Serene As A Fish
Being vacuous is the new luxury. Vacuous defined as, ‘empty, void, vacant.’ The modern inference is, lacking intelligence. But the truly vacuous state may be the most intelligent after all. When we are empty – are we not available for filling? When was the last time there was space to not do-YOU? When was it you were not multi-tasking, not be planning your next move in the middle of the present one? Can you pull up one vacuous-memory? When did you feel a new, unexpected possibility present itself because you had a wide space of nothingness? Can you feel the gift of silence as it hushed your landscape? More please. I used to swim, lost in oceans Seeking other wild, gentle things, With large eyes on either side That lived within. They were from other worlds Filling me with delight. Now, I am never lost And no one visits. Pose & Seasonal Energies Asana: Matsyasana-Fish Pose If you have a dicey neck, the full pose is not for you, begin with Fish prep. Lie on your back, either with knees bent- feet on the floor, or legs strongly extended. Inhale, lifting hips off floor, sliding palms under buttocks. With buttocks on back of the hands, pull forearms and elbows up close to ribs. Inhale, pressing forearms and elbows against floor, lift torso and head up. With a dicey neck, keep head off floor. Open the chest to the sky and breath. For the full pose, crown or back of head is on floor, hands come into Namaste mudra on chest, or can be extended overhead. Keep legs strong and chest lifted to minimize weight on head. Lengthen neck, don’t crunch it. If the back is strong, lift legs at 45 degree angle. Health Notes: This is a wonderful chest……
Sometimes When We Dance
A newcomer to class, observing a Shakti Yoga Dance for the first time, told me he was surprised at how strongly it affected him. He asked how I chose to put them together, why connect those particular Asanas? Surprised by the question I had to question, how do these dances grow out of the mat? What is it about their ritual that is satisfying to many. I was reminded of the writing in an old Breath, for it seems a very similar process. In 2005, I wrote, “Words are sacred because we choose them. Anytime conscious choice is involved, it is possible to make something sacred. ‘Sacred’ is defined as, ‘set apart or dedicated; consecrated by love or reverence. From Fr. sacre to consecrate; sacrer OF meaning ‘holy.’ The word ‘sacrifice’ comes in here as well. It is the act of making an offering to a deity, or making atonement; the giving up and, or creating something cherished. When choosing a particular word, we sacrifice all other words/possibilities for that one. “ When choreographing, as with writing, the more consciously we sacrifice the multitude of poses, or steps, or words for one or two ‘sacred’ well-thought out ones, the more holy they are. Does it not follow with everything in life that we ‘consecrate’ with love, time, and energy? The more we give up, the more refined our choices. Do our contributions not contain more of self? And is that not more holy? The next time we step onto the mat and put energy into a dance, or an Asana, or choose a particular song to sing, a poem to write, a person to kiss, consider it as ritual made sacred, one that honors you, and makes the choice more holy. You could have chosen to do a lot of other things, like take a……
Love & Loathing
Last week I wrote about ‘right relationship.’ This week, I un-expectedly return to that theme due to an article in the NY Times on 1/5/12, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Life,” by William J. Broad. It has gone viral in the Yoga community, and despite being well written, and informative, has created tremendous fear and negativity. It returns me to considerations of ‘right relationship.’ As a species, we long to destroy our gods as soon as we begin to worship them. Yoga is no exception. As gods go, Yoga is as great as anything else we choose to make a god, but the issue is anything that is all-consuming, anything and anyone we do not question, that which we make master/mistress of us-rules us. We cease to question, we become child like, assuming big-daddy, or master-momma will save us. Our dis-owned child within refuses to become an adult, a peer to/with our new god, and we allow ‘the fabulous guru’ to mastermind our life. Anytime we are that out of balance, we are ‘offered’ lessons. The teaching comes in bizarre, often insidious ways, making it difficult to understand what we truly need to incorporate, and learn. What is asking for balance? Being child-like does not mean giving up that lovely quality, for it offers wonderful gifts of joy and creativity. The lesson is forging a balanced polarity between inner child and parent. Being an adult means we grow into peership to, and with, our gods. Life is about learning to discriminate, then allowing partnerships to evolve from experience. In the very last line of a fear-filled, negative look at Yoga, William Broad wrote what could have been a wonderful opening salvo which was that Glen Black’s message is, “Asana is not a panacea or a cure-all. In fact if you……
