Anandamaya kosha- bliss body

Joy that is uncaused. Joy that is always within us as who we truly are.

Sense a smile below the surface of your skin and remember there is joy in all you do.

We touch into the bliss body for brief instances and experience deep peace. Time seems to pass quickly- we are absorbed in the ocean if consciousness.

Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. - Rumi

Vijanamaya kosha- wisdom body

"The vijanamaya kosha is the intelligence or wisdom body and refers to the reflective aspects of our consciousness when we experience a deeper insight into ourselves and the world. As the first three layers begin to syncopate in your yoga practice, a different feeling arises as your wisdom body comes alive. All of a sudden you are not just trying to survive or breathe in a pose, but a shift inside you occurs, as if the spirit of the pose starts to emerge. "
- Shiva Rea, Yoga Journal online

New Year's class

"Practice means to perform over and over again, in the face of all obstacles, some act of faith, of vision, of desire." Martha Graham

"The desire for freedom provides the motivation to undertake the arduous discipline of yoga. Yoga refers both to a process of discipline and its goal." Barbara Stoler Miller

"Think of discipline as the pathway of your spirit's/ Devotion, a priming of the ground of your essence,/ A daily, weekly, lifelong investigation and dedication/ Into the truth of your own soul's liberation." Denise Benitez

"It's the intensity of the longing for change that does the work. Strong aspiration not only motivates us to act, it also attracts help." Sally Kempton from Change for Good
Intention is the backbone of our practice
It adds sincerity and depth
Tapas- fire, burning enthusiasm

Resolve to make the most of this time

Golden thread meditation
Breathe up and down it
Circle slowly around it
Let your intuition guide you to a deep intention
Gather yourself around your intention
Your practice supports your intention

Today- Mary Oliver
Varanasi- Mary Oliver
Imagine a little fire- sincerity in your heart and keep it w you

Manomaya kosha- mind body

Related to your nervous system
How evenly distributed is the weight of your mindfulness between unpleasantness and pleasantness?

Do you see how we tend to contract around the difficult and the imperfect? Is that a conducive environment for the difficulty to be understood?

Mindfulness is not just the ability to focus on the mind,, but being aware if the quality of the mind. The climate of the mind

The bigger family of mindfulness includes joy. Your practice includes joy.

- ideas taken from Christina Feldman, Naropa October 2012

Tools for managing anxiety

Anxiety tools

Dance
Kick
Hops
Lift heels and drop them
Bring your awareness to feet and tailbone

Wrap yourself in blankets
Cover yourself or just your abdomen in savasana

You have all you need

Vigorous exercise followed by relaxation

A flowing yoga practice- movement within the postures
Talk to people you trust

No caffeine

Eat regular, small meals

Sand bags on the tops of thighs as you sit or lie in savasana

Lie on belly w hands under forehead and breath

Inhale through O shaped mouth, exhale out mouth

Walk and say "om namah sivaya"

Hip openers:
hands inside front leg
pigeon- slide everything to the side
fire log
cobblers pose
happy baby
side angle
triangle

Pranamaya kosha- breath body

"The system of yogic breathing exercises called pranayama is designed to increase and cultivate the quality of the pranic body. When you start to know where you are in your physical body through the alignment of the poses, you will have more freedom to explore the flow of your breath. By shifting to deep, slow, and rhythmic breathing in your yoga practice, you are becoming conscious of and affecting this second kosha. As you increase the amount of oxygen in your body, this pranic body starts to come alive. The coordination of your inhalation and exhalation with the movements of your physical body, as in the Sun Salutations, is one of the ways in which the physical body and breath body become synchronized with the mental body (concentration and awareness)."
- Shiva Rea, You are Here, Yoga Journal online article

Annamaya kosha- food body

"A human being is the Self encased in five wrappings like a Chinese puzzle, starting from the material body, the first "self" we are generally aware of, and progressing inward to the "bodies" of vitality (prana), mind, intuition, and finally joy.  Along with quantum leaps in awareness as one ascends these "levels of significance," the awareness of joy grows exponentially in intensity and duration until one is joy; it can never go away."
- Eknath Easwaran, The Upanishads p. 135

There are five koshas, or sheaths, that make up the body.  The outermost and most easily accessible is the annamaya kosha, or food sheath.  It is made up of the food we eat.  The Upanishads have long passages about how we are made of food from the earth.

