december already?

I can't believe my last post was in October... what a busy month! As the holidays approach, please remember to set aside something for charities - to remember in gratitude for all we are given, and to help those who serve others. One of my favorites is Bridges to Community, a non-profit that provides housing, medical services, and education to the people of Central America. We (Bamboomoves Yoga studio) we will be traveling to Nicaragua in 2011 with Bridges to build a house for the less fortunate: http://www.firstgiving.com/bamboomoves

the power of meditation

Meditation is fun. Well, sort of. Most people sit down to "meditate" and get frustrated because all these thoughts keep running through their heads. After they sit for a while they say they "can't meditate" because of all the thoughts. Well...
As Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj explained (in his book I Am That), the natural tendency of the mind is to have thoughts. Swami Satchidananda says the same in his translation & commentary of the Yoga Sutras. Sri Satchidananda says clearing the mind is like throwing out the trash: you can't throw it all out at once, but you separate it first into piles and then clean out one by one. Our mind is like that too, and a yogic practice can be watching the mind, trying to bring in more positive thoughts, and dismissing or transforming the negative ones.
By taking the time to actually watch the thoughts, we are taking the first step towards yoga: we are becoming aware of them. As we "progress", we gain more control over the thoughts and start to filter, arrange, and master these fluctuations of the mind.

So if you're sitting down and frustrated by the thoughts, try not to worry. Many of the greatest yogis became so after years of practice. Those years started with just one day, and then the next day, and then another day, and before long it just became a habit. Like most worthwhile change, it will take time, but time is no excuse to avoid starting, today or any day.

dealing with injury

Last week I injured myself...again. I have a feeling it's not uncommon, but I've injured the same area several times over the past three years.
Unfortunately, since I'm usually focusing on the breath or deeply into my practice, I hardly notice anything is wrong until the next day when I can barely walk. However, I must say it is always a learning experience, and the great thing about injuries is that they slow you down and bring you to a place of deeper awareness and appreciation about your body.
A few of my tips:
- Don't fight it. The urge to push through an injury, or not take rest, may be strong, but it will only hurt your chances of recovery. Give your body the attention and care it needs and it will heal much faster.
- Seek out experts. I had to misalign my hip a few times before my chiropractor diagnosed it correctly. (Others had said a strained tendon, overuse of the hip, etc.) But using the care and expertise of chiropractic, acupuncture and other healing modalities, the injury has healed faster and my body is also able to better deal with the stress of injury.
- Learn from the injury. There is always a hidden message. I've had to slow my life down, pay more attention to the present, discover other types of yoga practice, become more compassionate and patient, and have developed increased awareness and appreciation for my body all because of injuries. I believe the more receptive we are to receiving this hidden message, the easier the time of recovery will be.

attached? I'm not attached!

Yoga is sometimes synonymous with the idea of "non-attachment," but finding daily ways to practice it can be not so easy. In older times, non-attachment was often part of the lifestyle chosen by yogis who gave up their worldly possessions and followed a life of monastic simplicity.

These days, we have jobs, families, and the things needed for us to fulfill our "dharma" or life path. So how do we stay non-attached? As Dharma Mittra says, we can have whatever we want, but not be attached to it. In other words, if those things or circumstances were gone, we would still be content.

Here's an example: Say I'm hoping for a raise at work. I may go into the meeting with my boss hoping for the best. If I were "attached" to the outcome, if I got the raise I would become smug and self-assured. Maybe I would think I was better than the other people or that I "deserved" the raise. If I didn't get the raise, I would be upset, perhaps angry or jealous of the others who did get a raise.

All these reactions are not yoga, because they disturb our peace of mind. If the person were not attached, they would accept the results of such meeting and then move on. The extra thoughts or feelings would not be created in their mind-body system.

When you think of it, in the case of attachment, our mental attitudes are dependent on the outcome. If we remain independent of whatever happens, we become the ones with control, and we become internally dependent. In essence, we stop looking for satisfaction and happiness in the outside world and find it in ourselves. Pretty cool, huh?

"Practice and all is coming" - Shri K. Pattabhi Jois

Last week there was one thing after another and I didn't fit in as much asana (physical practice/yoga postures) in as I would have liked. Fortunately, I was able to squeeze in a minimal amount of meditation and pranayama (breath control). But still, this week as I started to do my full practice (and at least complete my full "minimum" series), I could see why persistence is simply the biggest factor in all kinds of success.

We all know the story of the tortoise and the hare, but it can be so easy at times to think that just because this time all is going great it will always be that way going forward. I believe that with age we begin to realize that this type of thinking - the notion that we can "skip steps" - will lead to a bigger fall or setback quite soon. And this is why I believe the yogis also greatly emphasize "non-attachment" or in the words of Dharma Mittra, "Renounce the fruit of your actions." This way we can simply offer whatever happens up to a higher power, and we won't feel affected by the rise and fall of life as it takes place around us.

Can beginners do yoga?

A conception many people have of yoga is that it is only for the young and flexible. During my teacher training this past weekend, the teacher remarked that a popular yoga magazine was having difficulty finding cover models, apparently because they want to promote the very challenging poses as eye-catchers on the magazine. This also reminded me of a saying from Pattabhi Jois (passed down by his students) on the various series of Ashtanga Yoga: "First series - great benefit; second series - some benefit; advanced series - for demonstration only."

I believe that a qualified yoga teacher should be able to explain to students that yoga can and should be adapted to suit the needs of any student, regardless of their age or ability. Not only does yoga include practices such as pranayama (breathing) and meditation, that do not require a much physical prowess, but there are specific styles and types of classes (e.g. Restorative, Gentle, Chair Yoga) that apply the appropriate practices for a specific group or student.

Of course, it's still all yoga, and as they say, there are as many paths of yoga as there are people. So I say, find what works for you, seek the advice of someone you respect, and go with it. Some types of yoga may not be for everyone, but as David Swenson says, "it's for anyone!"

"Crude" - the story of oil in Ecuador

Last week I was fortunate to see two great movies relating to the environment and the food we eat. The first was Crude, which a lawsuite against Chevron for the large scale spillage and contamination of the Amazon in Ecuador when Chevron decided to drill.

In essence, the company dumped all their waste into nearby watersheds, contaminating the drinking water of thousands of residents. It also buried excesses by piling small amounts of dirt on top - later families that had homes on top found that their teenagers were dying of cancer. In one scene that stays in my mind, a baby was covered in a red rash. The nurse at the hospital said it was due to all the chemicals, and that eleven to fifteen out of every twenty babies had it. (Chevron has said that the deaths are due to poor sanitation.)

The amount of damage was shocking, but I wasn't shocked that we had never heard of these disasters - like many industry giants today, the oil industry has a lot of money and power behind it, so claims or lawsuits usually don't have a chance. In this case, a NY law firm was backing the indigenous tribes that were filing for damages. By the end of the film, an independent investigator judged that the damages were an estimated 37 billion; however, at this time the company is appealing the ruling.

For more information, please keep reading up on oil and check out the website: www.crudethemovie.com