Tag: Personal Yoga Practice

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Why practice ? 

Classical yoga is designed as an intentional practice where the body is used as a vehicle to know ourselves,  to realize ourselves in our whole true nature. This true nature is also referred to as the state of yoga, and it arises as we cease identifying with the fluctuations of the mind. When that happens….

तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेऽवस्थानम् ॥ १.३ ॥

tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe’vasthānam || 1.3 ||

(3) Then the seer abides in His Own Nature   /*tr. Swami Satchitanada*/

Our true nature is understood to extend beyond the limits of our physical form, and  so we could think of the practices as tapping into, unlocking or accessing understanding, wisdom and creative capabilities which are beyond the firings of the neurons in our brain.  This experience of the state of yoga releases the time bound functions of ourselves, of the cells of the body, revealing the brightness of the mind. This occurs without force. Alignment of the body mind spirit in practice opens the portals.  When that occurs we discover potential – Our true nature or pure organic potential.  It’s mystical and it’s not religious.  These capacities extend  beyond the individual self so there is a recovery of knowledge.  There is also recovery of our connection with what we might call the universal mind and that in turn illuminates our connection to all other minds. (Sutra 4.4 personal translation) It’s also described as yoking to God  – an old fashioned word for something which is still contemporary and relevant. There are many ways to parse out this experience.

As yogi’s we are invited to travel the path to these results in a very personal way. 

The nature of discipline called for to achieve these ends is self-discipline.  Yoga is a study in self-discipline which, as it evolves, opens into a realm of refined and elegant personal sovereignty. Like any other craft, such a discipline invites us to do a little planning, a little strategy.  Yoga is not a “do your own thing kind of freedom” as much as it is a “refined structure revealing the deeper nature of personal freedom and potential” thing, and so it requires a little thought,  a little work, a little investigation. And so every year as I prepare for the practice of the coming year I ask myself – why practice?  Why practice in this way?  Why not throw it all away and take up pickleball like everyone else?

First I tend to approach this intention setting with an understanding of what’s happening.  What am I called to respond to? 

The world around us is currently in overdrive.  There is nothing peaceful and still about it.  In the world of business in particular – globalization, technology and competitive drive has created an environment which is sharp, deceptive, requiring of constant attention and agility , adaptation and perpetual learning, and study.  That what we are dealing with – if not for ourselves, for our children.  How can we craft practice goals for the year within that chaotic landscape?

This is how I see it, your place in the landscape is unique, You will have your own unique constellation of chaos. But the question the practice raises remains the same. And the faith piece is discovered through practicing in unlikely landscapes. The landscape dictates the curriculum. I encourage you not to make it all about fixing the chaos, but instead, about aligning you more deeply with your heart. It requires a relinquishment of the shoulds. “I gained weight this year. I should do a hard sweaty practice. My heart responds no, actually you need to relax, rest your nervous system and go out for walks, and maybe paint some yantras…because they are fun!” The new year is an invitation to tune into your heart and listen to what it longs to do. The faith piece or shraddha is the faith that that all the different shapes of yoga are designed to support us. So we might ask – what does yoga do and how can I work it to apply it in my present circumstance?  What is my central intention?  And what tools in my toolkit will help me fulfill that intention?

Establishing a clear intention to pursue the bountiful rewards of yoga – that accessing of an infinite well of understanding, creativity, healing, joy, love and accomplishment- supports a swifter approach the goal. Patanjali tells us:

Yoga Sutra 1.21: Tīvra-saṃvegānām āsannaḥ

तीव्रसंवेगानामासन्नः ॥ १.२१ ॥

tīvrasaṃvegānāmāsannaḥ || 1.21 ||

/*To the keen and intent practitioner this Samadhi comes quickly.*/tr. Swami Satchitananda

/*Success is nearest to those whose efforts are intense and sincere.*/tr. Osho

Samadhi, this full consciousness of the yoga – nothing lacking, is realized most quickly when we embrace that fullness as a goal.  When we know where we are going (having intent) will get us there faster.  Yes, Samadhi is a meditative state to be attained, but if sustained we can be in it all the time.  After all Swami Satchitananda, a renunciate, built Yogaville, Om’d at Woodstock and changed the landscape of American thought – no small feat. Osho – having attained Samadhi at an early age rocked the world with his radical upending of spiritual norms.  And so did Gautama Buddha. A well-structured yoga practice supports a well constructed life. We may not become celebrities, but our impact is vast nonetheless.

So, our intentions are critical for they will contribute to the world in a bigger way than we might imagine.

Because of the subtle and vast nature of yoga, I’ve found it works best to set a subtle intention for the year, i.e. to understand peace or creation or backbending rather than to stop being angry, manifest a stack of gold and do urdhva dhanurasana. Being specific in that way can also yield quick results but the subtler intentions bring effective long term healing and transformation. For starters you may want to peruse Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, third padah, The Vibhuti Padah. This entire section of the book speaks of attainments in yoga. Used incorrectly they can be obstacles to the larger goal of samadhi, but the study of their nature will give you an idea of how yoga works. It’s a list of what you might concentrate on, and the result that comes from concentrating in that way. By focusing on an elephant, you gain the strength of an elephant and so on. An intention is no more than what you will concentrate on, invite in, seek out and look for. Maitri or friendliness, how about that for an intention!

Because yoga is affilitated with the realms beyond desire, I invite you to craft your intentions beyond desire. Consider it as the study that it is, and trust that what the practice will evoke and bring forth from you and for you will grace you with sublime understanding of that which you seek to be creating.

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We will continue our journey through the map of the Sankhya Philosophy in the coming year, with a resurrection of the “About the body” teachings and some structured discussion on asana. 

