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Garbage In, Sure! But is There Garbage Out?

29/5/2013

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That's one way of framing it - kinda dramatic, but somehow on point.

In the modern era here, we've all been inundated with an incredible amount of information, perspective and mythology about food. From the production of what we eat, the processing and distribution of food, to what diet we choose to eat. Lots of folks putting lots of time and words into that realm.


And, yes, there is some truth to that sentiment that says "you are what you eat." It's worthy of thinking on, of discernment and positive action. Don't get me wrong. But, what we are eating is not the entirety of what we are ingesting!

In Ayurveda - the yogic science of life -  ama is the concept of anything that exists in a state of incomplete transformation. In particular, it is claimed to be a toxic byproduct generated due to improper or incomplete digestion. Often, the target of internal cleansing is this ama, which has numerous translations from Sanskrit to English: “uncooked”, “un-annealed”, “immature”, “undigested”, “non-nurturing”.

The general principle of is that all inputs, or ahara - food, relationships, environment, entertainment - must be digested as experiences. This digestion depends primarily upon the strength of our agni - the digestive fire that is the product of our tapas in practice. Otherwise they will leave residues that impede function: mental residues, emotional residues, physical residues... undigested stuck matter. A place where illness, discomfort and disease may dwell.

Let's frame it at this - you are what you ingest... ingest nutrition and benefit from it; ingest non-nutritive things and you will have to work a little harder to digest them, appropriately. We can avoid the congestion by ensuring you have time for digestion after ingestion.


Ever practiced on a full stomach?? Just doesn't work (although I used to have a rail-thin student who would tell me right before class "I just ate an entire Cinnabon"... it made me sick to my stomach)!

So, there's the cleansing diets, and the juice fasts and the multiple ways we address the inequities in our diet... but what are you watching and filling your brain with? What music are you just drinking in like Big Gulps? What gossip are you nibbling on like an unending bowl of popcorn? Same thing, we should be digesting and flushing and eliminating, not letting our minds get cluttered with meaninglessness and shite. What's getting taken in, and what is becoming ama?

What time are you putting into digesting that stuff, that ama?? Or, are you just mentally constipated, full of shit? Are you emotionally drained for others because you consume and ingest their dramas and emote them, and then can't actually process them or be involved with helping improve the situation? Are you hungry for others trials and tribulations? In person, through gossip, through the glowing screens in your life?

What are your mental digestive processes? The fire of creativity, imagination and manifestation in images, words, sounds or movements? Discernment through seated silence? Inspection and introspection - what are you doing to ensure there is a moving, flowing digestive process working up top, as well as down under?

Sometimes, we need to make some space... after a big meal, unbutton a button and take a walk. The mat and our practice can be a place where we make some space. You know how it is, you've got a lot of bills to pay and work to do; the stuff is piled all over your desk - what do you do? Well, I make piles until there is a clear space in the center of the desk. Then I bring one thing into it at a time and address it - if I discern it's a distraction, I set it aside and refocus.

This can be the metaphor for our practice - on the mat in asana, or in mindfulness or meditation. Create space, examine items one at a time, discern their import and relevance, keep what is worthy, what wisdom has been gained and learned. Then, process and address the rest of what is in there, and finally release it.

Ingest, process, digest, store, eliminate... then, give thanks and praise!


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Getting Edgy in Your Practice - C'mon Up to the Campfire!

21/2/2013

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Within the flickering light and warmth of the flame, but not consumed…

Within the asana practice, there can be times of struggle and times of ease; times where we feel the need to coax just a little more out of it, and times where we realize that we are simply coasting through it. We need to be aware of those moments that take us from our intention and attention, or attraction, to the natural and innate tendencies to push too hard, or to simply drift away into the ease and mindlessness.


The edge: not the ‘edge’ where they say "if you aren’t living on the you’re taking up too much space". No, the edge of the practice, that vital space of information and transformation; any less effort and our mind wanders out of the asana practice – any more effort and we would abuse the subtlety of pranayama and lose the benefit of the practice!

So, I would liken this ‘edge’ in the practice to a campfire – come along for my story.


The campfire is warm and it represents safety; its light and warmth are a comfort and it’s a refuge from the darkness. The light keeps the critters away, it casts a protective circle - the heat keeps you warm and contained, and present. The dancing of the flames on the embers is entrancing, mesmerizing, and timeless. It’s what is happening, it’s the primary conversion of energy that we can participate in, it offers purification and possibility; and, potentially danger as well.

If we rush too quickly towards that edge, the campfire, we may stumble, or create too much momentum and not stop in time. We may choke on the smoke, we may get cinders in our eyes, and we may singe our eyebrows or even be injured in the manifestation of the fire! We lose clarity, we hurt ourselves, we gasp and recoil, and we cause stress.

If we tarry, or we hesitate, we also may suffer. We may remain cold and distant; we may be lost outside of the safety and comfort of the circle of light. We may be prey to those things in the shadows that aren’t pleasant, and without the light of the campfire, we may imagine them to be larger or more persistent than they are. We would miss the community, the reverence, the dancing lights of the embers and flames, the energetic exchange of the fire and folk.