"When I teach yoga or do my own practice, I start with a keen awareness of the first kosha- the body sensations- to make the more subtle layers of the self more accessible.  In other words, if you want to deepen your breath or affect your state of mind, you have to honor and pass through the gateway of the physical body."
- Shiva Rea, You are Here, Yoga Journal online article

Iswara Pranidhana- seeing the big picture, whole-hearted dedication to the Lord

This niyama is the pinnacle of all the niyamas.  It requires that we accept there is something bigger than us at work in our lives.

When we think we are the master controller of our lives we get caught up in our own personal drama.  We get frustrated when things don't go our way.

This niyama is related to "don't sweat the small stuff."

Take a wider view.  See the big picture.

Meditation is a profound way to touch into the vastness of life; it's a great way to feel your connection to all things.  "By setting aside enough time to get quiet and clear, we can begin to differentiate between the cluttered thoughts of our ordinary mind and the resonant intelligence that comes through as intuition.  Rather than trying to unravel the mystery, we start to embody the mystery of life"- Donna Farhi, from Yoga Mind, Body, and Spirit

Santosha- contentment

An underlying steadiness
A deep inner peace
A faith and a trust that things are as they should be
A letting go
A softening and an opening to what the present moment is

Swadhaya- self-study

Self-study comes in many forms (any activity that cultivates self-reflecion): parenting, playing an instrument, athletics, meditation, etc

Whatever the method, it's important to stay with it even when times are tough.  It's often when times are tough that we learn the most about ourselves.

Authentic self-study uncovers are addictions, weaknesses, etc.  We must accept all that we find without berating ourselves.  We train with the deep intention to know ourselves fully.  When we get close to these so-called negative characteristics we became able to see their roots.  "The degree to which we can do this for ourselves is the degree to which we will be tolerant of other people's weaknesses and flaws", Donna Farhi.

Tapas-burning enthusiasm, zeal, sincerity

"Charging all your actions with zeal and sincerity- whether serving family, the greater community, or yourself- transforms them into spiritual practice.  This concept applies to the formal practices as well.  When practicing asana, pranayama, or any of the other practices, the main benefit comes from embracing the deep spiritual intention." - Nischala Joy Devi, The Secret Power of Yoga, p. 213

Imagine there is a rolled towel across your hip points and you are folding over the top of it
Round your back like cat pose- a little bit in all the postures

Intensity, devotion, love, joy
Tapas comes from deep within and is fueled by positivity and love

Saucha: purity, living purely, "that and nothing else"


Saucha involves making choices about what you want and don't want in your life

"When we read books that elevate our consciousness, see movies that inspire, and associate with gentle people, we are feeding the mind in a way that nourishes our own peacefulness", Donna Farhi, from Yoga Mind, Body, and Spirit
Maintaining a cleanliness in mind, body, and environment that helps us experience life in a more direct way

Healthy food
Clean living space
Associate w gentle people
Inspiring books/ movies
Simplicity
Emotional lightness
Uncluttered mind
Uncluttered schedule
Simplify your days/ weeks
Do less in order to experience what you do more directly

Notice how you feel after eating a simple, healthful meal

Notice how you feel when your living space is clean and uncluttered

Notice how you look at life differently when your mind is more clear

Open some space on your calendar to allow for spontaneity and ease

Open some space in your calendar to allow for contemplation, meditation

Aparigraha- non-grasping

This yama is related to our ability to change and accept change.  Our ability to let things go.

Aparigraha is related to our ability to age gracefully.

