving my ability to have more of my mind present in any given moment. I look back on my early yoga years and it is a quagmire of emotion. When Izic was at crucial stages I would be easily distracted, easily annoyed, angered and loud. I try not to feel bad about things that happened so long ago. Because that's just pointless. Factually speaking, though, I was not present. 

The pertinent point is that I've gotten better. I've grown as a person. Almost without my noticing, I have more patience, am better able to remember information (most days), and am less distracted from what's happening in front of me. This was not my intention when I began practicing yoga. If you've done it long enough you are sure to have come across unexpected benefits right along side of the one you were expecting. 

I have recently begun to feel an acceptance of the pace of life. I used to live as if there had to be something exciting and grandiose happening in any second. There is an inherent disappointment in that mentality. Focusing on what may or may not lie ahead can only cause pain. I didn't think a satisfaction in a small town and an apartment was in my future. There is a calm in being present. I certainly don't have it nailed all the way down yet. I read books while I wash dishes and I listen to podcasts while I drive or do the laundry. And sometimes I still ignore my kids to check Facebook. But I've achieved what I thought to be unachievable. And I am so grateful. There was only more disappointment and subsequent escapism inherent in my former mentality.

Inherent in all yoga practice is the idea of presence. This week it is the sole focus. How many ways can you stay here now? I've noticed the extent to which I am in my eyes can help greatly in being aware of what's happening. If my eyes are not focused, it's likely because I'm running scenerios in my head. Drishti is the sanskrit word for focus, which is typically used in reference to the gaze. With our eyes focused without tension we are better able to sense our internal environment and are therefore better able to be aware of our experience.

Transition

Happy Spring! Any day now it will start to act like it. The first day of spring marks not only an equalization of light and dark in our day, but the gradual increase of light, heading to the solstice when we have the most light. What a pleasure it is to think that thought!

Spring is a transition between extremes. As we move through our days, months, and years we are constantly navigating transitions. Moving into and out of sleep can be quite a challenge for some. Transitioning gracefully from one phase of life to the next is something everyone could potentially struggle with. And, we all have varying degrees of anxiety around the concept of change. The extent to which you are able to ease into changes in your life determines the extent to which you are stressed.
Yoga gives us tools with which to increase our ability to handle change and thereby decrease our stress levels. Practicing yoga becomes an exploration of the self. As we learn to train our awareness to focus internally, we increase our understanding of our reactions. As we are clearer about our motivations, in the form of seeking out what we like and avoiding what we dislike, we can begin to exert ourselves over these forces to become more adept at navigating our own personal paths.
Awareness of our reactions is not a practice that can only be done on a yoga mat. In fact, it is crucial to the integration of your increased knowledge that you encourage yourself to become aware of your reaction throughout your day. This awareness stems from presence. The ability to corral our mind and insist it focus on one thing at a time is another of yogas' great gifts. It make take years of practice, but what else is there but time to practice?

From Myopia to Focus

How to stay focused without wandering into the realm of myopia?

I drive a lot. I noticed last week a sedan maybe 4 feet from the back of a tractor trailor. I know what it is to drive in a hurry. Your whole awareness is centered on the moron in front of you that's moving too slowly. Figuratively and literally when you're driving you get so close to the person they're all you can see. 

This tendency to let something eat away at you can happen to anyone under a variety of conditions. Anytime you clinging to a thought bubble and can't let it go. Everybody has their own triggers, everybody has the thing that sets them off. Or many things. I am no exception. 

It's just another way in which yoga is proving itself to be incredibly useful over and over again in my life. The ability to create the pause, creating a half a second of space between you and what is making you insane is not something that we are taught. Trying to shove thoughts to the back of your mind, not worrying about it, not thinking about it is easier said than done. It's yoga that brings practical techniques to allow you to progress past something painful. 

Class this week focuses on moving until you meet resistance and then breathing. Notice your reaction to the resistance. How does it change your breath? How does it change your thought pattern? Your breath can help you move through thoughts that tend to cling. In that moment of awareness of the combination of pain and breath is where you can regain your sanity. 

Lila

Lila: Divine Play

My classes are intended to help you learn about what makes you tick. What is the catalyst for your actions? As you begin to understand you become freer. You are less subject to old, out dated conditioning for the basis of your decisions. You can update your conditioning to a mindset that is inline with who you are becoming.

I think this kind of thing is fascinating and it is why I have stuck with yoga through years. It's the longest and most consistently I've ever done anything. 

It is because I am constantly engaged that I continue. It certainly isn't because every day is blissful. I certainly hope one day to be less swayed by my insecurities and doubts. My teacher asked us once: can you open the book of your own life and be fascinated?

