“Devoted to living a balanced and moderate life, the scope of one’s life force becomes boundless” Yoga Sutra 2:38 (Nischala Joy Devi) “Don’t sweat the small stuff” Richard Carlson Brahmachayra is the most controversial Yama, often translated as celibacy, or moderation of energy, or chewing on the Divine. We are encouraged to remember that we are part of the whole, but not the centre of the Universe. There are things bigger than ourselves. You might chose to focus on the physical universe, a concept of God, or just an attitude of awe at the unknown. It reminds us to look at where we are spending our energy- are we wasting it on things that don’t matter in the overall scheme of things? We are promised in the Yoga Sutra that if we moderate or contain our energy towards those things that matter least, then we will always have access and vitality towards those things that matter most! Our home practice this week is another variation of our Salutation sequence. You can salute the Sun, God, the Universe, your parents or anything else that feels right to you. Start sitting in quiet meditation. Focus for a few minutes on the sounds you can hear around you, without getting involved in what they are. Can you let your awareness wander from sound to sound, letting different sounds come and go without getting attached to the thoughts about what they mean? Can you let yourself be open to the vastness of everything around you? Warm up the body with any of the seated warm ups that your body needs, a few rounds of cat pose, then a downward facing dog pose to come to standing. Finish the warm ups with a few spinal rolls then come to stand in Tadasana with the hands at the heart to start this Salutation sequence. 1) Prayer Pose 2) Inhale raise the arms and open to the possibility of something larger than yourself 3) Exhale forward and surrender 4) Step or lunge back to downward facing dog pose 5) Inhale forward through plank pose and then into either Upward Dog or Upward puppy (sphinx) pose. Lift your heart upwards 6) Exhale to the floor, arms outstretched into Salutation pose. Honour the vastness of life itself 7) Return to standing by going through these poses in reverse. A human being is part of the whole, called by us “universe”, a part limited in time and space. (S)he experiences him(her)self, his (her) thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest……a kind of optical illusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few person’s nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Albert Einstein. Thanks to Vanessa from Adelaide Real Estate Photography for the beautiful picture of some of her and my kids at Brighton Beach practicing Bramachayra in the form of beach cricket and icecream....
1 Comment
Bolster Magic - nurturing restorative sequence Here’s a short sequence of lying over a bolster poses that can be a great pick me up at the end of a day, or a calming sequence before bedtime. If you take 5 minutes for each you will have done 30 minutes of fabulous restorative yoga! Enjoy! Sitting over bolster I love this pose because it keeps my spine upright effortlessly. If it doesn’t work for your knees you could sit cross legged on the bolster or just a blanket or two. While you are here start Uji breathing. This is the breath when we constrict the back of the throat and make that gentle snoring sound, like the wind whispering through the trees on the inhale and the exhale. The constriction in the throat helps to lengthen both the phases of the breath and the sound helps to gently focus the mind inward. Side lying over bolster With your bolster to the left, long edge against your thigh, mermaid your legs out to the right and drape your side ribs over the bolster. Rest your head on your left arm and bring your right arm up and over to wherever is comfortable to lengthen through the right waist. You can intensify this by lengthening through the right leg. I love this pose as I am very tight through the muscles around my waist, particularly on my right side. Don’t forget to do this pose on the other side. I do right, left and right again because of that tightness, so if you know you are also tight on one side feel free to do that side longer. Supported bridge pose Sit on your bolster with your feet on the floor and then carefully roll on to your back, keeping your sacrum on the bolster. This is a supported back bend so it brings energy to the body and opens through the chest. A great tonic for reversing the forward computer slump posture! A s this is an inversion, you may want to skip it if you have your period. Snuggleasana This is my all-time favourite thing to do with a bolster. From kneeling, knees wide, bolster between the knees drape your belly over the bolster, turn the head to one side and have a few breaths on this side and then change to the other side. This supported forward fold is calming for the central nervous system and is particularly useful on those blah hormonal type days. Bolster under the knees shavasana.