It took us a year to get through the senses.  Of course it did, the sense organs are anchored into dense physical reality totally bound by the slowest vibration of earth.  Slow is not bad…but we are talking the material world, very dense – which is also not bad.  But as we move our way up the chart to the highest states of consciousness the subtleties of energy, mind and beyond – we become lighter, less time bound.  It’s a science fiction idea, but something the human race is embracing.  Time is fluid and can be our tool rather than our master.  As we explored the senses we discovered means to manage them, and to purify them.  These sense directed practices continue as long as we are practicing, although we may engage with them differently along the way.  In January we will begin with our exploration of the elements, also materially but molecular and energetic as opposed to solid.  If you have ever had acupuncture you’ve worked with your elements.  And now, acupuncture is a common feature of medical practice.  We are all lightening up! 

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Through the portal from Taste to Smell: Discernment and the Smell of the Earth

Once in the early 2,000’s a friend and I were strolling and shopping and dining in Greenwich Village when we came upon a small store – just a nook really,  filled with shiny clear rectangular  glass bottles stacked on wooden shelves.  A slender handsome hipster  with an untucked navy blue  shirt and somehow stylishly elegant slightly faded jeans manned the counter. 

The bottles and their rectangular labels  were identical except for the unique word on each label: Rain, Dirt, Beach, Grass, Dog among the hundreds. 

In response to our outburst of giggles he offered sample smells.

A gentle whiff of “dirt”;and I was transported out of the concrete canyon and back to a time before vanity when I was a simple child doing what kids like to do.  Play in the dirt.

Tobacco – was my 1960s father and warm leaves drying in the sununveiling a thought of slaves picking leaves in the hot, hot sun and wondering if the fragrance for them was unpleasant.   Grass in a bottle was a little too much for both of us, but we both loved tobacco which was mysterious and somehow informative.

 Smell emerges in the first trimester of a babies development, the smell of placenta and mother creating a subtle earthy unbreakable bond. 

Smell evokes memories – our minds travel far into our histories and possible futures in the presence of them.

The Sankhya philosophy as commonly mapped on a chart lines up, as a bottom line foundation, the senses.  Our connection to the physical realm moves directly through the five sense faculaties and the elements.  This will become more meaningful as we move beyond the dense material realm.

Smell is associated with the subtle element earth – the root chakra, the mooladhara chakra – the focal point of the yogi’s shift of attention from the material realm upward from the realms of hunger and fear into more exalted states of consciousness…into awareness, understanding and wisdom. Smell evokes an understanding of ourselves in time, life and death, and anchors us in the physical.

In that essential awakening into that experience of life and death we meet the kaladanada…the yogi’s alchemical transformation from death to immortality.  Yes, they actually mean that.  Hatha Yoga was a practice of alchemy – a system based on primordial wisdom encoded in the sound of Om.  Smell and it’s essential nature is a portal into the ancients through the root chakra, like an uplifting song moves us upward, so does an uplifting fragrance.

Of course for asana yogis, in the days that we still did this…wafting incense – burning of the earth, the smell of smoke offered up to the heavens – an invitation for ascended beings physical and non-physical to bless us with our wisdom. 

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An Intro and a Segue from Touching to Hearing; CAN YOU HEAR ME? TURNING TOWARDS THE SOUND OF OUR OWN HEARTS

For those of you first joining us, we have been looking at our yoga practices from the perspective of the classical teachings found in the yoga philosophy and related  texts.  We’ve been using the classical teachings as maps to explore in our asana practice.  The segment we are working on now is a segment on the Indian philosophy of Sankhya. The map of the philosophy is shown below.  It is a map of the cosmos from a particular perspective.  We are journeying from the densest most physical aspects of our being to the most ethereal aspects of the cosmos.  Technically, Sankhya and Yoga are completely separated disciplines. Philosophy, science, art are evolving permutations of interwoven understanding. All philosophies, sciences and arts touch one another, influence one another evolve one another. There is likely more than one map of Sankhya floating around the universe or the internet and ideas – like philosophy – end to cross-pollinate.  Most yoga teachers learn about Sankhya philosophy in teacher training and I believe it’s worth exploring the subtle influence that it may have exerted in the understandings of yoga that have emerged.  This post is  not intended as a definitive answer to the question of what the Sankhya philosophy is, but  rather how we can use an understanding of the philosophy to deepen our lived understanding of ourselves and our yoga practices.

/*Patanjali advises in Yoga Sutra 2.46:

*स्थिरसुखमासनम् ॥४६॥

sthira-sukham-āsanam ||46||

The posture should be stable and easeful. */

We began our exploration of Sankhya and the senses with the sense of touch.  We’ll be moving into an exploration of the sense of  hearing, but first there are a few additional notes on working with the sense of touch as it relates to our asana practice. 

As we develop our practices and deepen our awareness of touch – subtle deep unconscious patterns of tension will surface in our practice.  There are two  facets of working with that tension: first, to release those deep stress patterns and second, to move our bodies (on and off the mat) in ways that minimize the creation and holding of those stress patterns.  When practicing asana it is important not to pile new tension patterns on top of the more deeply held ones in our eagerness to make a posture happen.

The primary way that a new tension pattern is created is to skip a level of your practice.  To push through to a new level of posture before you have released the tension patterns which were revealed in a lighter expression of the posture.  This results in a strain in the body’s tissue as opposing forces are exerted on a joint, muscle, or a specific pattern in the fascial tissue. 

/*Forcing a yoga posture to happen is not the same as transcending pain and pleasure.*/

To stay in ease is to stay in union (yoga).  To force, grip or struggle is to create separation – dis-ease.  Anti-yoga.  To stay in ease doesn’t mean you don’t work hard, stay focused and open to the idea that you might be able to accomplish something beyond your own expectations. Consider this: a certain amount of ease is necessary for any kind of success.

And then there is prana…

As we begin to develop discernment through the sense of physical touch in our practice, we will develop a sensitivity that allows us to detect sensory experiences which originate in prana.   Prana is a subtle substance –  an energy. Like sound it travels and has a felt presence.  Like sound it manifests in a spectrum where different beings can perceive different levels of it.  We know that different species perceive sensory information very differently.  That would be true of perceiving prana as well.  Some of us can feel it acutely, some of us can’t feel it at all. 