And, what is the ‘edge detector?' How do we know that we aren’t playing with fire, or giving ourselves a cold shoulder? The breath: the breath is the detector of the edge in our practice.


Does it lose the quality of mindfulness when we don’t fully engage and bring ourselves into the asana – not the 'fullest expression' - just engaged integrity and focus? Does it become shallow and unattended and does the mind wander? If you can plan your day, you should rather commit to being present and engaging in the practice; find more sensation and engagement, come a little closer to the flame.

Likewise, do you take every offered intensification and expression, greedily rushing in, mindless of the edge and then finding yourself gasping, panting, mouth-breathing? If we rush too quickly to the heat and the transformation or purification, we can’t sustain - and contain - the healthy fire without the pranayama.


A difficult question to take into our practice – are there poses where you know you sacrifice the breath in order to ‘nail’ the pose? What is the benefit of that?? Does the expression of the asana that you seek undermine the integrity of the pranayama and turn you into a mouth-breather?? Sweet lil' blue-faced baby cow-hugging Krishna, forbid it!

That’s why I like this metaphor of the ‘edge’ and the campfire. Don’t rush in and get burned and ruin your trip; but don’t hang out in the cold woods and get bit by a big bad wolf!! Practice working gently to and fro, right at the threshold where you maximize the internal mantra of ‘I am breathing in, I am breathing out’ and let that be the whole of your mind.

Breath, linked to engaged expression in posture: Pranayama, Asana, and perhaps, Pratyahara – the intentional withdrawal from your senses and into the moment in front of you – and edgy concept, but a worthy one!

Give thanks and praise, see you ‘round the campfire!



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Mindfulness - In Your Observations, Your Abstentions and Your Relationships!

11/2/2013

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Big month out there - lots of energetics in the planets, we've got the Mardi Gras and beginning of Lenten Season, and of course, the holiday where we are extolled to show our love by doing arcane actions in a mindless and pointless way - one romantic's opinion.

These times remind me that I work with a concept, personally and in my teaching - it's simple, but as all disciplines, in its simplicity is its challenge. Here is my premise, I've posted this before, but this past week I said it in context in class, and then it was quoted on FB - given the times, it's on point:

Do what you are doing while you are doing it - that's the entire, simplistic and yet most complicated point of this post. Let's break it down.

Do what you are doing - that means approach it like yoga - rather than union, think of linking. Linking yourself completely to the action or moment at hand. Not in projection or obsession on the outcome, but just in an engaged and present way. That also means leaving history in the past; don't approach it with all of the former experiences or occurrences, both good and bad at the forefront of your mind, for in doing so, you are repeating history, not crafting the present.

Let me make it a little more tangible - right now; is your singular intent reading this? Really, I'm flattered, but are you eating or drinking something? Listening to music? Have multiple windows open and actively panning for excitement, or simply just hanging out somewhere in public but checking out some blogs and then some people, then whatever?

The question is, is that how your practice goes? Are you elsewhere, making big or small plans? Checking out ideas in your head, remembering the good times, thinking about what you'll eat later? It's natural, it's the practice, to understand that tendency to disassociate and pull away into reflection, distraction, projection - anything but the experience or sensation at hand.

Can you use the breath, as the yuj - the link - the one thing that binds you to what you are doing? Can you experiment with simply trying to give your fullness to one thing alone? In the asana practice, the linking of breath and body and engagement; perhaps in your life for a selected experiment. A time without multitasking, without rampant sensory input, perhaps driving while not listening to music and making a call while texting!

Perhaps, just to be present to your loved one, to only listen to a song, to just simply read a book. To just do what you are doing while you are doing it.

Perhaps that can be working experiment for you as you transcend your practice from the safety of the laboratory and into the screaming mess we call life. Where do you most easily get distracted? What are your multitasks that are productive, but which are the ones that are distracting... when is the last time that the only thing you did was listen, or read, or think?

Give it a try, let me know what it feels like to feel what you’re doing and do what you're feeling!

Give thanks and praise.



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"Searching For an Ironic Title" because this blog is about a dream but my last post was about MLK!

28/1/2013

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Last night I had a dream. Yes, I mean for real, this isn't some metaphoric or poetic opening. I'm going to tell you a story of 'reality' as interpreted by my varying levels of consciousness.

I had a dream. Or shall we say, I recall a dream I had. I'm pretty sure that we all dream, no matter what that word might mean to you, we have subconscious brain activity in deeper sleep phases and from that we can experience real emotions in addition to having crazy images and situations somehow make sense.

Recall or recollecting dreams is unusual for me - I don't often have any sensation of having dreamt, and I don't really miss it or pine for it. Rather, from the time in my life when I did actively dream, I remember not liking it. All of my recollections of dreams include really banal and boring situations. I never flew, I never had interesting characters or crazy plot twists - I didn't have fantasies, not even nightmares.


I am the person who when I dream, it's just like reality, but without basis. What that means is in my dreams, I'm just doing everyday things. Like, when I say 'work dream', most people relate to that via any number of ideas: being naked at work, being at work and having an unending amount of work, being at work and not knowing anyone, etc.

