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
Thursday, December 20, 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
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
Sunday, December 9, 2012
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
- 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
- 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
Sunday, November 18, 2012
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
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
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.
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.
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