What does it feel like give away some of your things to a neighbor who would enjoy them?

Can we let go of fixed attitudes and opinions?  Can we let go of our ideas about right and wrong?  Life is change, life is fluid.  Nothing stays the same.

Let your yoga practice be different each time.

Think bigger.  See the bigger picture.  There is always more to everything than we can see on the surface.

Brahmacharya- balancing our vital energies

Cultivate balance in your life

Do you spend too much time in front of the computer and not enough time outside?

Do you spend so much time working that you don't have time to eat healthfully?

Do you exercise so much that you are not spending good time with your family?

Do you waste your energy on things that are ultimately not important or not healthy?

Asteya- not stealing, generosity

Giving instead of taking
Abundance rather than lacking

Asteya is related to the common feeling of lack.  I am not good enough, I have not done enough, I don't have enough.  Can we instead cultivate a feeling of abundance?  We can ask ourselves, "How is this feeling of lack getting in the way of appreciating what I do have?"

Let your low/mid back be wide and soft.  Isometrically draw your legs up into your pelvis.  Don't steal from your back body to have a bigger pose in your front body; keep your back full.

"Be content with what you have.
Rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
The whole world belongs to you."
- Tao Te Ching #44 (Stephen Mitchell translation)

Satya- truthfullness

"Can you feel truth as a physical reaction to the energy that is present, long before the mind has captured the words?  Tears may fall spontaneously as your heart unfolds, ready to receive.  With energy and words that dim truth, do you experience a tightening in the body that releases a wash of fear and anxiety?  The heart rests when it is in Satya." - Nischala Joy Devi, The Secret Power of Yoga,  p.184

Notice how you exaggerate, embellish, or even just change the truth slightly when you speak.  The Buddha said enlightenment is freedom from residues.  We can think of residue as what is left behind when our speech is not truthful.  We worry about what we said, we wonder if our speech caused harm, we wonder if our lie will come back to bite us.  If we say what we believe to be true and keep it at that, we are cultivating harmony in our life.

"Is it true?  Is it kind?  Is it necessary?" -Sufi saying

"Most people will not remember what you said or what you did.  But they will remember how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou

Notice the truthfulness of your own thoughts.  Do you self-denigrate or self-aggrandize?  Do you follow story lines that are not true, therefore creating problems for yourself and others?

Ahimsa- compassion toward all beings

See the world as your self.
Have faith in the way things are.
Love the world as your self;
Then you can care for all things.
- Tao te Ching #13

Treat yourself as you would treat a friend
Notice your internal dialogue. Do you say things about yourself you would never say about a friend?

Treat the world as if it is living and breathing. Treat the world with a knowledge of interconnection; harming something else harms you.

Yamas and Niyamas

10 ethical precepts that allow us to be at peace w ourselves, our families, and our communities

Are we moving toward greater kindness, patience, or tolerance toward others?

Are we able to remain calm and centered, even when others around us become agitated or angry?

How we speak, how we treat others, and how we live are [more] subjective qualities and attributes we need to learn to recognize in ourselves as a testament to our own progress and as gauges of authenticity in our potential teachers.

Am I becoming the kind of person I would like to have as a friend?

From Yoga Mind, Body, and Spirit by Donna Farhi

8th Limb of Yoga- Samadhi
(enlightenment, absorbtion, liberation, steady mind)

"As a tethered bird grows tired of flying
About in vain to find a place of rest
And settles down at last on its own perch,
So the mind, tired of wandering about
Hither and thither, settles down at last
In the Self, dear one, to which it is bound."
- Chandogya Upanishad, Eknath Easwaran translation

Ideally everything we do, every yoga pose, comes from a settled place.

There is a part of us that's always settled.

All of the yoga practices create a sense of settling and it builds over time.

Liberation is freedom from residues. -Buddha

Samadhi is complete absorption; it is knowing that we are part of the great ocean of consciousness and feeling no separateness from it.