For me, it's like having a second job, without pay. I would just have these incredibly normal dreams. So normal, in fact, that I would often later disagree or argue with or blame someone for having a shitty memory, because I would've had a dream, so plain and real, where we had this discussion, and to me, it felt more like a memory than a recollection of a dream.

Not sure how, mostly because of my personal weird sleep cycle, but I 'stopped' dreaming somewhere around 20 years ago. I might have two or three a year I remember, but that's it. And, I don't feel insane, and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, either an active imagination or the processing. It's just how I roll and slumber.

Back to my point. I remembered a lot of my boring and banal, conversational dream last night, and here's what I'm moved by:

In a non-descript, calm room. Hanging out with a non-existent person who I feel is more than an acquaintance, but less than a 'good friend'. I trust him, we are talking, it's nothing serious, I'm relaxed.

He changes the subject and says
"you know, you use a lot of controlling language..." and I'm not shocked or angered, but simply intrigued. He repeats the same sentence, but this time qualifies it by saying "... when you are teaching class. That's when you language becomes really controlling."

Interestingly, again, I'm not feeling defensive, but curious. So I respond along the lines of "
indeed, but I am there to facilitate, and while that means make easy, it also means to make - as in, I'm supposed to be in control." I add some other rationale about letting the students relinquish control, which means I had to hold it for them.

Then, i woke up. Not feeling unresolved, but soaking in that small but important interchange. Now, the flip side of having mundane dreams is that I can't just easily dismiss that info - it's just too rational and direct. And, I can get all Jungian and go right to analysis - relating it to life.

I did have a conversation last week with someone in my yoga community. We encourage feedback and give it to each other when we've been in classes. He noted that I - and I paraphrase here - 'withheld info during transitions in the class in order to control how the students moved, both in tempo and in alignment'. Not a negative critique, but a salient observation. We dialoged a bit; I feel that I can easily admit to it, from the function of I prefer students to go from 'foundation to engagement to expression' rather than simply stating the pose and then trying to get their feet right.

An example: if the students are
just stepping into a lunge and I say "Warrior 1", more than half of the students will immediately rise up, arms overhead, and then start adjusting their feet, while their core sags.


I'm starting from the place where I'd like you to set your front foot, pivot and ground your rear foot, engage your low core, and then lift up, arms overhead in the pose - foundation, engagement, expression.

How about this? I'd like you to put the ladder on firm ground, then climb up, then reach for the tree limb - not run up the ladder and bounce around at the top like Charlie Chaplin waving your arms around.

Ha, you can tell, it's a good topic, I've got some feeling about it, and I can easily create a rationale. However, in the 'real world' conversation where this was going on, all of that was accepted and acknowledged, even praised for it's stability and theory - but my friend came right back to something akin to 'all of that's alright, but I'd still say you use your language to control the room'.

I agreed, but also had to say, expressed that directly, I didn't really care for it! As in, "I've got to examine that and think on it." So, think on it I must be, if it comes to me in the other world almost identically to how it presents in this world.

Not sure what the message is beside pay attention to that, where does it show up, why, and where else does it show up that I'm not aware of yet? One excellent place to process it will be in the yoga room - either as teacher, listening and observing as I teach and as a student, listening and finding resonance or friction with others words, tones, styles and intentions.

Interesting in the way that we get all the info we need about ourselves in any way that Spirit can serve it - then, the question is, can we quiet down enough to hear the call, and can we turn inward and do the deep seeking and do the work?

I'll close with words heard in class last week, simple words, but with much resonance - "If you can, you must - there is no other choice!"

Give thanks and praise!


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Aspire to Inspire - Step 11 to Happiness.

5/12/2012

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Yeah!!! I really like this topic... took a few days' breather in order to be able to offer my thoughts. There's some learning in this one, so take a big inhale - take a long exhale.

We're all looking for inspiration - from Rumi quotes, to good deeds witnessed, to the perseverance and triumph of the human spirit, to a simple comforting hand or word. It's important, as we link inspiration to imagination, creativity, manifestation and hope.

All of us have been inspired, some of the best and most humble among us have been inspirations to others. Whether we are close to someone, or simply their unknown admirer, we love to be inspired to reach for new things, grow to new heights, stretch to new limits.

"Let my inspiration flow in token rhyme, suggesting rhythm,
That will not forsake you, till my tale is told and done.
While the firelight's aglow, strange shadows from the flames will grow,
Till things we've never seen will seem familiar.

Grateful Dead

We aspire to be inspired, surely - but, can we aspire to inspire? You know me, it's all contained in the 'bij' - the essence or root, the most reduced and simple meanings of the word.

We're going to start with Spirit or spirit, uppercase or lowercase, whatever makes you comfortable. A side note of interest - most sacred languages have a distinct word for 'life force' that differs from 'spirit'; e.g. animus vs. spiritus and soma vs. pneuma. And, the words in both Greek and Hebrew for spirit are the same for wind, or air in movement.

