Letting it Flow

I have finally gotten to practice yoga asanas consistently, getting myself to class lately.  That practice is something I struggle with every day.  Committing my time to yoga on a daily basis, or at least, every other day comes slowly, first getting to class once a week, then twice a week and currently, getting there every other day.  When I make lofty goals of going every day and failing these goals every day, I realize that this does not help my yoga practice.  After all, isn't yoga about being good to yourself, and beating myself up over my daily failure of practicing just isn't cutting it.  I need a new plan.

I realize that when I applaud myself for every battle won instead of reminding myself everyday of how I didn't make it every day is a much better plan.  So what can I do that is a fail safe?  My new goal is  to practice at a Sun Salutation daily.  This is an easy goal to achieve, and in addition, to give myself 5 minutes of silence, or mediation.  Daily.  Why is this so difficult!?!?! It seems so simple staring back at me on this computer page, but it just isn't.  Looking at my habits, I certainly have 5 minutes to look at the TV screen every day.  This makes no sense.

I like yoga because it is so inclusive.  Anyone can do it.  My friends and family tell me how they are not flexible, and how they not suited for yoga, but yoga should be for everyone.  Asanas are focusing on yourself, your body and where you are today.  I found this three minute warm up by Shiva Rea, a teacher introduced to me by my teachers at Sonic Yoga



Above is a link for suitable for everyone, even beginners.  It is a simple Sun Salutation, aka Surya Namaskar.    If I don't make it to class, I can do a few of these, and climb up the proverbial mountain of meeting my daily goal of practicing asana.  I am now making the choice to turn off the TV and give my self some attention instead.

Buried Treasure

What I love about yoga is its restorative qualities.   I can do it as much as I want without fear of pushing my body further than its limits by just modifying my practice or choosing to practice with meditation.  Unlike running or weight lifting where I feel like my body needs a rest if I do it too often, or if I run without warming up I could hurt myself, yoga is a safe way for the body to exercise with the added benefit of spiritual growth. Yoga poses, sun salutations specifically, can be done anytime of the day and will warm your body up safely early in the morning, or for a  cool down after a long run.  I have been recently reminded how yoga can activate my spiritual center, by energy fields called Nadis.

Nadis are like channels or energetic passages that eastern medicine considers vital components of the body (or at least close to the realm of the body). Even though nadis can not be measured, or looked at through a microscope,  these mysterious energy lines, and subtle body is what I am most excited to understand through practicing yoga.

What I love about yoga (asana) is that you can activate these energy channels, and revitalize the energy in your body.  Asana is the practice of posture in yoga, and the asanas are one of the 8 limbs of Ashtanga yoga, or 1/8 ways talked about in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.   Lately my goal is to try to wake up and practice asanas every morning.  I was never a morning person, so one idea I have is to do a couple of breathing practices, or Pranayama, to bring oxygen to my blood and help me feel alive.  After that, I try to do at least one sun salutation to activate my energy centers.  Why not get all the energy I can access? 

I love yoga, but the truth is I love the woo hoo hocus pocus part of yoga, the part that reminds my mind and my physical body that I am a glorious spirit body.  I must remind myself to care for my physical body and elevate my spirit as much as possible so that  my body will allow my spirit to come through.  My spirit the part of me that glows after having a wonderful date, or realizing you changed someones mood by making them laugh, or that sense of happiness and clarity you feel after realizing a long time goal you’ve had.  This shining star inside of all of us is what I crave to groom and foster- and the practice of asanas and pranayama cleanses our body in order for my spirit to come through better. 

On page 74 of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book 1 number 49, I was excited to read about how knowledge is part of our consciousness, and part of our mind.  The Sutra describes a higher knowledge ; something we must seek for during our lifetime, and one of the ways to facilitate this and be more receptive to the answers we are seeking is to keep a clean body. Pantanjali says, “there is a higher knowledge that can only be understood without the mind.”  The chapter continues to read, “As the Mandukya Upanishad says, ‘ Not inside knowledge, not outside, not knowledge itself, not ignorance.’”

I love the way it describes all that is to be discovered, and that it can not be described in words, only be described by what it is not.  All of this, is for us to discover- through meditation, pranayma and asanas.

YAY.  And the wonderful thing is, all of us will discover something different, and something indescribable.  It is our own little buried treasure for us to go to.  When I was a child I would always dream about witches and buried treasure.  I am realizing now, that have my own very real treasure hunt to go on.  OMMMM