It is a steady mind.  A person with a steady mind is quiet inside.

In our yoga poses we establish steadiness first in our foundation- that part of us which is touching the ground.  Root down through your heels, press out through the base of your index fingers and thumbs.

7th Limb of Yoga- Dhyana
(meditation)

"The main tool is the practice of meditation.  It trains you to stay, it trains you to be gentle with yourself, it stabilizes your mind so that it can stay more and more, and it also gives you a method to work with the discursive thoughts, with the momentum that takes you away from the present.  So it's a simple instruction and learning how to do it with gentleness, spaciousness, light touch, and all of this, is what you train in" Pema Chodron, Getting Unstuck audio cds

"The tendency to struggle with ourselves is so strong" Pema Chodron

We come back to the breath with gentleness and warmth.  The breath becomes a support for what we are doing.

In meditation we are spending more and more time absorbed in the ocean of consciousness.  We slip into it effortlessly.

It can be difficult to know when absorption is happening, or has happened.  Two clues are your breath has become quieter, and time passes quickly.

6th Limb of Yoga- Dharana
(contemplation, concentration)

The final three limbs of yoga are not practices, but progressive states of consciousness.  In dharana, we spend some small amount of time absorbed in what we are doing.  We are briefly touching into the vast ocean of consciousness and experiencing absorption.  And then we return to the breath.  Over and back, over and back.

We each are like drops of water in the great ocean.  We struggle in life because we forget we are the vast ocean; we think we are separate- we think we are small.  In dharana, we are absorbed, however briefly, in the vast ocean.

An advanced yoga student is one who can stay with the breath.

5th Limb of Yoga- Pratyahara
(relaxation, or sense-withdrawl)

The most subtle of the three aspects of Hatha Yoga.

We relax back into our deepest self and rest there.

We relax back from the surface activity/tension in our minds.

Find an inner gaze, such as the flame of a candle at the third-eye point (center of the brow.)  As we learn to turn our attention inward and rest there, the mind is well-prepared for the deeper limbs of yoga.

4th Limb of Yoga- Prananyama
(refinement of breath/life force)

"Through the steady rhythm of inhalation and exhalation, the air and prana circulate within and between the physical and subtle bodies" p. 233

It is said there are three main energy channels in the body though which prana flows: ida, pingala, and shushumna nadi.  When the first two are balanced, latent energy can travel up through the central channel (shushumna), which leads to deeper states of consciousness.

Refinement of the breath creates an environment for meditation.  Meditation leads to deeper states of consciousness.

Together with asana and relaxation, pranayama is an essential component of Hatha yoga.

"With rhythmical breathing, we align and "comb" the energy; it becomes smoother, calmer, and more focused.  The focused energy then acts like a magnet, attracting like polarities to us" p.235

"Asana steadies the body; pranayama aligns the mental and emotional patterns.  We will then guide the senses through pratyahara, allowing us to focus and dive deep within" p.238

The yoga sutras say pranayama "lifts the veils covering the inner light". Our true selves are revealed as the prana in the body is enhanced/guided/refined.  Things have prana.  The ocean, for example, has a lot of prana.  Prana is life force.

quotes taken from The Secret Power of Yoga, by Nischala Joy Devi

3rd Limb of Yoga- Asana
(physical postures)

Practicing yoga asanas help us to balance the vital energies of the body; masculine/feminine, light/dark, sun/moon.

The yoga asanas were designed to be practiced with breath awareness and deep relaxation.  Without these other elements, the postures can cause injury and imbalance.

Each pose should be steady and sweet.  Effortless and comfortable.

Our physical and subtle bodies align as we link movement to breath and turn our focus inward.

"As the body finds its ease, the mind and emotions align with it" p 226

Yoga asanas prepare the body for the deeper limbs of yoga, including seated meditation.