Let's check the source material, get back to basics, before a lot of mouths go on these words:

Spirit (n.) "animating or vital principle in man and animals," from Old French espirit, derived from the Latin spiritus "soul, courage, vigor, breath." Spiritus is directly related to spirare "to breathe," which stems from Proto Indo-European *(s)peis- "to blow". 


For the most part, we find the majority of the original usage in English mainly coming from passages in the Vulgate, where the Latin word spiritus translates from the Greek pneuma and Hebrew ruah.

The later distinction between "soul" and "spirit" (as the "seat of emotions") became current in much later Christian terminology (for instance, again using the Greek psykhe vs. pneuma, or the Latin anima vs. spiritus). Spiritus, in classical Latin simply meaning "breath," replaces animus in the sense "spirit" and then only later starts to take on the supernatural connotations it may imply today.

Aspire (v.) "to strive for," from Old French aspirer "aspire to; inspire; breathe, breathe on." Again, directly from the Latin aspirare "to breathe upon, to breathe," but also taking on the later meanings "to be favorable to, assist; to climb up to, to endeavor to obtain, to reach to, to seek to reach; infuse." The word is constructed from ad- "to"  + spirare "to breathe". The notion is of "panting with desire," or "giving the climb your all," "rising like smoke or incense vapors" even.

Inspiration (n.)  "immediate influence of God or a god," especially that under which the holy books were written! Hmm, that's a good one. Divine inspiration, being breathed into by the creative force.


Inspiration comes from the Old French inspiracion "inhaling, breathing in; inspiration." We can now recognize this from the Latin and Late Latin form inspirationem (or if you prefer the nominative - inspiratio). This is the noun of action, from the Latin stem inspirare "inspire, inflame, blow into." The word is constructed from in- "in"  + spirare "to breathe".

From inflame, as in to blow on the fire, to create dynamic tapas and alchemical change, to the literal sense of the "act of inhaling," it wasn't until the late 1800s that the  meaning "one who inspires others" was developed.
"Inspiration, move me brightly. light the song with sense and color;
Hold away despair. More than this I will not ask,
Faced with mysteries dark and vast, statements just seem vain at last.
Some rise, some fall, some climb..."

Grateful Dead

It's that simple... we're living, we're breathing.

There is something very simple about it, the inhale as inspiration, the exhale as expiration; there's also something deeper than the simple respiratory exchange. We take in life force, the animating spirit within us, that rider of the horse, the observer of the self, the one who can ask who is asking this question while listening to it being asked - that is spirit.

But, then, there is Spirit: whether that be divinely ordained, as simple as all living beings amounting to godhead, as animating as the forces that bind the atoms or as pervasive and ineffable as the universe, we are moved and can move others.

And, yes, sometimes it is a climb. Sometimes we have to fan the flames. Sometimes we need a kick-start, a community, a place that reminds us to aspire. That inspires us to reach and stretch and grow, and not simply in the Pursuit of Happiness, but rather in the Creation of Happiness.

Remember, in a pursuit, often something eludes the other; in a creation, both forces serve the whole. So, make it your aspiration to find and give inspiration. Sometimes that is as simple as a helping hand, a kind word, an extra good deed to a stranger or a nice moment reflecting on something you've witnessed.

Let me leave you with one more word - one I suggest that we 're-appropriate' and take back, out of the pejorative and into the affirmative and inspiring. I suggest we take back this word:

conspire (v.) comes from the Old French conspirer which comes from the Latin conspirare "to agree, unite," but more literally simply translates as "to breathe together." The word is constructed from com- "together"  + spirare "to breathe".


This very might have been in regards to musical performances, singing or instruments, where perhaps the notion draws from the alternate definition "to blow together," i.e., "to sound in unison." Seems like the notion of "to plot together" comes along much later.

What if we take back conspiracy and elect to be co-conspirators of inspiration! I'm in, sounds like a good time, or a great yoga class!

Give thanks and praise - this series is almost coming to close, I hope you've been at least entertained, maybe a little enlightened, and hopefully taken something or things from what I've written.

Check back for the final installment of the series, Step 12 to Happiness - The Heart Knows Better!

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Study - Step 10 to Happiness.

30/11/2012

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Study - well, if that doesn't sound ominous, odious, and dreary... Not so, not so - in reality, I'm talking about 'study' as when we find a 'yoga' with something. For instance, when we find an activity or pursuit that really engages and delights us, it's no burden at all to get into it and study up and learn more about it. We seek out those others that are 'good' at it or can help us; we might read up, ask around or work on improving skills. All of this, I suggest, is study.

Study, like watch a flower bloom. Study, like read about a passion. Study, as in observe yourself and your behaviors to learn more about your own subconscious and how that might alter your perceptions. Dive deep, go into something wholeheartedly, devote time and attention. There are so many ways to study.

In the 8 limbs of yoga, we are told that Svadhyaya - study - is one of the imperatives. While there are many ways to translate or interpret the meaning of 'study' in this word, it's most often considered that studying sacred texts will help us study ourselves, as all is allegorical, metaphorical and simply about the true nature of consciousness. By broadening our perspective, we can begin to see the unity.