And finally, sound is prana.  Sound in various subtle degrees travels through the body in pranic circuits. This is why it reveals and heals. When we touch the ground with our hands and feet the channels are charged with the heartbeat of the earth.

As we begin to  develop this feeling/touch/sensory discernment we discover that some of what we perceive as physical pain are  actually blockages or fragilities which on the level of prana.

The clarity of the pranic channels (which we can feel through our sense of touch) is directly related to our capacity to hear and to hear on a subtle level (and to see and to smell and to taste, etc).  This is the connection between touch and hearing in the yoga practice

/*Notice in the modified Sankhya Chart below the position of the sense on the map*/

CAN YOU HEAR ME? TURNING TOWARDS THE SOUND OF OUR OWN HEARTS

The Sankhya philosophy provides one possible map of the terrain of the mind body spirit connection.  The journey can unfold as a trip where we elevate from tuning in only to our dense physical senses to opening to consciousness awareness in different degrees.  This would commonly be called a journey towards enlightenment.  The journey can also unfold as a kind of embodiment – where  – like shamen we experience an inspired state of consciousness and then bring the inspiration down, to  embody and manifest that experience in the physical world.  One of the most “known” experiences of this process of bringing spirit into physical reality is the manifestation of deep healing by various saints and mystics.  Probably the most well-known is Jesus – whose miraculous healings of lepers and raising of the dead are probably heard of by most people, even if they don’t believe in it.  If you dig enough there are tales of other such healings by saints in all traditions.  A more secular example of bringing spirit into the physical  occurs with inspired innovations i.e. the light bulb or the personal computer.  Sometimes innovation is planned and sought after but often it’s inspired. 

The senses are the interface of consciousness with the manifested world on the Sankhya map.  We touch the world, we hear the world, we see the world and so on. The yogi seeks to manage and clear the senses so that they do not interfere with our exploration of elevated states of consciousness.  Yoga seeks to do what some people turn to substances to do. Drugs can numb the chatter of the mind, drugs can ignite an expanded state of consciousness. But with yoga, these states are attained through personal mastery, awareness and skill (i.e. mastering and clearing the senses). It removes the dependency that substances require.  Yogis are independent.

Mastery of sound is an essential practice in hatha yoga. The yogin becomes unified with the ancient wisdom that permeates the deep silence connected with through practice.  Then, the yogin aspires to staying harmoniously anchored in that “vibration” as they move through the world. This vibration  is depicted by the ubiquitous symbol Om.  Asana practice is both the ground of that harmonic synchrony and the training for sustained experience of that harmonic synchrony.  There are a variety of practices used to cultivate this experience.   In a very straightforward everyday way on the mat we can begin to condition ourselves to excel in these practices.  The training goes something like this:

  1.  External sounds capture our attention on the mat. Some are quite annoying – talking,  sirens, construction, airplanes, and other machinery.  The yogin trains themselves to turn their attention from the external noise and into the inner landscape. There they meet another layer of sound –
  2. Internal Chatter. Much of the chatter of our minds originates in experiences and beliefs rooted in the past with  no place in the present.  With mindful attention the yogi becomes aware of their absorption in this inner chatter and they train themselves to turn inward to a still deeper level of sound –
  3. Subtle Sounds – The yogin hear many subtle sounds within as their pranic channels are cleared through consistent practice – Bells, whistles, drums and humming.  In time, willingness to turn away from these distracting subtle sounds reveals yet a deeper subtler sound –
  4. Nadam – Most likely this is the subtlest sound that a human can hear.  It is steady, constant, ever present – like white noise but more ethereal.  Tuning our attention away from more overt inner and outer noises to this perpetual background hum within and without, and allowing ourselves to relax into it begins a process of deep healing and awakening.   But even then…the yogin turns their attention away from it, and towards something deeper –
  5. The Anahata Nadam.  The anahata nadam is the sound that is complete silence without vibration – the “unstruck” sound.  Here the yogin relaxes into the deep silence and in stepwise fashion becomes absorbed in expanding stages of continuity. 

We practice this way on the mat, and asana facilitates this process.  In later stages conscious meditative seats (asanas) like virasana and padmasana support the process of allowing ourselves to be absorbed in silence without falling asleep or going unconscious.

In practicing asana how can we support this process in personal practice or when leading a class?  The playlist.  The playlist is most beneficial at early stages of this process.  When the chatter of the mind is overwhelming and distracting on the mat that is when you want the playlist.  It is also really helpful in situations of deep unconsciousness where you or those you are leading just can’t stay present – which is a result of trauma.  It either wakes you up or calms you down.  The goal is the experience of yoga – this inner absorptive yoking.  It’s important to be aware that familiar music or verbal music will have associated mental imagery and memories and feelings that will be ignited and it’s likely to draw the attention outward rather than inward.  Sometimes this is needed.  But just be aware that a rousing playlist of familiar or exciting song might operate in a way that is inconsistent with your goal. 

When you create your playlists consider creating a musical experience which propels the journey towards yoga and not to somewhere else.  Like a soundtrack to a movie you are building up to something:   an experience of yogic absorption for yourself or the student. 

Indian classical music is designed to take you to this point, so it’s very useful. But if you use it too early in the process it can be too potent and cause a different kind of distraction.

Consider as well that when we take in music it can nourish us; pure sounds are deeply nourishing.  Note that doesn’t always mean soft or new agey.  A pure note is a perfect note.  Some music that we love has those pure notes, and you will develope an ear for the perfect note as your practice unfolds.  Allowing yourself to be nourished by deep clear sound is deeply healing as well as enlightening, and this can lead to all kinds of magnificence if approached with an open mind and heart. 

The anahata nadam – that deepest level of sound resides in your spiritual heart.  That’s where the note of silence lives.  So when you touch it for the first time as a yogi you will feel and hear the spiritual heart. 

