What you want or what you need???

Whether you are a long time yogi or new to the practice, it is sometimes difficult to step past our ideas of what we want a yoga class to be. Our ideas are shaped in part by our previous experiences and inquires. Sometimes we rely on how something makes us feel. On those brief moments, we can sidestep all of that and just enjoy all that is presented to us. This is the journey of the yogi. What is more important; what we want or what we need?

Working in yoga studios for the past eight years, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to speak with many yogis. Whether they were coming out of a class with bliss in their eyes and a smile on their face or leaving half way through a class raging on about how horrible it was, it came down to a couple of important realizations. Of course, these are generalizations and everyone's experiences are different, unique to the person and the situation, and a result of many layers of previous experiences.

Many times we have an idea of what makes a good class or teacher and what doesn't. Is it really that important to have music in class? To end with a Savasana? Is it not a Vinyasa class if the student is not asked to do one Downward Facing Dog the entire class? Not really. Recently I had the opportunity to get feedback from a student that was unhappy with a class of a fellow teacher. He felt that the teacher was not prepared to teach this class as they did not put together a play list and didn't end the class with a Savasana. In the student's past experience, this was always a part of class. So in this particular instance he was taken to a new place, a class that challenged his preexisting ideas of what made a good class. In conversation, he was then exposed to a new idea that classes are designed according to many factors, such as, what time of day it was being taught at, who was in class, the level of those that were in class, and what focus is being decided upon. Many times, what we think we want is not what we need. Was the music a good distraction so he was not forced to be within himself? Maybe he could be whisked away and not have to focus on his breath or maybe music was a the perfect way to make time go by more quickly. Usually those things that we fight so strongly against, are exactly what we need to be doing.

As a teacher, it is a constant balance of whether we teach what students need or what they want. If we solely teach what they need, our class sizes begin to diminish. Who wants to go to a class that is always forcing us to face the uncomfortable? Or should we give in to the public desire to just feel good. I suppose it is somewhat dependent on the setting. I do feel strongly that as a yoga teacher, we have chosen to teach, to educate, to help our students progress on their journey. If I just wanted to instruct, I would be more prone to give a student the feel good fix they are looking for. But where on the journey is that leading... usually in a big circle. Uncomfortable as it may feel, be brave and venture out on the limb; that is where all the good fruit is. Face yourself and maybe you will find a new smile waiting there for you.

Be brave but also be intelligent on the journey. If you have a question, ask it. If you don't understand what you are being asked to do, venture an expedition of inquiry. As there are so many different styles, hundreds of training programs, and thousands of teachers; please don't walk blindly. Do your research. Find out where the teacher has studied, who their teacher is and what to expect from their classes. Even if a teacher does not have many years of teaching yoga under their belt, don't discredit their ability to teach. They may be just as qualified and knowledgeable as a long time veteran teacher. Quantity does not always equal quality. If you don't enjoy a class with a certain teacher, start a personal inquiry of what made you not enjoy the class. I would highly recommend attempting at least three times with the same teacher before continuing on your journey.

In the Western culture, home of the quick fix and impatience, we tend to view a yoga practice as an alternative to a trip to the gym... another workout. We are unsatisfied with a yoga practice that doesn't make us sweat or forces us to think. Is the necessary to work so hard? An asana practice, or a practice that involves moving our bodies into different shapes, is not meant to contort, manipulate or even work out our bodies. An asana practice is meant instead to prepare us for meditation, finding an opportunity to reflect, to be still, to find introspection. We are looking to achieve efficiency and intelligence of our physical body to also gain the same in our breath and mind. Less is more!

So coming back to the season change. Winter typically is a time that we are prone to less energy, focus, drive, more suseptable to despression, frustration and stress, can we expect to practice the same way as we did in the summer? Not really. Finding the Yin side of your practice, or as to say the calm, peaceful, relaxed, slow, or dark side our your practice, can have as much of a profound impact in your state.  As with a change of practice for the seasons we must also take into consideration the time of day.  Would a teacher be wise to ask you to get out of bed, go to the yoga studio and and then lay in a 15 minute savasana before you go to work?  Personally, I would need another couple cups of coffee before being able to fully function for work.  Or in an evening practice that is so strong with firey standing balances or arm balances?  Unless you work at night, it would probably not be advisable.  We must alter our practice according to the time of day, part of the month, and season of the year.