“It is useful to study different traditions in order to be free of attachment to any one way of expressing what is beyond expression.”
― Ravi Ravindra, The Wisdom of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras: A New Translation and Guide by Ravi Ravindra
Svādhyāya is one of the three key elements in the Kriya (practice, technique) of Yogah (yoga) as defined in the Yoga Sutras. In fact, it opens the second chapter and then later Patanjali mentions Svādhyāya a second time as one of the five Niyamas (observances), along with Sauca (purity), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (zeal, austerity), and Ishvari-Pranadhana (surrender).

I love Sutra 2.1 - I use it on my bio page, because to me, it defines the practice - not of asana, but of yoga. And, while I'm not recovering, it's a basically the Serenity Prayer -

tapah svadhyaya ishvara-pranidhana kriya-yogah (PYS 2:1)

let me have 'Tapah' (the creative force to make change), the Ishavari-Pranadhana (the ability to surrender to that which is greater) and the Svadhyaya (the wisdom to know the difference, what is called for)... this is the Kriya (practice) of Yoga.

I'm not suggesting you have to dive into the Sutras, read the Gita, go back to the Bible, or any sacred text. You could study yourself with Thoreau, with Schopenhauer, with Neitzche, with Shakespeare, with David Sedaris. Really, you can study through reading, or through experience.

I've spent a lot of time reading sacred texts, from all cultures. I'm emboldened by the original purity of the intention and message and how universal they are; I am dismayed by how much culture and time and imposition was added to the those texts and now they have been perverted through poor usage and other agendas. I thought the following quote was right on track...
“Spiritual literature can be a great aid to an aspirant, or it can be a terrible hindrance. If it is used to inspire practice, motivate compassion, and nourish devotion, it serves a very valuable purpose.

If scriptural study is used for mere intellectual understanding, for pride of accomplishment, or as a substitute for actual practice, then one is taking in too much mental food, which is sure to result in intellectual indigestion.”
― Prem Prakash, The Yoga of Spiritual Devotion A Modern Translation of the Narada Bhakti Sutras

This is why I prefer and suggest the study be experiential... that the classroom be the Self, that the Teacher or object of our study is the yoga or the mindfulness or the seva or whatever brings you into relationship with self and Self. Perhaps if you re-appropriated the word "study" out of the academic world, out of tests and proficiencies and all-nighters and simple regurgitation of facts, we could thrive in learning.

I like language, so let me end on that note - study, the etymology. If you trace most language groups back, they got to a common ancestor that is called P.I.E., or Proto-Indo European. This is the 'base language' for hundreds of language groups, which include Sanskrit and Latin and Greek. So, that's why we see cognates in Sanskrit to English. Sukha - Sucrose. Pada - Pedestrian, Podiatrist. Mukha - Mug as in Mugshot...

So, "study" comes down from a PIE root *(s)teu-  which means "to push, stick, knock, beat". As it arrived into the Latin, it took on the connotation of "being diligent, moving forward, applying attention". By the 1300s, CE, it had the specific meaning of "application of the mind to the acquisition of knowledge".

But just keep it simple - push for it, stick to it, knock the disinformation and your preconceptions out of the way, beat aside falseness and even the temptation to take easy answers over truthful ones. Be diligent, move forward, apply attention. Apply your mind and efforts towards the acquisition of knowledge, and then thrive through that wisdom.

And, if you do all of that on a skateboard, or on the XBox, or by collecting Star Wars figures, then dive in, go deep, learn more. Study, be a student, learn to love learning and you will learn love and happiness.

Be well, give thanks and praise - last day here in Dallas assisting my fabulous teacher and mentor and friend, Seane.


Looking forward to getting back to the ATX and a fun weekend. Next installment coming up is, Step 11 - Aspire to Inspire!
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Serve and Help - Step 9 to Happiness.

27/11/2012

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Seva - that is the word we use from the Sanskrit, for selfless service. Service that is offered in the sense that any improvement that can be made for any one person improves every person's experience.

What makes Seva 'selfless' is that the work is done for the action, for the intention, but not for a specific or even general reward. However, that is true and yet untrue. For if you ask anyone who has spent time in service to others, who has selflessly given in order to assist and elevate others, that even without the desire for it, there is great happiness in giving of ourselves.


I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
Rabindranath Tagore
That get's kinda out there and noble, but it really hit home for me this past few months. As you might know, I've spent the majority of this year working to raise awareness and funds in a Global Seva Challenge - one that is aimed at assisting those who have been liberated from sexual slavery.

Well, it's been a great ride, and I've learned a lot. I've done personal fundraising, I've solicited friends, former colleagues and co-workers, associates and strangers. I've taught numerous workshops, public classes and private sessions where all the proceeds benefited the challenge. And, I spent months collaborating on and co-creating GaneshFest, a yoga a music community festival.

Then, about 6 weeks ago, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to achieve the goal I had set - in order to be personally involved in my chosen Seva, I needed to have raised $20,000 by my own and collective actions. I'm proud of the funds I've raised, but I had to admit, the goal was not going to be achieved. I was pretty despondent, with weird feelings like I had failed at something I cared about, that I had let folks down, that I wasn't a person who could manifest and create, etc.