Working with sound in asanas is accessible to all  and an abundant and beautiful experience. 

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Sankhya, sovereignty and the sense of touch

In our investigation of the Sankhya philosophy and asana we begin with a study of the senses.   On the map, the senses are on the bottom row, left side – classified under sattva.  (see image below) For now we will consider sattva as awareness.  Senses are intimately connected to the quality of awareness.  Classically,  yoga is a discipline through which we access and become aware of our inner wisdom through practices by which we are trained to withdraw our senses from the external world.  As we turn them inward – our connection to the sacred and the infinite resources of wisdom and awareness are revealed.  The magnificence of asana is that it is a physical practice which results in a state of transcendent experience and understanding beyond the physical. Working consciously with our senses facilitates opening to greater levels of awareness and allows us to realize those more illumined states of awareness in the physical world.

When we practice, keeping measured attention on the breath will develop the objectivity we need to interpret the information we take in through our senses.

We can think of the information that we take in from our senses as data and the understanding and interpretation of that data is done by the mind.  Sankhya philosophy identifies different aspects of mind.  We’ll get to that later.  I just point this out because it’s just like looking at a spreadsheet,   The numbers don’t mean anything.  The meaning comes from analysis and the purpose with which you observe and work with  them. The more we can step back into an objective, non-interpretative relationship with our sense data the more we will understand about yoga.  For example, pain can be dangerous, healing, warning, or a clue for a potential adjustment. We need to be in a non-interpretive state to discern the meaning of the pain.

The following five senses organs are enumerated in the sankhya philosophy: 

The eye, the ear,  the tongue, the nose and the skin.

The disciplines of focus and austerity in the yoga practice are designed so that, just as we might learn to articulate the movement of a limb, we might also manage those sense organs.  As our practice evolves into greater levels of subtlety, we become masters of how a given piece of sensory data is interpreted.

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Today I’d like to consider touch.  Touch is a very physical sense and the physical body is the asana yogi’s primary vehicle.  The fundamental  and first level of awakening awareness of touch in the yoga practice comes through the feet on the ground.  Consider the following progression: 

  1. Tadasana: mountain posture – the feet are both on the ground  steady and even – the weight dispersed through the pads of the toes the ball and the heel. Both feet work together as one foot.
  2. Vrksasana – tree posture – we shift the weight to one foot, and connect the sole of the other foot to the inner leg.  The weight of the body is evenly dispersed through the standing foot
  3. Virabhadrasana 2 – warrior II -we begin to master weight distribution between two feet with the same sense of dispersion between the toe, ball and heel pads. 
  4. Adho Mukha Vrksanana – handstand – all the weight on two hands (look ma – no feet!)
  5. Adho Mukha Svanasana – Both hands and both feet on the earth and separated and new possibilities emerge in terms of weight distribution and articulation of the hands and feet against the earth. 

Some things we might note:

  • The touch of the body against the earth
  • The touch of two parts of the body against one another
  • The touch sensation of distribution of weight.
  • The touch sensation of activation of muscles and pressure.
  • Add to this the qualities that might be included in the experience of touch:
    • pain
    • pleasure
    • revulsion
    • hot or cold
    • heavy or light

Through attention and awareness the sense of touch becomes proprioception and kinesthetics – where our awareness of the inner landscape awakens and knowing our purpose in time and space. 

Take it further –   what is revealed is how the body works – including the internal organs.  Through attention to the more overt layers of sensation – awareness of the subtle developes and we awaken into clairsentience.  “I have a feeling”.  It’s like a gut instinct but much subtler and tuned to a different frequency.  Consider laying your hands on someone – a gesture of friendship or love or passion – all different frequencies or “vibes”.  Touch also has a relationship with the heart – this “I have a feeling” is a dimension of the emotional heart but also the spiritual heart. 

For the asana yogi, the heart is the seat of the nadam, the inner guru, sound vibration, the sound of vibration of Om.  Yes.  Vibration.  Detected by touch. 

When we practice asana we open doors to expanded understandings of….well, everything.  So as we pay attention to touch in practice – it opens the question of “pain” in yoga practice.  Many opposing views of how to relate to pain in yoga are espoused in the yoga community.  But through awareness we develop discernment about the sensations in our body – like pain.  This awareness is related to our personal sovereignty.

Consider a way  of relating to ourselves and the world which relies totally on external sources for interpretation (the doctor, the internet, our mother, the person one mat over from us in class).  This way of relating which denies our capacity to interact observe and interpret the signals of our own body.

Consider a way of relating  where the sensation itself governs us.  For example “Oops I feel something – I’m not going there into that forward bend, back bend, – I’m going to avoid sensation completely”.  The healing potential of the posture is never even approached.  We give our power of choice away to the sensation.

Consider a different way of relating, different than the ways described above.  Consider becoming aware of a sensation, observing, breathing, noticing the quality, and then noticing the quality change as we gently shift the body part a millimeter, or stretch a little deeper.   Then we come to know:

 “Oh – this pain indicates I need  the attention of the doctor”, or  

“Oh, this pain indicates I need to go deeper in the practice”, or

“Oh, this pain indicates I need to be gentle in practice”, or

“Oh, this pain indicates I’ve been slumping at my desk.”

Through careful observation of sensation we reclaim our power of CHOICE.  No small thing.  Moving into this state of sovereignty by activating awareness and choice –  we no longer make the pain all powerful by ignoring, fighting or delegating it.  We hold the possibility in our hands and through attention we discern the next best step towards wholeness, healing and yoga.

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An image of the chart of the sankhya philosophy with senses illuminated.

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2024 Why Practice?

