Did you notice what brings you pain or hwat brings you joy? If both naturally sprang up, where did you choose to rest your thoughts?
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
The other day I mentioned to my students the workshop I will be leading at Willow Street’s Takoma Park Studio on standing balance poses on May 8th. I received some responses that sounded basically like: “standing poses? But I am so bad at them.” “A great reason to go. You aren’t bad at them if you are present to your fullest whatever you are doing; you just find them more challenging than other poses. It can be great to work in those areas to try and reveal ease in being challenged,” was my basic reply.
In keeping with John Friend’s teaching that we come to the mat either to celebrate the fullness of our spirit or to remember its delight when we have forgotten, I think there are two basic reasons to come to a workshop. The first is going to one where we know it will concentrate on our favorite poses and practices. We know we will go a little deeper, discovery something new, and have an opportunity to relish our favorites for a solid period of time. Delightful!
The second reason is to challenge ourselves intentionally with poses that are difficult for us either physically or emotionally or both. For me, the mini-arm balances have always been the least accessible. They push my buttons in all sorts of ways. I found, though, that when I finally faced my fears and weaknesses and agreed to go to them and discover why for so many of my friends they are naturally joy-inspiring, bliss-exuding postures, my appreciation for the practice as a whole grew immensely. They still aren’t the “strongest” area of my practice, but because of that in some ways I know them better and can offer more when teaching when than when teaching the poses that I do with less concentrated effort.
I think we need to rest where it is delightful sometimes. Always going for the challenge can just give a sense that life is too hard and practice is not worth the effort. But intentionally studying and practicing from both perspectives is what gives us more ease and light in the full spectrum of being. Going to a full range of workshops, gives you both in a great way. I try to take workshops whenever I can. (Reminder for those in town: April’s Serenity Saturday at Capitol Hill Yoga is next Saturday, April 17th from 3-5–it’s a great way to get some yoga during Willow Street’s break week.)
It’s full of biting, stinging, and plant-munching beings. I mostly live and let live.
My favorite sutra in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra’s is, II.16, “heyam dukham anagatam.” This translates roughly as “the pain that is yet to come can be avoided.” What does this have to do with a forecast of a hard freeze?
My chard, beets, and turnip greens are still flourishing. They can manage with a night or two in a row in the high 20sF, and that is all we have had so far. The forecast for later in the week, though, is for the first true cold snap since 1994 (you may remember that as the year when lots of people’s pipes froze). My winter garden (which does not have a cold frame due to lack of space — maybe I’ll get more creative next year, and I’ll try an experiement with plastic bags on Thursday night) cannot survive lows in the low teens highs in the twenties.
I could suffer today by bemoaning the coming cold, worrying about the garden, and remembering that I don’t like cold. That would be present suffering in anticipation of potential future suffering. I certainly can avoid that. I can also do what I did yesterday, which was harvest lots of the chard and most of the beets, put the beets into cold storage (vegetable bin in the refrigerator) and make pasta with sauteed garlic and chard. Between now and Wednesday night, I’ll harvest most of the remaining greens. I’ll make a big vegetable soup with the beets and the chard, maybe make chard pie or calzones (truly delicious), and eat the rest over the following days. I’ll feel grateful that in the bitter cold, I can be eating fresh garden greens. I’ll be even more grateful that I can just shop at the grocery store or the farmers’ market and don’t need to rely on my garden feeding me year round. I’ll also be happy for the hard frost. Part of the reason the aphids and the mosquitoes have been so bad is the absence of a hard frost in winter.
Some bitter cold in winter in a temperate zone is inevitable, as are sickness and death. We can avoid suffering by not just getting anxious and unhappy and suffering in the present, but not taking action to alleviate potential suffering. With preparation and practice, we can avoid some suffering. Just has preparing for winter in the garden can allow it to be productive for greater parts of the year, so too, with a steady practice of asana, pranayama, and meditation we can avoid some physical and emotional pain and suffering. Most important, with steady preparation (preparing for the potential for difficulties in the future is not the same as being anxious about it), when the inevitable comes, we will likely suffer less, at least in our hearts, if not in our bodies.
