Every Day Practice

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Routine as the Touchstone to Deepening your Practice

Home again from vacation.  The bags are unpacked, the laundry clean and put away, meals planned for the week, and all of us have returned to the routine of school and work.

Routine which may become monotonous, does provide a stable ground upon which to rest.  We know what is expected of us, and how best to manage our strength and energies within it.  Routine, which can sometimes lead to boredom, also provides an opportunity for renewal and deeper introspection.

Take for example the sun salutations.  We know the routine:

  • Tadasana
  • Utanasana
  • Adho Mukha Svanasana
  • Plank
  • Bhujhangasana/Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
  • Utanasana
  • Tadasana

As we breath and move from asana to asana we gain strength and clarity.  Each asana is a meditation in and of itself.  And yet each asana leads to the next asana, deepening the meditation.  As the flow becomes more and more familiar, we begin to deepen our practice and our understanding of ourselves.

Sure, there is room for boredom.  All the room your are willing to allow yourself.  As soon as you mentally jump ship (so to speak) the asanas no longer provide the foundation for the meditation, and become no more than an aerobic exercise.   The true gift of the sun salutation lies in its ability to link our breath, movement and mind into a heart opening practice.  One in which we put aside all of our “to-do” lists, and allow ourselves to experience a greater sense of well-being and connectedness.

And there is great room for enhancement and variation.  All the other asanas can be incorporated into the sun salutations.  Routine becomes enhanced, and yet grounded in a deeper practice.

So, as we return again to the routine of daily living, I find myself embracing my sun salutation practice as a touchstone for renewal and re-entry.  May it be so for you as well.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana

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Vacation – Being present in the rush to go

Vacation – that long awaited break from the routine.  Ahhhh.  You make the reservations, contact your friends and count the days. And then, there is that last minute scury to get out the door.  Clean, pack, dash off the last few emails and pay a couple of bills, take out the last load of laundry and stuff it in your bag.  And whoosh, you’re gone.

But the real question seems to me to be:  How do we preserve and integrate the best of vacation mentality into our daily lives?  How do we prevent ourselves from getting so revved up in the preparations, that we find ourselves at the departure gate stressed out and burned out?  How do we stayed focused and clear and present, even if there is something really amazing that is on the horizon?

Because that’s the thing, isn’t it?  It is up to all of us to find and embrace that vacation mentality in each and every moment of every day.  This is the teaching that every wisdom teacher has given us.

  • Be Present
  • Be Here Now
  • Grace is Yours
  • Breath in this Moment

And it is only through our presence that peace will come to us.  If I spend all my time getting ready to go, then I will miss what is beautiful in this moment.  If while I am on vacation, I am thinking and getting ready to go back to my daily life, then I will miss my vacation.

So, here I go, off to practice being present.  And to enjoy time spend with good friends I haven’t seen in a very long time.  And to find a couple of cool studios in which to practice.

Namaste

P.S.  If I am in adhomukhasvanasna and I am thinking ahead to bhujhangaasna, then am I really in adhomukhasvanasana?

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Spring Cleaning

Yesterday was a perfect Spring day. It was sunny, the skies were a soft light blue, and  it was almost warm.  I had time to spend with friends.  I got to work in the garden and I got to go romp in the woods on  my mountain bike with my son and husband.  What could be better?

And today, the first official day of Spring, the weather has turned gray and rainy.  Oh well, that’s okay, because it is a good reminder that it takes our bodies a while to adjust to the change in seasons.  In the winter we create insulation within our bodies, our pace slows and and our perspective turns inward.  As we move into Springtime, we need to begin a slow process of cleansing and opening ourselves to the brighter, longer and warmer days.  Slowly we deepen our yoga practice. Add more inversions to help clean out that winter gunk (sometimes sinus stuff).  Turn up the volume and intensity on our asanas, to create more heat within to help cleanse the toxins from our organs. You might even find yourself craving backbends, which are excellent for heart opening, literally an opening up to the sun and Spring.  And as for food, again, if you listen you will notice that your tastes are changing.  Lighter soups, fresh salads with arugula, teas with lemongrass and chamomile, such different desires than a month ago.  This is your body’s natural way of transitioning from winter to spring.

What I have been talking about here, is the body’s natural inclination to stay in harmony with the Seasons.  Yoga is one limb of the ancient healing arts of Ayurveda.  Ayurvedic Medicine helps us to understand the fundamental elements and energies within us, and how we can create optimal health for ourselves, through diet, yoga, meditation and other practices.   Yoga Journal recently published a fantastic introductory  article explaining the relationship between our doschas. the weaather and your yoga practice.  Check it out: http://www.yogajournal.com/health/1721.

So, enjoy your first days of Spring.  Honor your desire to go outside and play.  Amp up your practice and create inner warmth to start flushing out that winter sludge.  Begin transitioning your diet to lighter fare.  And, recognize that the urge to clean your house of accumulated junk, is also a manifestation of your natural rhythms and your body’s need to bring itself into harmony with the season.  But remember, you don’t have to do it all at once.

Happy Spring!

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Rain, Rain, Rain

I know I shouldn’t let the rain get to me, I mean in live in the Pacific Northwest afterall.  So, When I woke up at 4:30 this morning, and heard the rain, and heard that inner voice saying “bummer, not another day of rain,” I  decided that meditating on the drops of rain would be my practice for the day.

Can I listen to the rain – really listen?  I can I detect an individual dropout of the many?  How does the sound of the rain change?

The rain makes me want to stay inside.  Curl up.  Read a book.  Drink hot tea.  And sometimes, that is just what we need to do.  Take a break from the hectic-ness that is modern life.  It’s hard to do, but sometimes you just gotta give yourself a break.  If you can’t take a whole day off, well, then just take time to really appreciate that cup of hot tea.  Sit back, hold the cup in your hand, feel its warmth, breath in its scent.  Close your eyes, and sigh.  Let the world slip away and just be present with your breath.
Now that your tea is finished, take another deep breath, smile, and precede with your day.  Don’t worry, the time you took to stop and breath and sip your tea, did not set you back.  You will still get it all done, you will just be calmer and more focused.

Shalom & Namaste

Diana

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Computers & Sutras

I have spent several hours now creating this blog.  I ride the waves of enthusiasm and frustration, and I am reminded of Pantajli’s sutra – stirum sukham asanam – roughly translated to “find the balance of effort and relaxation in the pose.”    When I move slowly and compassionately in this process it allows me to rides the waves of frustration.  Yes, I do believe I am living my yoga beyond the mat.

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Hello world!

Blogging, I thought I would never be a blogger.  But after months of struggling with website design and modifications, and many hours of what felt like wasted time, here I am.

Day 1:    Set up Blog spout, choose theme, upload banner.

Wish me luck.

Namaste