/* hello friends, my apologies – these posts somehow ended up in drafts when I thought I sent them. Call forth a study of awareness and one clearly meets their own unconsciousness!! They are best read before the new year posts. Thank you for reading!!*/

As the new year begins we will  embark on a journey through a leisurely study  of Sankhya philosophy as a tool to enrich our personal  yoga practices.  Sankhya is a philosophy rooted in India. It’s prevalent in the bhakti yogic text of the Bhagavad  Gita.  It’s foundational for the understanding of yoga’s sister discipline – the healing art of Ayurveda.  When I attended teacher training – we had to learn it.  But in practice I found it, limiting, laborious confusing, even as I understood on some deeper level that my assessment was off because I never gave it due attention.

So I’ve decided to spend time in my practice now exploring sankhya within my daily practice…and I thought you might enjoy being with me on that journey. It’s complex, and like our exploration of the koshas will unfold over months.

When working with the  dimensions of the classical root teachings around yoga – I find it imperative to practice with  a teaching – in order to really understand its relevance to the practice.   The intellectual exercise alone is not sufficient.

For me that means not a simple one-time design of a sequence – but a dedicated period of time that I practice with it daily.  A proverb from my teacher “through repetition, the magic is forced to rise”.  This is true in all aspects of our practice. 

Why  would we want to deepen our practice by digging into the realms of philosophical thought and then trying to apply them on the mat? 

Through the classical practices of yoga we yoke to the infinity of mind.  From Patanjali Yoga Sutras: 

तदसंख्येयवासनाभिश्चित्रमपि परार्थं संहत्यकारित्वात् ॥ ४.२४ ॥

tadasaṃkhyeyavāsanābhiścitramapi parārthaṃ saṃhatyakāritvāt || 4.24 ||

Yoga Sutra IV.24  The mindstuff itself reflects the infinity of the mind and acts as the unifying agent of the countless individual manifestations.

As we go through practicing Sankhya we will uncover the pivotal nature of the mind stuff and the higher mind.  This sutra touches on that…As we get clear – our mind will not reflect our neurosis, our insecurities or our fears.  Our mind will reflect the infinite state of consciousness.  At the point that it reflects that it generates a perception or union rather than division.  Of “one” rather than a multitude.  In that state we become super high functioning. 

What does that have to do with asana?  What will be revealed in an intimate way is that your physical body is intimately interconnected with the infinity of mind.  Yep.  Think healing on a grand scale.

What does that high functioning unified state look like?

Good meditation

Staying calm and effective while in turbulent or painful conditions.

Finding creative solutions

Inspired action and direction.

Becoming true. 

Transforming the body.

I like becoming true best. In the moment of yoga when we experience union we know who we are – not just spiritually but what we are here to do physically.  And to keep this out of the abstract – let’s say it clarifies purpose, it renders understanding in our lives, it opens possibilities- to experience the truth of who we are in tangible direct ways. 

It’s tempting to think we know who we are.  But the identity – the truth of ourselves is ever expanding, constantly changing and beyond any cultural definitions.  The world will always tell us who it wants us to be.  Yoga will always draw forth who we can be.  With discipline, understanding and wisdom yoga reveals a pathway through which those two apparently differing identities can be yoked together and cultivated as a pathway of personal growth and mastery.

The gift of approaching a study like Sankhya is that it becomes a tool through which we can tweak and adjust and fine tune our journey into and through this kind of dynamic expanding grounded  Self-expression.

In the map of Sankhya we will discover the poles of higher consciousness (simplicity) and grounded physical experience (complexity).  The fulcrum between the two is the mind.  So we will discover – as Patanjali shares with us in the sutra above that what occurs in the mind reaches into the experiences of the most fundamental sensory and action-based functions – and also reaches into the depth of what is often called the “Self”

We can experiment with this.  Meditate for 5-10 minutes before doing your self-practice. Observe your experience on the mat from a sensory perspective with and without meditating first.  And then continue that.  Maybe try it for a week, and then take a week off. Listen for a rhythm of your own which helps you explore what meditation does for your asana practice. It’s not unusual to have physical breakthroughs after deepening your meditation practice.  For this exercise  you would probably want to consider working with  a classical form of meditation like Vipassana. 

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Why practice?  What’s the point of incorporating the teachings from the so-called source texts.

Not relevant.

I have heard this many times as a teacher and a student.  That the classical teachings are not relevant.  Before we set sail on the ship of sankhya, I thought it would be helpful to consider why “Not relevant” is not the answer.  For this it’s helpful to revisit the folklore around the development of hatha yoga, and turn our vision towards how a so called “sacred text” can influence our practice in a significant way – a way worth the time it takes to incorporate such study into our practice.

Hatha Yoga was said to emerge among the untouchable caste in India sometime ago.  The untouchable caste was not permitted to attend or be in association with those who were performing sacred rituals.  They weren’t permitted anything at all of the spirit.  They weren’t permitted to honor God in any way that was known or acceptable at the time.  Humans do this.  They exclude.

There is a lot of power in spirituality.  To know and have a relationship with “God”.  People with power like to restrict access to that to a selective group.   And so, in India it is said that Lord Shiva (a a God who had some physical existence as well) taught Hatha yoga to the untouchables as a form of worship that could be secret,  and that they could not be prevented from performing.   Note:  this is very rough explanation of a very complex historical, social phenomenon.  It suffices for a paragraph, but I do encourage greater study. 

The point I’d like to make is that Hatha Yoga was designed to connect people with sacred truth – which is beyond our intellects, beyond our brains, beyond our imaginations.  It’s only found through revelation.  Hatha Yoga is an equalizer.  Anyone can practice in such a way that the doors to revelation can open.   The importance of lineage – if you have heard of that – is that it ensures that the practice descends from teacher to student in such as way that the sacred opening is still available.  It’s not obscured.  Once again, it’s very likely that there are those out these who would like those doors to relevation to be obscured or want to claim the power of the practice for themselves.  But staying true to the sacred truth – the essential truth ensures that you will be moving towards the truth. 

What does that have to do with sacred texts?  And by that, I mean texts that have some connection to those original sources.  Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, The Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and so on. 

