Sun Ray Yoga

Holding Center

There's nothing like family drama to let me know where I am in my yoga practice. Nothing provides a better opportunity to hold center and stay calm and in the present moment. The go-to reactions and thought habits are made more conscious. Just how much patience and love and forgiveness and compassion am I capable of these days? How is anger and frustration justified, appropriate and even helpful when it leads to a positive change in perspective? How are my personal conflicts and struggles reflected in what my family is dealing with in a way that I can further heal and resolve them, and how can that positively affect my role and voice in the drama? What could possibly be a more important application of my yoga practice?

In fact this latest episode (sparing you the details, feel free to plug your own family or challenge here...) has given me a new awareness of the concept of "holding center." Meaning not blasting into orbit or otherwise wasting and draining my vital energy in judgment, re-action and unnecessary, unhelpful opinions. Remaining calm and grounded so as to respond to the situation rather than react. To exercise patience and a willingness to see how it goes rather than jump to outcome. To be with the process rather than needy of a quick resolution just because the situation is uncomfortable and uncertain. Whew! That's a tall order, but it's exactly the capacity we develop when holding a pose or moving more and more consciously through vinyasa, witnessing our thoughts and experience of it. Hatha Yoga is the gateway to our higher selves through the wisdom of the body and all it's processes. That higher self is our center, the core of our being.

It's important to understanding "holding" to mean keep sacred or holy, rather than clutch or grab with deep tension in an attempt to control. As we've been studying in class, there is a reservoir of energy to be cultivated, held like we hold our child or lover, with a continual flowing in and out to maintain health and balance. The breath is the movement of that energy on a physical level, and the bridge to center from all we deal with in the world.  

May you have a centered, sacred week!

Namaste

Detox

Over the past 20 years or so I have been inclined to "detox" or "cleanse" on a somewhat regular basis. It's become a buzzword and I've noticed a whole lot more press on the subject lately, including information from those who think it's dangerous and unnecessary. For some people, and given certain health conditions, or during a particularly busy or stressful time, it certainly could be.

Detoxing generally means following a very restricted diet or fasting for any number of days, giving the internal organs time to release environmental toxins, sludge and residue that they can't normally get to in the course of normal living and eating, and also to rest and rejuvenate. The idea being that this "build-up" of toxins has negative effects on one's energy level and well-being, and that one can emerge from the detox in a better state of health.

For me, detoxing is equally a mental, emotional and spiritual process and focus, and without that awareness I would most definietly suffer through it. There were failed attempts early on in learning this. Toxic thoughts and emotions quickly surface to be dealt with also, and one's lifelong relationship with food and eating is put in sharp relief. Survival instincts and fears can kick in. One must be prepared on every level and, of course, honor where you are.  

The colon is generally the star of a detox. Ta da! That's where many of the toxins go to get released from the body, that's where things generally build up and back up and cause untold health problems, the toilet is where you can see some result of your efforts. With colon cancer and colonoscopies being addressed the way they are now, thank God, people are getting their colons clean overnight with what I understand is an unpleasant preparation for that test. This is something I've wondered about with detoxing, and sure enough, some docs point out that people's colons are sqeaky clean for the test and they never come back and say how wonderful or "clean" they feel. Detoxing is a crock.

First of all, only the immediate contents of the colon are eliminated, the liver and other organs haven't been in a process of release, there's been no instinctual or intuitive decision made that there are issues to be addressed in the system, there's been no change or shift in awareness, no inspiration. Once again the tendency is to dismiss our mind/body/spirit wholeness, and not take into consideration the value of process or the relationship of time, energy and thought to matter.

So, detoxing is intensely personal. There are many approaches, many issues that can be addressed. Just eating clean can provide a good amount of detox. The fast I did a couple of years ago was predicated upon my liver "speaking" to me. It felt heavy, congested and sluggish. I listened. (And I will tell you that the sugar withdrawal in that detox to clear yeast from the system was one of the most difficult things I've ever gotten through.) That fast had the support of a group and daily phone conferences, a critical element. Recent experience with the Master Cleanse (aka, the lemonade diet) addressed the colon and second chakra balance (a whole other subject for many interesting discussions). There are the validating "synchronicities;" I just "happened" to be at a massage workshop where my current concerns got addressed very specifically and dramatically; I can't put down a book I've had for years that I'm now ready to understand and integrate into my personal journey and also my teaching; I went back to a therapist in town who is highly skilled in the work my body needs and can now tolerate and integrate to continue my process. The Grand Experiment of being in this body continues and detox is just one piece.

I'd be most interested to know about any of experiences you've had and your take on the subject. Maybe we'll want to continue the discussion.

Have a very healthy weekend! Namaste.

Mindfulness

As per NPR, Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer studied hotel maids to see if perception of of how much we are exercising has any effect on how we look. A primary focus in the article on-line was about the placebo effect, however bottom line was that the maids who were given a different perspective on how active their jobs are saw "a decrease in systolic blood pressure, weight, and waist-to-hip ratio-- and a 10% drop in blood pressure." (For the full article you can Google "hotel maids and exercise," or go to npr.org.) The group that benefited had been informed that doing their jobs met the U.S. surgeon general's recommendation for daily exercise, and were told how many calories each task they performed burned. The group who were not given the information saw no change in their health.

Placebo effect and such aside, my theory is that, once they became aware, they were more mindful about what they were doing and more intentional about doing it. They also could feel better and think more positively about themselves and their jobs. These are things we haven't figured out how to measure objectively, but it's just what I was talking about concerning practice.

Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn wrote a wonderful book called The Miracle of Mindfulness, An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation, about cultivating a state of mindfulness in each and every task. He says, "Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality."

May you find your own miracles of mindfulness in the coming week as you practice becoming more aware of your activity, your energy, your posture during the day. Remember to ground periodically like we studied in class this week; put your feet squarely on the floor and take a deep breath, exhaling down into the earth through your feet and allowingrelaxation to flow upward through your body. I am loving this new energy work and the direction it's taking us and hope you do too!

There's been a lot of interest in the fasting/cleansing programs I've done. I'll address that next week!

Namaste

Practice

Ah, technology. I'm excited to be opening this line of communication with you, my friends and students, to explore further what we study, why we study it, how to deepen our practice and cultivate a lifestyle permeated with balance and wholeness. The range of topics include what's going on in class, anatomy, yogic philosophy and spirituality.

Practice. That's an important word. Practice is habit on a conscious level. We live by our habits, like how we approach getting up in the morning, attitudes we have about work, food and exercise, how we react to unexpected rudeness. Practice is recognizing those habits, identifying those that take us out of balance and wholeness, and consciously making a different choice that reflects our true values and priorities.

Yoga invites us to take a closer look at the habits and beliefs we maintain on mental, physical, emotional and spiritual levels. In the west we tend to have a view of yoga that is purely physical, but this is only a small part of it's vast offerings and potential. The ultimate aim of yoga is nothing less than transformation of the human being, uniting us with our higher Self, with what we understand as God and with each other.

We'll never run out of topics or fun things to think about and practice. Begin with gratitude for your life, your breath and this moment and you're practicing! Cultivate the conscious habits that will transform your life. Yoga is power in it's truest and most productive form; complete and total commitment to responsibility for the Self and what you bring to your day and your world. All it takes is practice.

Namaste