Dear Friends,
Recent newsletters I have received from well-known yoga teachers, in addition to sharing their wonderful offerings and teachings about yoga, have included references to the Gulf Oil Spill, the on-going economic crisis, and the humanitarian tragedies in Chili and Haiti and elsewhere. The information is presented as showing what yoga can do to help us better serve those in need, seek change in ourselves and the world around us, and find our own light in the face of things we cannot change, but these teachers are no longer keeping quiet about the presence of serious turmoil and tragedy.
As one who has been outspoken (perhaps too much so) about such issues in the context of yoga, as those of you who follow my blog know, it seems that it is no longer possible to be silent. We are all familiar with adages, “silence is golden” and “silence speaks louder than words.” We are also invited, as yogis, to observe the four gates of speech to the best of our ability, on and off the mat: (1) is it truthful? (2) is it necessary? (3) is it the right time? and (4) is it said in a kind manner? These gates are important for evaluating individual utterances.
For the past couple of weeks, I have been thinking about turning the “four gates” on their head, turning them upside-down in the tantric tradition, and asking how they apply to silence. When we are silent on an issue, on something that moves us, on something in a relationship that is important to us, are we being true to ourselves to be silent? Are we being honest by saying nothing (for saying nothing is, indeed, saying something)? Is staying silent timely or is it truly timely to speak up (using the four gates as guidance on how to speak up?); is being silent kind–we’ve all done it ourselves or experienced cold or hostile silences?
For me, more than ever, it is no longer the time to be silent. We must speak for the light, for action, for aligning better with nature, for deepening community, for enhancing the subtle energies that will help us heal and grow and shift society. As long as we are not practicing true “renunciate” yoga–giving up family, friends, shelter, and creature comforts, but instead are practicing the yoga of those still engaged in “regular” life, then we need to become more and more sensitive to how we can joyously affirm life, but passionately engage in seeking change that makes the light more available to all, while still going about our daily business. This is a razor’s edge balance. It can be so difficult to live consistently with our ideals, to speak and act in truth and kindness for ourselves and others the ideal all of the time. Our yoga invites us to cultivate and celebrate our strengths, to affirm ourselves and then to expand. Expansion can be intensely challenging and sometimes as much painful as exhilerating, but I think it is worth it.
This summer, in classes, I will be inviting all to join me in the questions I am exploring for myself: what is my intention? How can manifesting my intention make life sweeter for myself and those around me?
Join me for both class offerings and a special workshop up at Willow Street. William Penn House classes continue with special pricing for public interest workers, students, seniors, and those with other challenges. A portion of the proceeds from every student goes to support William Penn House’s work.
At Willow Street, the Saturday morning class has changed: it is now a “Fusion Flow” from 8:45-10. What’s the difference between the flow class and Level 2? We’ve already been doing a slow flow, but there will be fewer breaks, and more time for silence (a timely, nurturing silence), for students to get into their own groove to work towards manifesting their intention. We will have music most times to bring in a stronger sense of the dance, but I will continue, as always, to emphasize healthy alignment for the class as a whole and be responsive to questions. Gentle/Therapeutics is at noon as usual. There’s a free class weekend up at Willow Street where I will be teaching both types of classes on July 17th in the Takoma Park studio and Gentle/Therapeutics in the Silver Spring Studio on Sunday July 18th. The summer session starts on July 24th. Those who sign up for a class and a workshop simultaneously, get a $20 discount. For more information or to register on-line, please visit www.willowstreetyoga.com.
Want a siesta-like retreat from the heat? Ready for some relaxation and self-nurture? Treat yourself to two blissful hours of restorative yoga poses for a sweet afternoon retreat without all the travel! All levels welcome at the: Summertime Restorative Extravaganza, Saturday, July 31, 2010, 2:30pm-4:30pm, Willow Street Yoga Center, Takoma Park. $35.
As always, feel free to email me with questions or comments or join me on the blog: www.rosegardenyoga.com. Just FYI, we’ve fixed the issues with subscribing to the blog. If you haven’t already, just hit subscribe on the home page, follow the instructions, and then get an email in your inbox the day after I’ve posted a new blog entry.
Hope you are all having a great start to your summer and look forward to seeing you soon.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