By studying them yourself…it reinforces that your will move you  in the direction of the truth.  When we were told we had to study Sanskrit in my teacher training in 1999 – we questioned this.  Isn’t it a dead language (well, I think it’s being resurrected by the worldwide yoga community)?  There were a few points made in the conversation:

By reading these texts, we didn’t have to rely on anyone else’s interpretation. 

Even if we didn’t study  Sanskrit, we were told that we should read at least four different translations to experience the broad scope of meaning contained in the original worlds.

Sanskrit is said to be vibrational – it came into being when people were first trying to use the sounds of the voice to communicate.  Because of that – the feeling behind the words can be experienced.  It opens the door to a supra-verbal understanding of the human in the cosmos. 

The texts open up different ways of seeing life and practice our place in the  cosmos and the power that each and everyone of us has to transform ourselves and the world we live in.  The study creates experiences in the mind reflective of what asana creates in the body.  The body is also a reflection of what we access with the mind.  They are deeply interwoven.

In practice – reading sacred texts, even in our first languages – is difficult.  Because the truth contained in a true source text is so vast it’s like a holograph – it contains everything in each microscopic unit.  At first we may not be able to read it at all, because on the surface no meaning comes through.  As we practice – we gain clarity and the meaning of the texts becomes more accessible. 

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Before our dive into Sankhya: Why Practice?

/*my apologies friends – there were two posts that ended up in drafts instead of being posted. I’m posting them today and will follow with the new post on Sankhya later this evening*/

Before we begin our study of Sankhya  (our first official post on that will be later today)– let’s dig in to our intentions for embarking on such a deep study. Why study this way?  Why practice?

There is value and delight in exploring the cracks and crevices of the yoga practice – going deep, mining the esoteric elements and using our time on the mat as a laboratory to experiment and empirically validate the findings of the ancient wise ones who brought forth and developed the practice.  The perpetual renewal of the desire for practice confirms that people do experience a potent and ineffable something when they practice yoga.

The rich and resonant core of the practice is unearthed through the investigation of the source of the practice.  To bow down our hearts and minds to those who have gone before us, paving the way that we too might walk towards freedom and enlightenment – to receive from the history of yoga practice.  For every step on this journey into depth and wisdom we are invited to the land of “Nyasa” the perfect placement (as in Vinyasa).  Why are we here and now? In this place in this moment?  Purpose and intention nurtures the practice and in return the practice reveals deeper truths about personal purpose and intention. 

/*Why practice?  Why practice in this way?*/

There are easier and more efficient ways to get in shape…so…

/*Why practice?  Why practice in this way?*/

There are easier ways to feel better… so….

/*Why practice?  Why do the work of studying yoga in this way?*/

Because our day to day experience of the practice yields a sense of promise, and the promise of yoga is the universal end of pain. “The end of all love longing”. (see the Kena Upanishad)

So as we embark on our exploration of the Sankhya philosophy in the coming weeks – know that sankhya understood in conjunction with our yoga asana is a profound and powerful  tool for tapping into a richer vein of practice. Yoga from the the source is path of transformation that subtly transforms the world as we are transformed through it. 

A well-done practice ranks among the world’s most treasured resources – path of treasure yielding transformation.   So….

/*why practice? the promise of the practice is there, but what does that mean for me?*/

Who will you be-coming?  What is the offering that you bring to the table in these times…and how will you wrap that package?  What is love asking of you at this time?  As with all things yoga, the questions are more important than the answers.  The questions guide our process – our unfolding in practice  – As we learn and grow our intentions unfold with us so it’s good to be flexible (we are yogis after all) – but it’s good to set our compasses- and know what our heart desires. 

So with that I nudge you to reflect before the coming year, on your practice, on your purpose, on the yield of the discipline you will bring to your study.

For every blog post, I send out an accompanying newsletter – different from the emails sent from WordPress. The newsletter allows me to go a little deeper, there are sometimes specific sutras, or chanting or musical suggestions, and maybe even some thoughts on sequencing or the body. It’s not a marketing newsletter – it’s designed for those who care enough about these topics to sign up!!!

This post’s newsletter is on with a sutra from Patanjali. If you ‘d like to see it check it out here:

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Deep Asana:  Igniting the power of prana through grounding and focus

sthira-sukham-āsanam ||46||

Patanjali’s famous sutra – the posture should be steady and joyful

The process of grounding in the science of electricity clears fragmented electrical charges and releases them into the earth where the charge is absorbed, allowing the main stream of electricity to flow to its useful destination -say- igniting a light bulb.  Grounding in an asana allows misdirected prana to be absorbed into the earth facilitating effective circulation of the well-directed prana.  Misdirected prana is a result of our being swayed by the fluctuations of the mind (fear, desire, distraction).  Combine steady focus with a stable connection to the earth and your asana becomes a powerhouse. 

When pranic channels are flowing it is easier to cultivate alignment in a posture – there is less stagnancy and resistance.  Good alignment is actually a sound relationship between the organic forces in the universe (Gravity, centrifugal forces, centripetal forces, wind, temperature and so on).  When our inner forces (focus, prana, breath) unify with the external forces there is union, yoga and the electrical charges within and without are amped up in a harmonious fluid, balanced way.  We are joined with the universe.

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The previous stages of Deep asana – where we develop our kinesthetic awareness are essential to developing mastery of energy (prana)  in asana.  And this, we learn from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika,is the heart of the practice.  When we can master our energy we can direct the prana to travel up our main pranic circuit or nadi – the sushumna nadi – igniting various energetic structures which awaken deeper self-awareness and understanding  – eventually opening into the experience of realization – where we operate consistently with a level of deep self-awareness and understanding of the forces operating around us.  Wisdom.  Mastery.  Understanding.  Empowerment.