"Rhythmical breathing coordinated with this movement releases blockages and allows energy to flow.  When it is flowing normally and rhythmically, the breath distributes energy through pathways, which encourage relaxation and the ability to stretch further." p 227

There are countless styles of yoga available to us in the West.  Take into account your own temperament and choose a style that will promote balance.

"As the practice is established, it affords flexibility of body, mind, and emotions.  With this comes balance and the yearning to be still and know yourself." p 229

(quotes taken from The Secret Power of Yoga, by Nischala Joy Devi)

2nd Limb of Yoga- Niyamas
(5 more ways to cultivate stability of mind in your daily life)


Saucha (the first niyama)- simplicity

Simple yoga sequence

Simple balance between too much and not enough in your yoga postures. Leave the dialogue at that.

Watch how you complicate your day, watch how you complicate your relationships.  "The blessings come when we can embrace simplicity, making our lives easier and more joyous" (The Secret Power of Yoga, by Nischala Joy Devi p. 209)

Simplify your food.  Saucha can also be defined as purity.  Eat real foods, simply and lovingly prepared.

Simplify your clothing: comfortable, natural.  Feel the difference when you dress comfortably.

Simplify your environment, the rooms in your house.  Donate things you don't use or need.  Get rid of the things that negatively affect your mood.

Simplify your inner dialogue. Letting go means dropping the story line.


Another aspect of saucha is the ability to be emotionally light. We tend to take situations and ourselves much too seriously.


How do you feel when you cultivate saucha in your daily life?

1st Limb of Yoga- Yamas
(5 ways to cultivate stability of mind in your daily life)


Ahimsa (the primary yama)- non violence, or compassion for all beings and things

Notice the aliveness of the floor, the mat. Step gently and carefully as if you didn't want to harm it.

Non violence on the level of action. Move through your practice, your day, as if you didn't want to harm the objects around you. Close the car door carefully. Walk gently on the ground.

Notice the state of your mind as you cultivate ahimsa.

Doubtlessness teaching

Not doubting your own capacity to open your heart and mind

Not doubting your own basic goodness

Not doubting your fundamental okay-ness in terms of being able to dispel your own darkness

- Pema Chodron
from the "Smile at Fear" audio cd's

Another reason we're able to successfully place our mind on the breath is that we have confidence in the reasons why we're meditating.  We do it with enthusiasm because we know it will bring us peace.  We see the futility of outside concerns, fantasies, thoughts, and emotions.  We're willing to give them up at least for the period of our meditation because we see the benefits of doing so.  Placement has become a reasonable thing to do.

- Turning The Mind Into An Ally by Sakyong Mipham
p. 118

Holding Your Seat teaching

Image is of a saddle

"Living with ourselves is like riding a fickle horse" - Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

But we can hold our seat.  We don't need to be thrown off the horse; the horse doesn't need to run away with us.

Staying present in present time

The message of holding your seat is "don't exaggerate".

Don't escalate.  Just stay on the dot with what's happening right now.

Synchronize body and mind.  Just keep coming back gently to the present.  Feel your heart.

- Pema Chodron
from the "Smile at Fear" audio cds

Reservoir of Trust teaching

You can trust that whatever you say or do, you'll get a response from the world.

Joy comes from realizing nothing is ever a dead end.

No feeling is final.  - Rilke

There will always be communication coming back to you.  The world will always be giving you the information you need to open.

You begin to feel that it's a very rich world; one that never runs out of messages.

A bank of richness.

A reservoir that never dries up.

There will always be communication from your world and you can always be learning how to go forward.

Trust in the richness of the world.

- Pema Chodron
from the cd collection "Smile at Fear"

Open Like the Sun teaching

Notice that you're closing, then open.
Notice that you're tightening, then lighten up.
Notice that your mind is judging, then let go.

Try to experience a place beyond solid mind.

The practice is like the sun because there are no exceptions; there is no time when you don't apply it.

Opening instead of closing.

How to do that?  That's your question.