Remember that shavasana translates as corpse pose. It’s a letting go and surrendering. The bolster under the knees can help the back release more into the floor. Just let the breath do what it wants and stay with relaxed attention on the body and the breath as they soften. When you have finished, bring your knees into your chest, roll on to one side, use your arms to support you to come back to a comfortable sitting. Take a moment to acknowledge/be grateful for your practice. 1. Clear a space. Roll out a yoga mat if you have one or move things out the way. Make it look, smell and feel good if you want, light candles etc, just don't spend all of your practice time on this step! 2. Put yourself in the space. Sit, Stand or lie down. 3. Be still. Bring your awareness into your body. Notice without veto how it feels. Notice the mind, the emotions as well. Allow all sensations to be valid. It's ok to feel like crap, but its also ok to have days were you feel absolutely amazing. Own whatever is there. 4. Let your body breathe. (through the nose) No effort, just watch this amazing thing that sustains life. Be amazed by it. Give thanks for it. Enjoy the sensation of the breath moving through you. 5. Let the breath start to move you. Belly out as you inhale, in as you exhale, fingers spread with your inhale,palms soften with the exhale. Slowly, let the movements grow. 6. Maintain your internal sense of what the body wants and move it somehow. Maybe it wants to stretch out, maybe it wants to move quickly or slowly. Move from lying, from sitting, from kneeling, from standing. Try not to think about achieving something. It doesn't need to look like something you would see in a book, or even like anything we have done in class, but trust that what we have done in class will be remembered by your body as you go. Feel from the inside rather than trying to imagine with your mind what it looks like from the outside. Any movement is good, especially if you keep noticing the breath while you're moving. 7. Stop and be still again. How does the body feel now? The mind? The breath? 8. Repeat step 5, 6 and 7 if you have time, and especially if your body is suggesting you need to move differently to how you just did to even out the left and right sides of the body, or the front and back etc. 9. Always lie flat or with knees bent after you've had enough. Even if there isn't time to do it. For as long as you can allow. Be still and breathe. Count the breath backwards from 21 or 12 or 3 or 108. (Chose a number between 1 and infinity) 10. Come out slowly to sit or stand. Finish mindfully with a breath or an internal thank you or an intention for the rest of your day. Enjoy the benefits of connecting with yourself from your practice. Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras offers us just three pearls of wisdom for Asana, the third limb of the system of yoga. However contained within these brief lines are much wisdom that we can use to deepen and explore our practice. Sutra 2.46 offers us the advice “sthirasukumasanam”, or Let the connection to the Earth be steady and joyful The word sthira means steadiness and alertness, firm or stable. The word is the opposite of agitation, which implies this steadiness must also come from the mind and not just the body. Patanjali here is inviting us to be strong and steady in both our body and our mind. Sukha is the opposite of dukha, which means suffering, or “bad space”. Sukha invites us to find a space for the body and mind that is comfortable, relaxed, even pleasurable and joyful. Asana is often referred to as the postures we practice on our mat, literally translated as ‘comfortable seat’. However asana has a broader implication, it is the way we fully inhabit the body, practicing to be completely present to it in each moment. This sutra invites us to find the opposite qualities of effort and surrender when we are in the body. It reminds me that I need to be present both with how my body is connected to the earth, and how it reaches into space, and to enjoy the practice. To explore this sutra in your own practice take any pose you are familiar and comfortable with, perhaps downward facing dog or extended side angle (see photo above). Do three rounds. In the first round enquire into Sthira, your steadiness. Ask yourself:
Steadiness includes attention to finding your unique most supportive alignment for your body. It involves effort to maintain and sustain posture. In the second round focus on the qualities of sukha, or relaxation of effort. Questions to consider include:
On the third round focus on the whole verse:
When we practice with the qualities of this sutra our poses can feel both delicious and challenging. Our mind can be attentive without tension and we can feel completely supported by the Earth as we expand effortlessly into space. Donna Fahri teaches that when we clarify our relationship to the ground, gravity and space we also clarify our relationship between parts of the body and the whole, becoming conduits for the movement of prana, or life force through the body. However remember that yoga never judges. It is merely a tool for noticing. There may be moments where the balance of your postures is not even between these two opposites. There may be days when we feel particularly lethargic, perhaps here the challenge is to introduce more Sthira, more effort. Perhaps on days were you have been rushing you need to focus on finding ways to practice with more Sukha, or relaxation. There may also be days when our need for nurturing or nourishment is high. Using props such as bolsters to support the body is a great way of increasing both sthira; our steadiness and groundness and can also nurture the qualities of sukha; surrender and letting go. Instead of letting this sutra be yet another thing to remember or achieve with our practice, let it be an opportunity to more deeply explore your relationship with your body, mind and breath. Using enquiries into Sthirasukamasanam can help discover your truth in each moment, providing opportunities to bring all parts of your Self into harmonious balance. Enjoy the journey. Maureen References and further reading: Donna Farhi: “Bringing Yoga to life, the everyday practice of enlightened living” TKV Desikachar, “The heart of yoga, developing a personal practice” |