Luckily, my community includes a lot of folks who have done this work and are doing it now... a good few of them reached out to me to check in. One of them - thanks and praise - said to me, and I paraphrase: "are you doing this to help get little girls out of sexual slavery, or are you doing this to be able to say you did it, and go on the trip with Seane (our teacher)?"

BAM! - that's a friend, and that was the question I needed to ponder, to take into my practice and to be mindful on. So, I spent some time with it, and now I have to say, while I would love to be joining those lovely folks and passionate leaders in Seva in India next year, I have done my Seva. And, it only, truly becomes my Seva when I release from the goal of 'achieving' it and move into the space of doing it. For them, not for my ego, not for my identity.


"Living creatures are nourished by food, and food is nourished by rain; rain itself is the water of life, which comes from selfless worship and service."
- Bhagavad Gita, 3.14


I'm really happy to be able to serve, and to be in service to that which I see elevates and illuminates. And, as I write this today, I'm in Dallas, serving and assisting my Teacher, Seane Corn as she leads a Teacher Training. I was also privileged to travel to three of the Wanderlust Festivals over this past summer, and also assisted Seane in her classes there.

There is something really powerful about being in the practice --- not taking the practice and not leading the practice --- witnessing both of those elements and the energetic exchange. The assists I like to focus on are to really ground folks into the physical experience, and of course to assist with alignment and to deepen expression where appropriate. Sometimes the assists I give are to just stand by and breathe with them as they hang for those last few cycles in a tough posture, or just an affirming hand in child's pose.

It's been one of the sweetest experiences for me yet, in my teaching. To find the space between teacher and student and to find how to best serve each. It's an honor to witness the teachings and how they can create sacred space, and how that space allows for incredible personal transformation. It's brought me an enormous amount of fulfillment and happiness.

Where are you finding yours? What can you do for others? What are you good at that can benefit someone else? Are you willing to give, without expecting something in return? And, are you willing to give selflessly, when no one is looking and when no one will say 'thank you'?

Look around you, we can all use a helping hand. This is the season where an old coat that you haven't worn would go a long way for someone who is cold. Where those cans of food that make you feel comfortable in your full pantry could translate into a meal for someone who simply wants to feel full. Make a small action, build on it, look for your way to contribute and give.

And, give thanks and praise! Next Step, #10 - Study!! Don't worry, it's not as ominous as it sounds!

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Sit - Step 8 to Happiness.

25/11/2012

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Mindfulness. Sitting with you, by yourself, being you and watching the drama of you being you. It can be tough, it can be sweet, it can literally save your life.

And, anything that eases the burdens, reduces the stresses, sweetens the ride and gives us time to enjoy and thrive is bound to be a happiness creator. I put mindfulness as tool number one on that list.

What do I mean, more specifically, by mindfulness? Some folks prefer to use the words 'meditation' or 'centering', for some folks it may even be 'prayer', 'contemplation' or 'sadhana'. I mean, simply and directly, creating an intentional time away from activity and interaction with the purpose of sitting still, in purposeful observance of the mind.

You may choose to add observance of the breath, or to add a mantra, or to add an object or image of devotion. The idea is to 'concentrate' in the most classic sense of the world. To come back together towards the center... to reduce our circles of concern and thought back down, like an onion being peeled one layer at a time, until we come to the core, the essence, the seed.

It's a practice, and yes, it can be frustrating. I think as many folks have told me they can't practice mindfulness because they say 'my mind won't ever shut up, how am I supposed to sit and be still!" as tell me they can't do yoga because "I can't touch my toes!". It's a practice... I couldn't speak any language until I was able to walk around as a toddler being unintelligible making noises for a couple years. Miracle of miracles, I ended up speaking (and reading and writing, English!) You practice, you learn; you don't, you don't.

The brain, the mind, your consciousness, your mental condition - whatever you identify with, you are able to work on it, refine it, train it, strengthen it and improve it. Neuroscience has come a long way, and we now know that neuro-plasticity extends through your entire life. You can make this happen, you start with five minutes a day, feeling like a failure because 'the committee in your head is just outraged and out of order!' Persevere, keep at it, chuckle at your own foibles at it... then, maybe you go up to 10 minutes after a week, and you keep doing it.

Practicing mindfulness will increase your energy and your strength. Since stress has so many profoundly negative and taxing effects on us both mentally and physically, when we use mindfulness to eliminate or better control stress, we reclaim more energy. We may think and act more purposefully because our minds aren't weighed down with problems, and have more endurance, because of the reduction of stress on your immune system, which positively affects everything else.

Mindfulness helps to keep you in a positive frame of mind, by actively increasing the levels of serotonin produced in the brain. This benefits of heightened levels of serotonin work to alleviate headaches, tension, depression, as well as providing an elevated sense of well-being.


It has been shown that with regularly practiced mindfulness, blood pressure can be regulated. While this is due largely to the overall reduction of stress, there is also an impact on how blood circulates and how the blood vessels respond and react in a positive way.