Right Relationship
For some strange reason- the world decided to begin a new year in winter’s thickness, when natures turns in, and the north wind summons silence and long sleep. Perhaps winter’s slow and quiet offers needed space to review and consider how best to begin again? It takes fortitude, desire, and generosity to forgive and surrender the past, to liberate a new journey, to expand ‘right relationships.’ When young, we don’t think about these things. We jump in, shouting “Ole!” But older-wiser faces a New Year heavier with regrets, and lack of exuberance. The gift of older-wiser is consciousness has expanded to at least make different mistakes, to hopefully have fewer regrets from connecting to greater compassion and understanding. We come to see that being in ‘right relationship’ is coming into safe harbor after a storm. Right relationship is to steward ourselves with mastery and maturity and therefore stand more confidently from deep within. The compass we’re using guides us to share, rather than dominate, to allow long-held beliefs to morph, and float off when no longer viable. We walk our talk more and more, or perhaps we walk in the flow, able to listen to the watery nature of our bodies, relishing what we see about Self, and other, and honoring all the relationships we enter into, as though entering into sacred marriages. We perceive that our relationship with Self is reflected and danced in partnership, as well as friendships, groups, and society. We understand that the right relationship with our work is reflected in that of our relationship to abundance. We are growing the ability to be present to un-expected relationships, able to shape-shift and allow more generously than we ever thought possible. Our Practice in standing the mat is to grow a profound relationship to Yoga, that ‘Yoga’-……
Resurrection
At the revolutionary beginning of America, Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together now, or we shall most certainly hang separately.” In this Last Breath of 2011 I’ll echo Ben’s advice, ‘be your own best revolutionary.’ We must be the source of our inspiration, and our happiness. We can’t roll over hoping for our resurrection to simply happen. Time to not be the bystander, but to show up with a whole heart. How? Yoga is the art of being totally present. It gives touchstones of alignment, intention, and space to release old beliefs and emotions. It offers a multi-layered technique that brings enough safety for us to stand strong in the moment. When we inhale and exhale to the rhythm of our heart -we are freed to grow naked, porous, and intimate. In returning time and again to the Practice of being present, we relinquish old structures that offered false security. We love our security. It’s hard to pry sticky fingers off what and who kept us safe in the past. We cling to the sugar in life, to home, to the sweetness of known habits, and ritual. Nothing wrong in that until those well worn grooves become prisons, holding back the resurrection, the regeneration and revolution. If we cannot bring down our own inner dictators, suffocating our will to change, we cannot wend a way through this turbulent decade. A Yoga Practice gives us resolve to step out of old, comfy, well-worn by-standing slippers. We begin to see that our individual contributions are mandates of, and for the highest good. We don’t need to ‘roll away the stone’ to resurrect, it’s within this inhale and exhale. This breath grows the revolution for our resurrection. Seasonal Energies Astrology Notes: There is a great opportunity now, between the New Moon……
Last Breath
Posting the last Breathe of 2014, waving farewell to 12 months of living, leaning back before plunging in, time to ask, “What have I learned? What was the cost in life-energy? Was it energy well spent?” Dealing with these twisty times takes its toll. It teaches and refines our vocabulary. It offers un-expected solace, redemption, and gifts, along with the hard-scrabble lessons and loss. It is all about balance, the act of mitigating and refining the actions and point of view between: ambition and disappointment; memory and beginnings; rest and willfulness; honesty and charm; despair and anger; solitude and friendship; vulnerability and strength…to name a few. Before we can balance, we must see. We must be able to perceive without judgment exactly what is. If we see every wounding as a fatal flaw from which we cannot escape, then we cannot. We remain twisted, unable to straighten up and fly right. Our lives take place as our viewpoint dictates. Unfortunately, most of this view is buried deep within unconscious waters. It may be that some of the great work of the New Year is to clear away old POV’s. Releasing our contortions requires the gristle of honest appraisal, a dedicated daily bone-stacking of step by step forgiveness, and a robust heart for self-acceptance. Without these practices, despair immobilizes the body. Life energy is spent. Once we perceive the tortured twists and cracks, light enters. Leonard Cohen got that right! There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.