All of these factors can be overwhelming to think about.  That is one reason to seek out a teacher.  One that will guide you safely and intelligently through the many changes and facets of lives.  Teachers have chosen to study the why and how to be able to alleviate the confusion.  But as a student, please make sure you ask why if you don't understand something.

In the Krishnamacharya lineage it is said that a teacher should "give 90% of what a student wants and 10% of what they need".  Not a bad percentage for trying something new.

To my students, with great gratitude...

I sit here trying to put my thoughts together and I keep coming back to my students.  Maybe it is because Thanksgiving just passed or maybe it is because I just finished teaching two classes a couple of hours ago.  Either way, I reflect on what my students are.  As I teach, I look out to each person and see an amazing potential and unlimited spirit.  We join together, even for a short period of time, and walk a bit of our path together.  I first heard one of my teachers long ago state that their students were their best teacher.  At the moment, I guess I really didn't completely understand what that meant.  Each class I teach, I am offered a little more of the wisdom in that simple phrase.  My students are my best teacher. 

No matter how stressful, outrageous or frustrating my day turned out to be, walking into that studio changes everything.  It clears the slate and wipes away the troubles.  My mind begins to clear and my heart begins to warm.

With much reverence and respect, I bow to you every time you step upon your mat, every time you face the present moment, every time you allow me to learn from you.  As a teacher, I am continually in awe at the brilliance of those I am so lucky to encounter in class and out.  I wish to thank you for each smile, each moment of understanding and the opening of your heart to allow mine to open even more then I thought it could.  

namaste!

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana

 

The month of October I have been having great fun playing with this pose in classes.  I have found over the years that instead of sharing my love for standing balance asanas  many have instead found great frustration.  I can understand this.  At first,  it takes great focus and determination.  But it doesn't have to be difficult.   

In exploring poses like this, I found that taking the focus off of the physical body and into the energetic body, a shift begins to happen.  I often teach the "opposition of force", meaning if you direct energy one way you must do the same in the opposite direction.  Great steadiness and balance can then occur while allowing the muscle/skeleton body to become quite efficient.  It has never been about "muscling".  By this I can mean many different things.  Have you ever tried to force a child to do something that they don't want to do?  Yeah, it never works out well.  There has to be an equal understanding of what you want and what they want.  

So keeping with this thought, if you can direct energy through your standing leg to root deeply through your standing foot, at the same time as directing energy out the crown of your head, you not only get a sense of grounding but lightness.   From here the adventure and exploration can really begin.  Freedom found.  Ease and a sense of relief from something that for many was dreaded.  Have fun!

 UTTHITA HASTA PADANGUSTHASANA - Extended Hand to Big Toe Pose

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana is an asymmetrical standing balance that asks the yogi to
find patience, strength and fortitude.  This pose will help develop confidence, balance and
coordination.
STEP BY STEP
Find a deep rooting in standing foot to lengthen standing leg. Hips should remain even and
spine should be lengthened. Heart remains open and shoulders relaxed. Breath should be calm
and steady.
MODIFICATIONS
 If hamstrings or lower back are tight, don’t compromise the structure or your breath to force a
straight leg. Instead, bend the raised leg or use a strap around the foot.
VARIATIONS
• If appropriate, instead of holding big toe with index and middle finger, hold foot in hand
 while keeping heart open and spine erect.
• Parsva Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana - Opening leg to the side of body, making sure hips
 remain even.

IKEA Teaches Yoga

Walking through IKEA, I was amazed that I was seeing my yoga practice everywhere.  I couldn't believe it.  Sweden's own form of mega store giving you everything from furniture to plants and of course, if you are so tempted, Swedish meatballs.  So how can I say that this megaplex of a store, that most people I know dread going to and will only go to on a weekday when the likelihood of mass amounts of rampaging families and out of control children are at a minimum, was teaching me yoga?