Mindfulness creates better ability for focus, and heightened memory function. This leads to the mind 'feeling stronger, more resilient and better able to handle the trials and tribulations of everyday life'. This then leads to greater states of contentment, the ability to seek and pursue fulfilling actions and choices, and the willingness to trust and take risks.


Mindfulness helps you to get out of the details and see the bigger picture; we are able to see things much more clearly. Irrespective of what plagues us, what problems we may have, when we just sit and take the time to observe the action of being, it all becomes just a little less personal, a little less tragic, a little less dramatic... we may even discover solutions for those problems simply by clearing our mind of the repetitive chatter. Then, we become able to take action to clear away the problems and address the issues.


Strong intuition is key to finding a connection to our inner Self. Through harnessing intuition we can preserve the well being of our bodies and minds. To achieve that, we must develop practices which bolster our intuition. A prime method for developing and harnessing good intuition is through mindfulness, which helps you observe your thoughts and feelings in order to have true discernment. It also provides the tranquility to fully follow, understand and embrace our highest purpose, our truest nature, and therein, to find happiness.

Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin, has led experiments in cooperation with the Dalai Lama on effects of meditation and mindfulness on the brain. His results suggest that long-term, or short-term practice of mindfulness meditation results in different levels of activity in brain regions associated with such qualities as attention, anxiety, depression, fear, anger, the ability of the body to heal itself, and so on. These functional changes may be caused by changes in the physical structure of the brain.

There, so in addition to all of that above, we've got proven tool for weight loss, we hit blood pressure already, it's a mental acuity strengthener, and it's been proven to reduce heart disease. It'll make you smarter, a more empathetic and emotionally intelligent person, and overall, increase your ability to sustain periods of contentment and happiness.

All of that is excellent, but the highlight for me is this. Studies show,
people who start out the day with fifteen to thirty minutes of mindfulness statistically have a better, happier day. They handle anything that comes up with ease, with no stress --- or at the very least, minimal short term stress --- they move easily from task to task, with complete focus.

Simply put, mindfulness helps us be happier. We all have a set point of happiness in our lives, like the optimum temperature on a thermostat. The environment makes us feel ourselves higher or lower, but there's always that set point we recalibrate ourselves to; where we experience happiness. Through the practice of mindfulness meditation we can raise that happiness calibration to a higher level, which, over time will make your happy times even happier, and your unhappy times seemingly less unhappy.

Get happy, give thanks and praise, do the work... make the time, just five minutes at first - sit and be mindful. Observe the breath, repeat an affirmation, focus on a candle flame. Allow your natural thoughts to emerge and simply notice them, then let them drift away like clouds in the sky.

Check back for my next tip - that would be Step 9 - Serve and Help.



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Move - Step 7 to Happiness!

23/11/2012

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Ha, after a day like yesterday, we all need to move a little. Maybe you're a traditionalist and you went outside and threw a pigskin - more likely you sat inside and pigged out as you watched other folks throw that ball...

Or, maybe you took a postprandial ambulation - the proverbial after dinner stroll - in order to not just pass out or make a little more room for pie. Perhaps you got up early and headed to the lake for a Turkey Trot, or a studio and took a yoga class; saw lots of folks taking advantage of that yesterday.

The news in not earth-shattering, it doesn't need to come as a huge revelation, maybe more of a gentle reminder. When we get a little sad, we get a little heavy. Then, we get sedentary and inert. It takes a lot of will to break that inertia, so usually, the inertia builds and it gets harder and harder to get the gumption to do anything. Then, the preponderance of all that 'doing nothing' makes us depressed; we sit in the depression, getting more inert. Without some movement to get our glandular system going and get us really deeply breathing, it's just a vicious cycle of more and more nothingness adding to deeper and deeper despondency.

So, there really is only one choice and that is get moving!! Like, just get off the couch and take a short walk. Get up and stretch, arms overhead, then to one side, then the other. Go up and down some stairs, at home or at work; next time you have an appointment on the 2nd or 3rd floor, walk up. When you feel heavy after a meal, take a short walk or just go outside and breath some fresh air.

We think our lives are so hard, and we work endlessly to be able to buy convenience creating and the pursuit of leisure. For more and more folks that equates to an entitlement of 'not doing anything' or  just 'vegging out' and we all know the variety known as couch potato...


A lot of folks work all day in relatively sedentary conditions - did you know that sitting at work for extended periods of time is actually shortening your life, almost as significantly as smoking!? Then, we sit in our car for a commute, come home and sit down and eat a huge, heavy meal, then plop on the couch to watch some Tube, while perhaps still snacking.

Movement and exercise help regulate the glandular and hormone system in the body, which regulates mental and emotional states. Optimizing our own body's system through regular movement and deep, focused breathing is perhaps the most basic and simple daily maintenance that we can perform. And, it doesn't have to be a huge investment or change. Simple, consistent actions have been shown to make a huge difference. Here's just a little science.

In a study of 65 women with depression and anxiety, the 34 women who took a yoga class twice a week for two months showed a significant decrease in depression and anxiety symptoms, compared to the 31 women who were not in the class.