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The Yogic Anatomy of the Koshas:  The Anandamaya Kosha and Deep Rest

The Anandamaya Kosha, the subtlest of the koshas, bodies, sheaths, or dimensions is commonly translated as the “Bliss Body” .  Commonly is an important adverb here – as “nanda” is joy in form and “a” is often creates an opposite.  So, bliss, yes, but bliss beyond form. For starters we may want to distinguish between the state of ecstasy that can be achieved by high vibing our practices through drugs, music, endorphins, and exuberance – and the state of ecstasy which is Ananda.  Form bliss is not bad.  “Beyond form” bliss just does different things.  The nature of the Anandamaya Kosha is akin to a subtle sweet flickering sense of joy.  This sense of joy arises from the experience of wholeness that is characteristic of this beautiful dimension.  It is the origin of all healing, the resolution of  pain and trauma, and the understanding of our place in the universe – that we are infinitely unique, genuine, and valuable.  And so is everyone else.  If we are in touch with the Anandamaya Kosha we don’t have to force, cultivate or practice such a perception.  We experience it continuously and directly.  There is no perception of competition in the world as true sparkling confidence emerges.

 The Anandamaya Kosha is timeless.  I once apologized to a student for a short śavāsana (Corpse Posture) at the end of class. “No problem”, he responded,  “When I’m in śavāsana I’m in a timeless space  – so as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter whether it was 2 minutes or 10.”   Good point!  So, why does the amount of time that we spend in śavāsana or meditation – immersing ourselves in the Anandamaya Kosha – matter?

The koshas aren’t layered upon one another, but co-existent – like light, sunbeams,  oxygen molecules and wind – they influence our life experience in an integrated way.

In the Anandamaya Kosha – in that space of wholeness – all the experiences that fracture us don’t exist (sadness, fear, lack of self-worth).  The time we spend in the Anandamaya Kosha is a time of deep rest for all aspects of our being.  Resting in the Anandamaya Kosha there are no mental gymnastics, no triggers to the nervous system.  For whatever amount of time we are there.   This is why everybody looks 10 years younger after a retreat.  It is a rest in deep peace.

Practice Tips

  1.  Practice śavāsana or Yoga Nidra practice.  Use a timer to avoid being worried about time.
  2. Meditation.  Once again – use a timer to avoid being worried about time.
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The Field of Mind & Yogic Anatomy: The Manomaya Kosha

“Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodha” Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.2 :

The state of yoga is achieved when we cease identifying with the fluctuations of the mind.

The mind as understood in the context of yoga anatomy is distinct from the brain. The brain doesn’t determine it’s function or condition. It is part of the subtle realms of consciousness which are distinct from the five senses.  Some yogic scholars identify the mind as a sixth sense.  The mind field, or what is called the Manomaya Kosha in the yogic anatomy maps of the five sheaths consists of conscious, unconscious, and super conscious thoughts, beliefs, concepts and ideas  — imagination, fantasy, projection, delusion and intellect.  In considering this sheath as a field we step into a realm of expansion revealed through the practices of yoga:  asana, meditation, observation, study.  Unlike the realms of prana, or wisdom or bliss the Manomaya Kosha sits in our awareness all the time. Some of it’s functions are more easily identified than others.  It interprets and defines. It assigns meaning. It governs perception. The world culture is permeated with instruction manuals for its management.   Just as we can become absorbed in the experience of the body to such an extent that everything else disappears (in sicknesses, deep pleasures or pain) we can become absorbed in the mind to such an extent that we lose sight of everything else (obsessive compulsive disorder, excessive worry, pessimism, delusion, illusion, fantasy).

Becoming aware of what happens in the ManomayaKosha, when we lose ourselves in it and what we can accomplish by managing it is a key development in our yoga practices. So essential is it in the practice of yoga – that the first line of Patanjali Yoga Sutra (which heads up this blog post) references it directly. Like the food body (Anamaya Kosha) and the pranic body (Pranamaya Kosha) can be clear and healthy and flexible and strong  – so can the mind body (the Manomaya Kosha).

The Manomaya Kosha sits at the juncture between what is human nature and what is spiritual nature. 

There are two primary tools for working with the Manomaya Kosha in our yoga practices.  The first is observation and the second is the mastery of the “seat”.

In yoga, our observation training consists of concentration on the breath, observing thoughts as they arise, consciously training to calm those fluctuations as we practice, and disciplining the body through focusing the mind.  There is association between the depths of postures and the depth of clarity in the Manomaya Kosha.  A deep posture being one where we are fully present (not lost in fantasy or topor or competitiveness or worry) and working deeply (relative to one’s own capacities) the tissues of the Anamayakosha (the muscles, bones organs skin – all of it – being squeezed and stretched and pressed upon.

We might work the observation piece like this:

  • Decide to awaken to what is in your mind
  • Establish a state of stepping back internally and witnessing (this can be the tough part)
  • Observe it objectively – meaning without getting involved – just “watch”. You will observe the arising, existing and falling away of a thought.
  • Keeping attention partially in the breath can facilitate the state of witnessing

The seat or connection to the earth is a foundation through which we master the mind in our asana practice.  It’s not unusual for awareness of our connection to the ground to be non-existent.  In all asana, and especially the classical meditative seats, there is a relationship to being grounded and experiencing a lifted spine.  This lifted spine is thought to work like an antenna for higher states of wisdom. If you are fortunate enough to see a buddha statue with a pointed hat…you are seeing his antenna!

The classical seats I’d like to illuminate today are Virasana = the hero and Padmasana the lotus.  I encourage you to explore both of these with physical teachers (in person) and through your own research. These postures often become accessible only after considerable yoga practice. 

Virasana the hero is taken with the knees together, sitting between the heels with the sitz bones grounded.  The knees together – drawing inward – create a powerful gathering and focusing of energy which supports concentration and focus –  practices required for managing the mind.  The focused energy also creates a stability which lifts the spine.