This week I want to play. We talked last week about mindset and there is definitely a playful mindset. We tend to move away from it as we become adults. Whether from increased responsibility or just being conditioned to "take life seriously" we move away from that exploration mindset as we age. But we don't have to. And while I certainly do take my yoga seriously, it has allowed me to be less serious in more areas of my life. That and children. If you want to cultivate a playful mindset, a sense of wonder and a carefree laugh, spend time with kids. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new there.

Imagine if you lived your life in a state of laughter. Where do you give a wink to those parts of your personality that you really dislike, the parts of your body that you find hampering and therefore frustrating, the people you meet who make crazy, that you have to be around because you work with them or you live with them. What if you went about your day with a light heart while everyone else around you trudged? They would be trudging less after an interaction with you.

Everyone has their own personality and I am certainly not suggesting that we all become five years old but within who you are there is playfulness and a sense of adventure. This week all week, regardless of where you are, try to cultivate that sense of adventure. Laugh at how many times you did the dishes or how early you have to get up for work. Wink at the project at work that's draining the life out of you or the illness that is making you an unwilling participant in the changes it requires. 

Because you are not the dishes or the early hour or the job or the illness. And if that's true then who are you? Certainly someone with a sense of adventure in your own body and in your own life. 

You are the divine playing at humanity, not a human pretending to be divine. 

Get Out of Your Own Way

Mindset

One of my favorite scientific phenomena is the placebo effect. There are many people who can produce the effect of a specific medicine just by believing they are getting the medicine. Even when they're not. It is an amazing testimony to what the mind can do. 

Where are you in your body? In your eyes? Brain? Heart? The yogic view of the universe says every cell has consciousness. It's just that we get caught up in specific parts. My go to example is always pain. When you have pain that is where your awareness pools. We have a hard time getting any perspective on it unless we have a lot of practice. 

What we can and can't accomplish doesn't always rest solely on our mindset. There are circumstances. But our mindset will go a long way toward mitigating circumstances. How afraid you are of doing something is going to determine whether or not you do it and, if you try, how strongly you push yourself; how well you succeed.

What holds you back may not even be something as dramatic as an injury. It may just be something ingrained from childhood, something that you never thought you could do that has persisted into adulthood and hampered you.

Each part of our day is determined by our view. The mindset of relaxation, responsibility and even nuances within your personality all will effect the way you behave, and therefore impact your life. The subtle differences in behavioral choices of a mother vs a friend vs a partner vs a coworker vs a boss vs a daughter vs a teacher vs student vs being alone.

This week practice creating an inner sanctuary: it doesn't matter where you are or who you're with, where you practice. Visualize yourself alone in a non-descript, undecorated room. Allow your mind to be absorbed by your practice. This is your practice regardless of the setting or company.

Burn Brightly

The power house at your navel translates to graceful interaction in the world at the heart transforms into the light of wisdom at the third eye. 

Agni means fire in Sanskrit and it is hard to remember that we carry around our own warmth and light at this point of the winter. Especially this winter. If you've ever taken classes with me you know the word core doesn't come up very often. To me that word has become a buzzword and it has been used to the point that it doesn't really mean anything anymore. The use of the abdominal muscles is more important then I have credited them for. One of the most practical applications for the use of the four layers of abdominal muscles is to safeguard the low back. Anyone who's ever tried to back bend knows the spine attached the ribs is not as flexible as the spine unattached to other bones. And I think sometimes I'm prone, as we all are, to think that just because I  didn't know about it, it's not widespread knowledge. But I never knew the practicality of abdominal muscles. They're so often viewed as an aesthetic. Or lack there of. 

In yoga the area around the belly button is considered the powerhouse. I believe that's true Pilates as well. Not just in the sense that there's a lot of muscle tissue there but in the sense that it is the seat of fire in our body. The digestive fire is used to assimilate that which serves the growth and maintenance of our bodies or eliminate that which does not have use. Part of the work we attempt in practicing yoga is refining that fire so that it not only becomes very efficient at digesting physical nutrients but also to be discerning in our choices, so that we are able to integrate people and activities that serve us in our growth as human beings and eliminate that and those which do not serve us in our growth.

So we have many reasons to practice focusing on fire this week. Not only does physical movement and our cellular respiration create heat which helps us to be warm when there's less sunlight and colder air but we also have the benefit of being more efficient digesters of nutrients and information, while increasing discernment. 

Finding Boundlessness

Before you can realize your boundless nature you must empty yourself of preconception, expectation, baggage.


This week we will focus on the concept of being empty. You can't be successful in a new relationship until you release what hurt you about the last one. You can't be fully present in a posture until you release your attachment to how it makes you feel. You can't take a full inhalation until you exhale completely.

As you practice, wring out the detritus that collects when you don't take the time to be still. Let your exhalations be long and particularly effective. Rid yourself of what you don't need. Let the bottom of your exhalations be a sanctuary; a refuge from the stress of life, the turmoil of your emotions, the seduction of your thoughts.

