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November, 2004 |
Don't Worry - Be Happy |
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The nine impediments which obstruct progress are disease, sluggishness, doubt, carelessness, idleness, sense gratification, living in the world of illusion, not being able to told on to what is undertaken and inability to maintain the progress achieved. Sorrow, dejection, restlessness of the body, inhalation and exhalation arise from these distractions. - Yoga Sutras 1.30-31
When the senses are disciplined, the mind becomes stable. Such a mind becomes free from anger, passion, infatuation, and fear. It remains unperturbed in the state of sorrow as well as of pleasures and makes on free from confusion, delusion, undeterminate reason and egoism. - Geetaji Iyengar
As solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so wise men are not moved amidst praise and blame. - Buddha
Nothing in life is trivial. Life is whole wherever and whenever we touch it, and one moment or event is not less sacred than another. - Vimala Thakar
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Abhyasa vairaghabhyam tan nirodhah By practice and detachment the fluctuations of the mind can be stopped. Patanjali: Sutra 1-12
Can you recall your excitement when you were first allowed to help with a ‘grown-up’ task? After the task lost its volunteerism and was an assigned chore, how long did you enjoy it? Did washing the dishes remain a game very long after it became a daily assignment, when you had to do it everyday, come what may? I often hear people talk about their lack of discipline when it comes to yoga practice, meditation or exercise. There’s never enough time, there are too many other more enjoyable things to do, they simply don’t like it. I ask you, with all that, how can a person possibly succeed? With that mindset they are doomed before they begin. My job is to steer them towards activities that they enjoy (at least initially) and ask the questions that open the door to an attitude adjustment. I ask them to bring their enthusiastic, inquisitive, open-eyed child-wonder to their daily activities, to acknowledge value in everything they deem worthy of their time. That is abhyasa, usually translated as discipline which is defined as: 1Training that is expected to produce a specified character or pattern of behavior, especially that which is expected to produce moral or mental improvement. 2Controlled behavior resulting from such training. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get to the state described in the second definition without going through the first? I believe it’s a possibility—by committing to a goal and squeezing every bit of joy from the activity possible. A commitment is a state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action. A person who tells me they lack discipline is often very disciplined. What they lack is commitment. What they need is to explore the interrogatives that bring them to the state of emotional commitment to their goals. An intellectual commitment, when it comes to life plans, is a good start but it doesn’t see you through the daily grind. You must be passionately bound to your goals, and you must reap great rewards with each step you take towards them. Then, you will be there on the mat, on the cushion, in the gym, in the park every single day. Smiling. What brings you joy every day? Seriously, stop reading and make a list. Do you find that there are some answers that fit only if the phrase ’every day’ is removed? The important question now is, “why is that?” My yoga practice was a constant in my life. I could rely on it to instill a sense of joy, every day, every practice. Until my late 40’s. The joy left me. I grieved my loss. I’m sure the absence of joy was merely a mood, a response to hormonal shifts, nothing more. But, this bad mood lasted for years. This was the first crisis of abhyasa I had suffered since my early 20’s. To add to it all, I began to suffer structural damage: my sacroiliac was often painful, my knee often went out (and ultimately required surgery). I was unable to continue with the fitness activities I enjoyed and had to settle for second best. I was unhappy. I shopped for remedies. I spent more time with meditation and pranayama. Fellow yoga teachers recommended the restorative sequences given by Geeta Iyengar for women beginning menopause. This course brought relief, and I was again looking forward to my practices. However, I was not committed to those ‘second-best’ fitness activities. My workouts became irregular. Without fitness activities to burn calories or the heat of my usual type of yoga practice I gained weight. That brought shadow to the joy I gained. So, whenever I was structurally sound I would head out the door and jog, only to get injured again. It was an up and down time. And, eventually, I was down more than up. Restful restoratives and sitting had become only an admission that I couldn’t be as active as I once was. During this period I received a restorative sequence in the mail that had been given to students at the Institute in Pune. It fascinated me with its long inversions. I love inversions. The timings were about twice my own. I hadn’t yet been to Pune to study with the Iyengars, but, I had been to convention. I knew many students who had made the trip to the Institute. I was sure that if they were capable of these timings, I was. I began practicing this sequence daily, adding to my durations until I was able to maintain the poses for the timings given. It was great. It had what I needed: both challenge and rest. I began to feel better and even lost some weight. Things were looking up. After several months I received a correction in the mail. The timings were wrong. Cut the durations in half. It was then that I took an honest look at my motivation and had a good laugh. I could have been hurt, I suppose, moving forward with the instructions, never questioning, concerned only with proving I was as good a student as any other. I continued aging, changed jobs, and moved multiple times. I didn’t adapt well. I was despondent once more. This time I was unable to find joy in any practice, until I went to India to study with the Iyengars. Their intensity really perked me up, just in time for my diagnosis of breast cancer about a year later. Want to find joy? Face your own mortality. I, again, returned to passive restoratives, pranayama and meditation with a difference: with vairagyam, surrender. This time around I was actually joyful. Sure, I missed the challenge of creating alignment in the stylizations of yoga asana, but I was so tired and the practices were so life affirming that I no longer complained. To everything there is a season. It’s been over a year since my breast cancer diagnosis. I now do a combination of active and restorative postures depending partially on how I feel and very much on what I need. Learning to respond to my needs rather than my wants is joy in action. When I needed the restoratives during my perimenopausal stage I was so caught up in my version of midlife crisis that it added to feelings of depression and worry. I turned a blind eye to my needs, was led by my wants, and became a moody person as a result. What a waste. Which brings us to my transliteration of the sutra 1-12: With joyful practice, detachment from our wants, attention to our needs, and surrender to truth, we become balanced and whole.
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INVERSIONS
Increase your duration in inversions by using supported versions to increase timings. The supported versions may be held for up to twice as long as the non-supported. 1. After headstand, repeat by hanging from a rope or from the edge of a table. 2. After shoulderstand, repeat using a chair for support. Once timings have reached 3 minutes non-supported, attempt brief variations. For instruction in adding variations, check with the class plan in Light on Yoga.
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Volume 1 Issue
4