Padmasana – the lotus – is unique in it’s combination of deep grounding and expansiveness.  The sitz bones are rooted into the earth, the knees are out to the side and the shins cross so that the soles of the feet face the sky.    When the shins cross a powerful acupressure point known as SP6 – the juncture of three major “yin” channels -Liver, Kidney and Spleen is toned.  Yin draws the energy inward. As with Virasana this inward energy creates a stability that lifts the spine.  Any posture with knees open to the sides will create openness and spaciousness.  With Padmasana we master our capacity to remain focused and steady in more and more expansive states of consciousness.  Padmasana allows us to sit with the experience of enlightenment. 

Want a little more “woo” in your life? No? Me neither. But yoga philosophy approached with wisdom is grounding and empowering. The philosophical elements are explored in my newsletter. I promise…it’s not a marketing email although I do suggest readings and music. You can sign up here. They are also posted simultaneously on my facebook business page – NatalieteachesYoga. Thanks for reading!

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The Five Dimensions of You:  The Yogic anatomy of the Koshas – The PranamayaKosha

The study of yoga and yogic anatomy is a slowly evolving process of ever deepening understanding.  There is a difference between “knowing” yogic anatomy on a visceral level and memorizing the vocabulary.   Why is this relevant? Self-Mastery. As we explore these different modes of viewing ourselves through yogic anatomy, we open ourselves to new depths of understanding physically, psychologically, and spiritually.  We gain an illumined understanding of ourselves, our purposes and our pathway.  We become wise enough to navigate subtler realms as mapped in the concept of the sheaths or koshas (Yogic Anatomy – The Five Koshas,). The sheaths or koshas are interwoven and not distinct, like oxygen and helium molecules in the air – or dimensions as mapped by mathematics and science.  Experiencing them is like opening a portal to a universe similar to the one we live in “normally” but, it’s different.  . One moment we feel dull and confused and then an inner portal opens and we experience elevation – organically. We access wisdom, knowledge or subtle sensations of the body – and understand our wholeness differently.  Last post we explored the concept of the food body or Anamayakosha. Today I’d like to open the portal to the pranamayakosha – the pranic or breath body. It’s near and dear to all of us, and we experience it all the time.  We might not be aware of it. Exploring the pranamayakosha we step into the subtle realms of yoga.  It’s the first of the subtle koshas that many practitioners experience, which tells us that it’s connected the food body.  It’s impact on our psychological well-being tells us that it’s connected to knowledge, wisdom and bliss as well.  Just as becoming aware and awake to our physical body requires some understanding and attention, becoming aware and awake to our pranic body requires some understanding and attention too. This is why the pranamaya kosha is so important in our yoga practices – it’s where we start to explore a world beyond our usual perceptions. When the pranamaya kosha is clear – not muddied – it’s easier to experience the other bodies or sheaths with clarity.

It’s hypothesized that  prana (subtle energy – like human electricity) flows through the fascia. We don’t know for sure. We can’t yet measure it; we can only observe its effects.  This could change – science moves towards understanding yoga all the time. 

Within the pranamayakosha, the ancient yogis discerned a vast network of tiny channels which they called the nadis There are hundreds of thousands of nadis. One portal which opens the yogi’s perceptions of the pranamayosha is the breath.  Consider how breath is processed by the physical body: an invisible substance – air travels through a physical network of tiny tubes and sacs in the lungs through which the invisible substance of oxygen is absorbed and the invisible substance of carbon dioxide is released.  Prana is like this – it’s absorbed from the universe around us and it permeates and moves through the physical form –nourishing and cleansing it.  When the prana moves we are awakened, energized and healed.

Within the pranamayakosha are numerous structures formed by the intersection of the nadis. The chakras are vortexes located at key junctures of the nadis and the physical nervous system. There are three primary nadis which bracket the chakra system– the ida,  pingala and sushumna.  The prana moving through these three nadis governs the process of spiritual evolution.  When it moves clear and unobstructed we plug into knowledge, wisdom and bliss.

A first pathway to working with the pranamaykosha is to unclog the nadis and get the prana moving. All asana will unclog the nadis.  Vinyasa yoga will get the prana moving quickly.  . 

A second pathway to work with pranamayakosha is pranayama.  Pranayama is is a practice of restraining the breath in order to unclog the nadis. This is most effective when asana has been practiced consistently for a long time. Asana clears superficial levels of congestion – so the work of pranayama – deep and powerful breathwork – is not obstructed by more superficial congestion.  Pranayama is a transformative healing practice.  It’s best to prepare for it.

A third pathway to working with the pranamayakosha is sound.  The familiar sound and symbol of OM is called the “nadam”.  The ancient rishi’s or wise ones observed that Om purifies the whole system, like an ultrasound which accesses deep internal caverns of the body below the surface.  My experience with this is that working with classical Indian sound practices is the most effective means of actually clearing the nadis. Yogi’s chant the sound of OM, they meditate on the sound of Om, they listen to the sound of Om.   This would also include listening to or studying and learning Indian classical music which is designed around an understanding of OM. A fine experiment would be to explore different kinds of music when you practice.  At first what you are used to listening to may prove to be very energizing, but as you grow more adept at working with prana and sound, you may notice that Indian classical music is a distinctly powerful complement to your yoga practice.

A fourth pathway for working with the pranamayakosha is ”managing your energy” and in the yoga practices this is accomplished through attention.  A starting practice is focusing the breath or the gaze in your asana practice, with an intention to understand what your attention does to your energy and your postures.  Too weak of a process of reigning in attention leads the energy to scatter.  Too powerful of a restraint will be too harsh for the tender pranic channels. 

Four modes of creating a relationship with the pranic body:

  1. Yoga Asana
  2. Pranayama (advised for well experienced practioners)
  3. Sound
  4. Attention

A last note about the pranic body – The ancient yogic texts speak of the adamantine body formed by the hatha yoga practice.  This is distinctly related to and an outcome of the management and toning of the pranic body.  When the pranic body is well cared for – clear and moving and strong we become incredibly resilient.  The texts say all dis-ease is eradicated.  As contemporary yogis we can say that our immune system becomes incredibly potent in response to the health of the pranic body.  This, as the article included here indicates, is a result of consistent, well-done practice. 

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