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Devil in the Details (and jnanam bandaha)

ByElizabeth

The second sutra of the Siva Sutras is “jnanam bandhaha” (knowledge is bondage).  In the context of the Siva Sutras, this tells us that getting caught in trying to acquire knowledge of the manifest world and all of its infinite minutiae can lead us away from a sense of connection to a universal spirit.

We have the phrase in the work place that the “devil is in the details” both because getting caught up in the details can take us away of accomplishing a desired result and because the details need to be worked out to realize the result, and the details (not the theory) are the hard part.  At the societal level, for example, working out the details of a health care bill and how it will actually function seems to be preventing us, as a society, from offering health care to all.  On our yoga mats, we need to understand the details of physical alignment so that the practice strengthens and optimizes our health, rather than taking us physically and energetically out of alignment, but we do not want concentration on the details to take us away from heart and spirit.

The “devil may be in the details” but we cannot stop the details from being part of our existence.  As much as we need not to get so bogged down in the details that we have discord, distrust, unhappiness, and ineffectiveness, we also need to cultivate knowledge of the details.  As beings embodied in space and time in the manifest world, we need to cultivate knowledge so that we can recognize when the details are not in optimal alignment, so that we have sufficient knowledge, strength, intuition, and subtlety to be able to shift the details so that they lead towards good for ourselves individually and collectively.

What a devilish conundrum.

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    Square Dancing (and Spacial Awareness)

    ByElizabeth

    Last night, I hopped on the bus and went from Capitol Hill to Columbia Heights to go square dancing. I haven’t square danced since elementary school, when we had two week sessions every year from third through sixth grade (I doubt, somehow, that they are still teaching square dancing as a needed physical exercise these days). It was interesting how much of the kinesthetic memory was still there, but it would not have mattered if I had not remembered. There were a lot of beginners, and the emphasis was on enthusiasm and enjoyment, not on getting it exactly right.

    One thing that was noticeable about both the complete beginners and those who were very interested in demonstrating that they could do fancy variations was how little awareness there was of how those dancers related to the room as a whole or their squares. Even if there was some awareness of their partners, the beginners were to busy trying to figure out what to do at all to be able to think outside themselves or their partner, much less outside of their own square to the relationship of their square to those around them. Those that were eager to demonstrate their prowess took up as much space as they wanted to do their own dance, making it so that others had to move out of their way.

    The truly skilled and aware dancers fostered the fullness of the dance, mindful of their own technique, their relationship to their partners and squares, and how their square fit into the dance hall as a whole, thus optimizing the freedom of the flow of the dance for everyone.

    I think this dynamic in the dance reflects how we want to live as an individual within the fabric of being. If we are sluggish with ignorance, we will trod on others, when we could have a better relationship by making the time and effort to learn how to live more rightly and in alignment with the whole. When we just strive to show how great we are, heedless of how we impact other beings, we also disrupt the flow of being. To be truly engaged in the wondrous dance of being in a way that makes not only our own lives fuller, but enriches and enhances life around us, we must not only study and practice for ourselves and develop sensitivity and awareness in our intimate relationships and our relationships to our family and community, but also understand and act from a cognizance of the flow of life and energy outside our immediate world.

    Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

  • Happy Thanksgiving (and some self-massage techniques)

    ByElizabeth

    I wish you all a day in which you recognize and celebrate inner and outer abundance.  Show your body how grateful you are for taking you around in this life-time with a few minutes of self massage (and share with your friends and family).

    First, take care of your feet–those of you who are regulars know the routine (sorry no pictures).  Then, with reverence and gratitude for the practices, the earth for supporting you, and what and who brought you to the mat, come into balasana (child’s pose).

    In balasana — you can also do this sitting in a chair at a desk or table; just put your head down the way you did in elementary school — leaving your elbows and forehead resting on the floor or table, bend your elbows so that you can massage your upper back, neck, and head without having to use the muscles you are massaging to massage them.

    Try squeezing the back of your neck.

    Or finding some spots that would benefit from giving gentle pressure and motion.

    Massaging the scalp usually feels good.

    When you are done with the self-massage in child’s pose, come up to vertical to sit on your heels.  Then dig your fingers into your hair or the scalp and squeeze.  This will help get energy flowing and brighten your day.  (Be careful:  doing this too frequently might give you big hair.)

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    Serenity Saturday Today (at Capitol Hill Yoga)

    ByElizabeth

    If you are in town today and feeling the need for some R&R, please come join us at Capitol Hill Yoga (scroll down the page, past the Itsy Bitsy workshops, for SS info) today for this month’s Serenity Saturday.

    It has been a long work week, and yesterday I though that I’d like to be taking a two hour afternoon restorative workshop myself this weekend.  Last night I gave my self serenity Friday night (not so alliterative).

    I’d been feeling a bit testy, and my thoughts were starting to be somewhat all over the place.  I stepped back and thought about all that I’d put into my consciousness in the past couple of weeks: how many work telephone conferences and meetings in which I’d participated, how much the email and other computer communications, how many errands, movies I’d seen, parties I’d gone to, etc.

    Diagnosis:  overstimulated.  So instead of going out and getting more stimulated (which can be the immediate reaction to feeling like one wants to get away from work and errand thoughts), I stayed home, cleaned the house, and did a long combination restorative, recumbent, and forward bending practice.  This morning I woke up refreshed and newly receptive, ready to teach all day and share the yoga.

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    Yoga Darshana; Yoga Sadhana 

    ByElizabeth

    I took the day off from work today to attend an all-day teacher training with Cyndi Lee at Willow Street Yoga. Cyndi invited us to ask ourselves how our yoga teaching informs our practice and how our practice (and the reasons why we practice) informs our teaching? Worthy questions for ongoing contemplation.

     

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