Transition with Ease

Throughout our lives we are faced with various kinds of transitions. Whether it be the transition into and out of sleep, the transition into various phases of life or the transition throughout the various seasons, we are forced to deal with change. Our ability to move through transitions gracefully or not is a determining factor in our stress level. 

It's also a concept I've found more and more interesting as I've changed as an adult person. I've really only in the past few years felt that I finally made the mental transition out of adolescence. And I'm 34. There are cultures in the world who have rituals for transitions. In America it seems that we haven't solidified some of these change of life rituals that could truly benefit our young people as they move into various stages of responsibility. You can see this in the fumbling attempts of child stars to transition to adult stars. It's hard enough to be a human being in puberty, imagine the intense scrutiny while in puberty. It is of particular interest to me as a woman now raising a woman to see the complete lack of any comfort in the transition between girlhood and womanhood. Women go from girls who "should be protected" to sexual objects and we, as a society, are never completely comfortable with the juxtaposition, as we don't have any direction on how to come to terms with that process. We're told we are wrong for being sexually attracted to a sexually active person and we create disturbing deviances to deal with it.

There are even transitions to be made during a single day. We juggle our various roles as well as various responsibilities. How do you handle the transition from chores to meals to rest to play? If you're at all like me you tend to be occasionally overwhelmed and a bit scattered. 

This week's practice will focus, not on the perfect anatomical alignment, but on what your action of transition is. We will notice the transition between breathing out and in, and vice versa, and will flow slowly,with deliberation to notice how you handle the transition between poses. How do your personal control issues help or hinder your movement? What happens when you let go of them?

Onward and Inward

As you practice, stay occupied and invested in noticing more and more subtle inner activity. 

The idea that the mind can be trained never occurred to me before I started practicing yoga. The mind and its movements always seemed like something I was at the mercy of. Trains of thoughts crashed into my day, effecting its' entirety; dictating for me the kind of day I was going to have. The funny thing is that I had trained my mind as a kid. You kmow when you lay down to go to sleep you give your mind the chance to run free? Sometimes whether you like it or not. If it's particularly active you can't sleep. I sang to myself to counteract that problem. I would hear songs I liked in my mind, trying to hear them as exact as possible. I practiced at this (without knowing that I was) so much that even to this day my mind chooses songs it thinks appropriate to situations I find myself in.  

Pratyahara is the withdrawal of the senses. As I mentioned last week, we are both physical and nonphysical, and we have a hard time experiencing the non because we identify so closely with the physical. It may seem counterintuitive to practice asana to draw our attention from the physical, but our mental processes are ceaseless and, as I'm sure you've noticed, your mind reacts to asana; you experience emotions that cause more thoughts. It's this process that I'd like you to focus on. Not to get caught up and carried away, but to notice the patterns in your own personal mental processes. The more familiar you become with them, the more you can change them, beginning to control the flow of your thoughts, instead of being at their mercy.  

Equanimity and Perspective

I just spent a week being sick and that is unusual for me. It made me realize how closely tied my own happiness is to the state of my physical body. It's easier for me to be lighthearted or let go of annoying things when my body feels fine. But when I'm in a great deal of pain or discomfort then everything is more annoying and everything is harder to do and it's not happy. It gives me a good deal of perspective on my job and the people that I see every day. It is very impressive to see some of the people who are in pain all the time yet maintain their sense of humor. That is not easy.

Yoga gives us many tools and techniques to utilize to maintain equanimity within ourselves: equanimity in our thought patterns and equanimity in our emotions. But they are only useful to us if we practice enough with them to remember that we have them when we're at our lowest. If we can remember that we can use these techniques to make us feel better when we are feeling our worst then we have practiced enough. Because physical pain is all-consuming. We become so closely identified with our physical form that we can't get any perspective on the pain when it occurs. Yoga (and many traditions) teaches that there is a part of ourselves that has nothing to do with the physical form and is therefore blissful. Because we are so in love with our physicality it is incredibly difficult for us to begin to sense that non-physical part of ourselves. 

It takes a great deal of effort when you feel bad to do even every day, simple tasks. It becomes very important that we practice things that make us feel better even when were feeling okay to begin with so that were prepared when we feel bad.

Remembering the Fire

The weather has been unforgiving lately and in class this week we will practice with the intention of building our internal fire. This is not necessarily about getting sweaty though you very well might. It is about remembering that we create our own internal, unwavering light source. Even on the darkest and coldest days we have a strength internally that we can tap into to get us through. We practice fire focused classes in order to step up or maintain our digestive health and it is not just our gut that needs to be maintained. It is also our discernment that needs to be polished from time to time. So come ready to work and we'll get warm.