- Pema Chodron
from the cd collection "Smile at Fear"

Mother's Day post
See 12/28/2011
Mary Oliver, Six Recognitions of the Lord, part 3

The Master doesn't try to be powerful;
Thus he is truly powerful.
The ordinary man keeps reaching for power;
Thus he never has enough.

The master does nothing,
Yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
Yet many more are left to be done.

Therefore the Master concerns himself
With the depths and not the surface,
With the fruit and not the flower.

He has no will of his own.
He dwells in reality,
And let's all illusions go.

- from the Tao te Ching, excerpt from stanza 38
Stephen Mitchell translation

It's as if we were poor, homeless, hungry, and cold, and although we didn't know it, right under the ground where we always slept was a pot of gold. That gold is bodhichitta. Our confusion and misery come from not knowing that the gold is right here and from always looking for it somewhere else. When we talk about joy, enlightenment, waking up, or awakening bodhichitta, all that means is that we know the gold is right here, and we realize that it's been here all along. - Pema Chodron from Start Where You Are, p.7

We can begin anything we do- start our day, eat a meal, or walk into a meeting- with the intention to be open, flexible, and kind. Then we can proceed with an inquisitive attitude. As my teacher Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche used to say, "Live your life as an experiment."

At the end of the activity, whether we feel we have succeeded or failed in our intention, we seal the act by thinking of others, of those who are succeeding and failing all over the world. We wish that anything we learned in our experiment could also benefit them.

- Pema Chodrom

from The Places That Scare You, p. 1-2

To reach someone through the heart is other than reaching them through words. Besides words, illusions, and arguments, the heart knows 10,000 ways to speak.

-Rumi

Internal busyness comes from the feeling of not having enough time. When you act with inner focus, it shifts you out of your time bind by anchoring you in the place where time is always enough.

As you make your effort, as you go about your daily tasks, the yoga lies in your intention to keep turning to the one who is not busy and to feel her steadiness, her detachment, and her freedom.

- Sally Kempton

from Yoga Journal, 11/2009

"Wild Geese"

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

- Mary Oliver

from the collection House of Light

"Turning"

Going too fast for myself I missed

more than I think I can remember

almost everything it seems sometimes

and yet there are chances that come back

that I did not notice when they stood

where I could have reached out and touched them

this morning the black shepherd dog

still young looking up and saying

Are you ready this time

- W.S. Merwin

from The New Yorker, 05/16/11

Still, what I want in my life

is to be willing

to be dazzled--

to cast aside the weight of facts

and maybe even

to float a little

above this difficult world.

I want to believe I am looking

into the white fire of a great mystery.

I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing--

that the light is everything-- that it is more than the sum

of each flawed blossom rising and fading. And I do.

- Mary Oliver

excerpt from The Ponds

from the collection House of Light

A man is rich in proportion to the amount of things which he can afford to let alone.

- Thoreau

The world's spiritual geniuses seem to discover universally that the mind's muddy river, this ceaseless flow of trivia and trash, cannot be dammed, and that trying to dam it is a waste of effort that might lead to madness. Instead you must allow the muddy river to flow unheeded in the dim channels of consciousness; you raise your sights; you look along it, mildly, acknowledging its presence without interest and gazing beyond it into the realm of the real where subjects and objects act and rest purely, without utterance. "Launch into the deep," says Jacques Ellul, "and you shall see."

- Annie Dillard

from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, p. 35

The Taoists call that person a master whose happiness is absolutely his own. He can be happy irrespective of the situation: young he is happy, old he is happy; as an emperor he is happy, as a beggar he is happy. His song is uncontaminated by circumstances; his song is his own, his song is his natural rhythm.

- Osho

from Tao: The Pathless Path, p. 64

And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.

- Rilke

In contemplation, we practice pointing ourselves in a particular direction and staying there for a while. When we hold our mind to something, it has no alternative but to get more familiar with that place.

- Sakyong Mipham

from Ruling Your World, p. 109-110