Simplistic in design.  Clean lines.  Options galore.  But above all, function is the highest importance.   We have the choice to make something so characteristic of IKEA to instead be characteristic of our own design.  Picking and choosing what best suits us but given an outline of the many possibilities out there.  Like my yoga practice, each time that I step there, I see something new, I experience something I hadn't before.  I am given a choice.  And like my practice, if I choose to add on to much, to get overzealous, I lose my way.  My potential is cluttered.  Sticking to the less is more concept generally works.  If you look at the displays of room models, you begin to notice that they have just the right amount of details and thought given to it.  No more, no less. 

Once you have made your decision of what path to go on, you are directed to start at the beginning again.  You must pick up your furniture from the bins and take it home to assemble yourself.  Like a yoga practice, we don't get the easy out.  We can't skip steps and expect to get the same results.  We must practice patience, attention, focus, and determination.  We are given all the tools needed but not necessarily with hands held.  The last time I had to put together furniture, I found myself frustrated and amused at the same time.  Instructions are all given in pictures with no wording.  I was forced to open my mind to imagination and perceive the images as reality.  Of course if your attention drifts from the moment, you end of hammering in many tiny nails into a particle board backing backwards, in which you will never be able to take off and fix.  Lesson learned again.  Yoga is everywhere and in the most unlikely of places.

Sanctuary

Every once in a while, usually out of what seems like nowhere, we are thrown into a tail spin.  Have you ever had those days or weeks that you feel like nothing you do is right?  You try and try and it feels like you are making more steps backwards then forwards.  You are not alone.  More important then the explanation, is the journey back to a calm mind.  It does not serve us to banish ourselves into a world of self-doubt, ridicule, or worry. 

Recently, I have been feeling this familiar scenario and it has affected me more then I wish to admit.  After a particularly difficult day of constant bombardment of self punishment for mistakes I admittedly made, I have had a difficult time picking myself out of the desire to crawl into bed and feel sorry for myself.  That pity party, an invitation for one, affected my enjoyment of the first beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest in a long while, affected my relationships with those I work with and the relationship with myself.  Enough is enough.  But how do we change the course of action? 

Sanctuary.  Find a place that gives you an opportunity to find peace and safety.  Whether this is a physical place or even a place within  your mind.  Sanctuary.  Here things are not nearly as horrible as they seem.  We are blessed to be alive.  We are blessed to be able to learn from our mistakes if we can open our minds to let in the lesson.  Sanctuary.   A place of safety.  Once we feel safe, we can find clarity.  We can face the present moment and not feel as though we are falling continuously into the past.  This falling does not serve us.  Sanctuary.  

Vrksasana... a tree grows from a seed

This month at Yoga Shala, we take to the forest and forge our way into the trees.  Vrksasana.  It takes fortitude for students to believe in themselves, especially through standing balances.   Why not, instead, look to the seed instead of the tree?  Place a kind thought, warm wish, a magnificent moment into the protection of a seed.  Plant the seed and use your breath to nourish the seed and watch it grow to its fullest potential as it is it's own true nature.  A seed has all the potential in the world to grow and find its way into the world, if given the opportunity to find its potential.  Watch it with love and give compassion for its struggles.  Allow it to be what it is.

Likeness with the seed, a tree has a magnitude of life.  Once your warm wish, kind thought, magnificent moment comes to fruition, does it stop there?  Of course not.  In nature the tree never stands still.  The wind moves in,  through, and around its branches and leaves.  Throughout the course of its life, it starts as a seed, takes root and works its way up through the earth.  Its environment helps shape and nurture the tree, giving it a place among the others in the community.  Each season a tree will change.  In Spring, it is reborn from the cold winter's slumber.  The buds slowly emerge and open up.  In Summer, the tree is alive and alert.  In Autumn, the tree prepares itself for another cycle of life.  The leaves slowly change into it's brilliant colors and eventually sail to mother earth.  Althrought the seasons of change, the tree is stable and constant, but still it moves and breaths.

Rooted to the ground while lifting and growing to the sky.  So must our thoughts and minds, remain ground while having the inclination of thought and confidence to change and sway. 

