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When Little Changes Can Be Big
This past Sunday I went to an afternoon workshop with Leslie Kaminoff. Though I was familiar with his book and I follow what he has to say about yoga anatomy on Facebook, I had not ever studied directly with him. Much was familiar, but–and this is why it is important for teachers to study– I did take home some thought-provoking nuances that will invite my own explorations in practice.
A sound bite that very much resonated, especially from the perspective of therapeutic practice and mindful embodiment is the notion that making small changes to things we do very frequently can have a big impact. For example, if all we do to optimize our practice is a minor alignment adjustment to how we stand in tadasana (standing “mountain” pose) or fold forward into and rise up from uttanasana (forward bend), we will make a huge difference in how our physical practice influences and helps day to day movement in our body because they are the most ubiquitous of poses in our modern asana classes.
Next time you’re looking for a bigger change in your health and embodied well-being, instead of looking at big changes and hard effort and feeling overwhelmed, see if there is a little alignment enhancement in a common posture (right now I’m thinking of how I sit in my desk chair) that might shift your everything.
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Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation
Message From a Teabag
This morning, a friend suggested that if he took into account the needs of others when making plans, all he would be doing is serving others, and he would never get to do what he wants. “Why would I want to do that?” he asked.
I think that’s a common enough question in this society. By uncanny coincidence, the teabag I selected right after the question was posed suggested a possible answer.
As we are taught by the stories of the monkey deity Hanuman, whose main characteristic is a longing for devotion that he demonstrates (while still being utterly himself) through service (seva) cultivating mindful relationship is the highest service to our own self and not just to those with whom we are in relationship.
To take care of our selves can be done with consideration of others without sacrificing our own needs. The answer, I think, is in how we assess and balance our own needs. For me, when I consider the impact of my planning on others with whom I am in relationship as well as my own needs, for example, of freedom, autonomy, and personal delight, I am also considering my needs for companionship, mutuality, connection, and respect. If I completely privilege the former, I may be neglecting the latter and vice versa.
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Found Exhortation
I do sometimes think that the universe is trying to tell me something.
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Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation
Advice from a Spammer (and Niralamba?)
“Write more, that’s all I have to say.” There were several more lines of text, but none so coherent or compelling as this.
Yes, spammer, I would like to be writing more imaginatively and more about the yoga here and elsewhere. I am fully occupied, though, with a technical writing of quite some magnitude if magnitude were to be measured only by the number of words and ideas included. With the social and substantive complexity relating to the project and how it fits within the fabric of creating the rules that govern our society, it is a creative in its own way, but it is more draining than inspiring.
The exercise involves many drafters who come from a wide range of perspectives, training and background, and who have different responsibilities and senses of responsibility. Most everyone is feeling stressed and under-supported in their own way and acting in the multifarious ways people act when that’s how they are experiencing things. I am struggling to stay compassionately present for myself and all who are engaged in the endeavor.
Reminding myself of reasons to be grateful always helps. The yoga and meditation practices, in addition to my creative pursuits, are at the top of the list. The practices are the only truly steady back up that I have. Perhaps that is true for everyone to a greater or lesser degree. The philosophies that inform the practices–whether renunciate or tantra–ultimately would not, I think, disagree.
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