“Eastern traditions such as yoga have a wonderful antidepressant effect in that they improve flexibility; involve mindfulness, which breaks up repetitive negative thoughts; increase strength; make you aware of your breathing; improve balance; and contain a meditative component,” says Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C.

Now, I know I'm a yogi, so of course, you say, the answer is yoga... yes, but there are other choices! Like yoga, the slow, gentle movements of Tai Chi are another Eastern tradition that might help you break free from sadness, the blues, depression or major depressive disorder.


In a study of 14 older Chinese patients with depression, those who took Tai Chi over a three-month period showed a significant improvement in their depression symptoms. The researchers theorized that the social aspects of Tai Chi, which is done in group settings, may have also played a role in its effectiveness.

That's interesting and helpful. The social aspects may or may not contribute to the overall health, as I talked about in the post on Bonding. It's always interesting to see how these various actions, traits, attributes and choices all serve to reinforce each other... being in community, bonding, accountability, empathy, service, etc.


We all know that having a community creates some accountability. I know yoga students, and have been there myself, where we know that on one particular day what draws us to get out of bed and on the mat is the community and our accountability to it - whether that means we show because they show, or that we know they'll tease us about why we didn't, or that there is a simple unspoken recognition of "if they are, I will." Accountability works and community creates accountability. On top of that, it also reinforces feelings of good will.

I'll be completely honest with you, and you may find this amusing or even concerning, coming from a "Yoga Teacher"... there are many times that I need that accountability and approach my practice with lethargy, or dread, or apathy. And, time after time, I experience those heavy feelings just dropping off of me, as I just get present, connect to the intentional yet casual community and link movement, breath, and attention. I'm talking usually before the third Surya Namaskar. It's really that quick, that effective, and I've never regretted getting into my movement and my breath, and working to create a yoga through asana and pranayama.

Move, breathe, take a walk, swing your arms, stand like Wonder Woman, run like you're wearing a cape, take the stairs, park farther away.


Give thanks and praise, tune in tomorrow for Step 8 - Sit!

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Reduce Distractions - Step 6 to Happiness.

20/11/2012

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That sounds pretty straightforward, until you realize how addicted we are as a culture to continuous input and stimulation. Like right now --- be real --- don't you have another form of media running, music, radio, TV? And, you're reading, but maybe also you're really thinking about what else you should/might be doing, and that takes it out of reading and into mind games.

That's pretty much how it is for me - I know as kids we were praised for being able to multitask in school and it was all the rage. Improve your productivity, maximize your results, amaze your friends, please your parents!!

Well, pilgrims on sea, it just ain't so. In fact, when I first came to the yoga practice and I was struggling to find my place, to understand what was going on, I spent a lot of time multitasking in class. Thinking about "what does that mean?" and wondering "why would they choose that word/pose?". May sound judgmental, probably was, but if I was in a space where I could judge while struggling with my breath, then I was clearly multitasking. And, in truth, it wasn't very productive; I didn't maximize my experience and results.

About six months into my practice, I took Teacher Training for the first time. I recall, the first night we did a fifteen-minute minimally guided meditation. It was well offered and carefully managed and for many of us in the room, the longest extended period of focus, concentration, meditation, mindfulness or what have you that we had ever experienced. After, as we were dialoging and folks were sharing that, I recall my Teacher offering - "yoga is undivided, uninterrupted, continuous focus".

Bam! I got that. And, while I still work each practice to get that, I get it. I grok it. I feel it. That is why I'm happy to extend the definition of yoga way past the asana practice. For some, I think that is the last place they'll encounter yoga. For some, it's a perfect golf swing, being in the zone during a tennis match, throwing a pot on the wheel, getting lost in solving a puzzle, any action where we exhibit pure, uninterrupted, undivided focus... that's the truest yoga.

Ask yourself, if you've experienced flow state --- where it just is and you are and there is little separation between engagement and outcome ---you remember how great it feels. It feels like yoga, like union, like really being connected and linked on so many levels. It feels good, it makes you feel good.

I can provide y'all a bunch of science behind it, but we went there pretty heavy yesterday. There are lots of conclusive studies that show multitasking actually elevates stress responses and minimizes productivity and the new common wisdom is to dedicate specific time to specific tasks or projects and - here's the kicker - even Internet-based companies have 'recess' or 'tech-free time'. Many high-tech offices have a one-hour period a day where you aren't allowed to make or take calls, to have meetings or be scheduled to do something. You simply pick one focus and work.

Try it - pick something easy to minimize. I've been driving my '65 VW lately, it only has an old, cranky radio. It basically gets two stations. I've recently decided it's more fun to drive and be involved in driving her then it is to listen to the absolute bullshit talk-radio that fills my stations. I'm the kind of person who loves to have music in the car, so I mostly found myself turning it on, being plagued by distraction as I wait for music. Now, I just leave it off, and if I need music, I sing!

Reduce just a few distractions. Go to dinner with a friend and leave your phone in the car!!! Take a technology-free day, no media, no computers. Give it a try and let me know how it feels. Find something worthy of your focus and give it your all.


Give thanks and praise - check back tomorrow for Step 7 - Move!



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    Chrispy - Bhagat Singh

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