Sankalpa and the new year

It still is making me reel a bit that we are not only welcomed into the new year but into a whole new decade. As we work our way through the hardships of this year past, we are looking to the future for a sense of ease and relief. But is it an intelligent, or more importantly, a wise stance to look forward so much so that we forget where we stand? As the calendar has turned, we are asked what is your new year's resolutions? Can we move away from resolutions and move closer to intentions?

Resolution vs. Intention

A resolution tends to take on the persona of something that we wish to give up. Something that we don't like about ourselves or our habits. Something that has a negative spin on our life. We resolve to "give up sweets", or to "lose ten pounds", to "quit smoking." Even when we try to put a positive spin on it such as, "I am going to take 3 yoga classes a week" or "I am going to try to treat myself better", it turns into an empty promise that we hope we can achieve in a selected amount of time. But what happens when the pressures of life steps hard fast in front of our progress? We become discouraged, insecure or even angry with ourselves. Those set backs after a short amount of time throw us for a tailspin. This happens because the resolution set is, by nature, a formal, firm, binding and breakable venture.

Instead of setting this near impossible goals for ourselves, wouldn't it be better to find intention of our actions. Intentions can be defined as an aim, direction, ambition, approach, nature, significance, sense or heart. It is an understanding. It is the root of action. It is the purpose or attitude toward the effect of one's actions or conduct. Intention can be looked at not only as the mind-set but a reason or purpose to make something happen. It is taking ourselves and our mind out of the future and into the present moment.

Sankalpa

In Sanskrit, the word for intention is Sankalpa. "It is not just a wish, it is a conviction. It is faith in oneself. Faith that one can do it." "It is trust and faith in oneself, in one's own strength and courage". Deepak Chopra explains, "it is like the seed structure of intelligence around which time, space, and matter consolidate into a manifested event." After reading this, I realized the mistake made year after year. We tend to set ourselves up for failure. The mistake made has to do with the oversight of the nature of intention. Intention helps to fulfill resolution. Without it, it is nothing more then a empty wish. Without intention, the foundation of our efforts, we become lost and misdirected.

Finding our way to Sankalpa

Just breathe. Follow each breath as it cycles. Noticing the connection made between each part of the breath. Isn't it interesting that without effort the breath just comes. The intake of breath comes with fluidity and alertness, pauses for a mere moment to turn around with gratitude to find that it is the exhale. Only when we want to dive in to pick apart the breath do we visit the intricacies that the breath can become. How it can effect our state of being. But on the most basic level, the breath, or prana, brings focus onto the present moment.

Be present and open to the moment. Ignore the unknown, the anxieties, or the insecurities of what the future has to hold. Learn from but don't dwell in the past. Be here now. Where else do you have to be? We have yet to learn how to time travel so we are forced to take each moment as it comes. One right after the other. But we find ourselves fixed into a state of discord and distraction. If you were not in the moment while breathing, what would happen if you inhaled again and again with out fully exhaling. You would most likely hyperventilate. Without taking each moment, or each part of the breath, as it comes we create a harmful state. To be present in the mind, body and breath we reach a contented and peaceful state of being.

Open yourself to the possibilities of what you possess. We are all incredibly strong and courageous. We have the capacity of compassion and kindness. So often when striving for these acts of kindness, compassion and courageousness, we use it towards others and forget about ourselves. Find the trust within ourselves so we can find within ourselves that positive light; the same compassion and kindness given away. This is not a selfish act but a courageous one. Open your heart and you will be present within your own destiny. Find gratitude towards all, including yourself.

Reexamination and reminding yourself of your sankalpa when distraction sets in. At some point, you will be distracted. You will be pushed out your present state of mind and into a state of reeling chaos. Find compassion and the excitement that we can begin again. As we grow and as we move throughout our lives, we change and evolve. Let your intentions evolve with you. Allow those intentions to stay in the present moment with you or they have somehow morphed into a resolution, steadfast and unwilling to change.

Sankalpa is not making a wish every new year. "It is taking a step forward and once you take a step forward, stepping back has no meaning."