Body, Mind, Spirit, Yes!

I was at a kirtan the other night, and someone led a Kundalini chant, from the words of Yogi Bhajan, "I have no body, I have no mind, I have no spirit, I'm just the breath of God, breath of life, breath of life, the breath of God."

While the tune was gorgeous, and I enjoyed singing along to the melody and creating harmony with the kirtan leader, I was thinking the whole time.... "but I do have a body, and I do have a mind, and of course I have a Spirit.....AND, I am the breath of God!"

As a student of Tantra, we learn a philosophical approach to yoga that the body and the mind are not problems to be avoided or transcended.  They are the way that Spirit (the One, Universal Consciousness, God or Goddess- whatever name works for you-) has chosen to manifest itself and experience all that life has to offer.  So God is choosing to BE you- to infuse itself into your body and mind.  It's a way for the Supreme Everything to experience anything at all.  Think about it, if you were everywhere and everything all at the same time, it would be hard to understand or enjoy any one small aspect of that vastness.  My teacher Jaye Martin describes it as if you took thousands of colors of paint and put them together in a bucket, it would turn almost black, and you wouldn't be able to see or enjoy any one particular color.

So, now I'm thinking about my body, and my mind.  And if they really are manifestations of God, if I am really here to be embodied Spirit, I really better get up and get out there into the world experiencing it.  I want to USE this body and mind to do good in the world.  To love people, and to encourage them to experience as much as they can in this lifetime, since who really knows if we'll ever have another experience like this again?  Each day is completely new- a new opportunity to sample what life has to offer.  Isn't that what this body is for?  For moving around through the world?  For seeing and hearing and tasting and hugging and helping?

And isn't that why I do
yoga in the first place?  To keep my body in tip top shape, so that I feel comfortable moving and reaching and climbing and working and playing?  So that I can cultivate my mind away from the chatter and into the moment?

This year, I will be using my body and mind to bring yoga to more and more people.  I'm working to establish a Yoga for Vets class at the Sarasota Vet Center.  I'm working with the Seva Yoga Program to bring yoga to other special populations, such as special needs children, abused women, and troubled teens.  By using our body and mind to do whatever it is that brings US joy in this life, we are uplifting everyone, and making the world a happier, more positive place.  How will you be using your body and mind in 2014?  Please leave a comment below.....

Raudra Rasa: the taste of anger

Indian philosophy has lots of numbered lists.  For example, there are 8 limbs of yoga, 5 koshas, 36 tattvas, 3 malas, 10 yamas and niyamas, so on and so forth.  I think this is because if something can be named and listed, it can begin to be understood.  One such example of a numbered list is the list of 9 rasas.  These are the 9 basic emotions that can be felt.  The word Rasa can also be translated to mean "flavor" or "taste," which suggests that all of these emotions should be tasted in order to enjoy the fullness of life.

One of the 9 rasas is called Raudra Rasa, and it is the emotion of anger.  Having 2 adolescent boys still living at home, you can imagine that I get my share of this particular rasa around the house!  The other day, one of the kids came home, frustrated about something that had happened during the day, and he was fully embracing the flavor of anger!

My husband and I were trying to console him, to get him to look on the bright side, to try to see what was good about the situation in an attempt to help him feel better.  But it wasn't working, our attempts were actually making him more frustrated.  Finally, he shouted out that he didn't want to feel better, he wanted to rant and complain, and just have us agree with him that sometimes life sucks.  He wanted to explore the Raudra Rasa.

So, why do I think this is cool?  In my experience, many people (including myself) spend a lot of energy trying to avoid negative emotions.  We shy away from the Raudra Rasa, the Karuna (sadness) Rasa, the Bhavanaka (fear) Rasa, and the Vibhatsa (disgust) Rasa, in favor of some of the more enjoyable tastes, like the Shringhara (love), Hasya (joy), Adbhuta (wonder), Shanta (peace), and Veera (courage) Rasas.  In cuisine, we sometimes avoid the sour and bitter tastes in favor of something sweet or salty!  But, just like those sour and bitter foods are good for us, it is also healthy to explore the more negative emotions or tastes.  That we can experience them at all indicates that they are a normal part of life.

We live in a world of opposites.  We have to experience pain to fully appreciate pleasure.  We have to know sadness to appreciate joy.  If we never knew anger, how would we understand contentment?

But I also think the key to living a pleasurable life is not to get stuck in any of the flavors.  Don't you know someone who is always angry, sad, and disgusted?  They're not much fun to be around, and they're probably not experiencing much wonder, joy, or peace.  On the flipside, a person who is nothing but love and unicorns and rainbows may not have a firm grip on reality, and also might not be all that interesting to be around.

I was impressed that my son was able to see that he was angry, see that he was choosing to remain angry, and he even said that expressing his frustration was the best way for him to get through it.  He said that without the opportunity to experience his anger, he would just repress it and ultimately feel even worse.  As a mom it's hard to not just want to make everything better, but I'm learning that when he's upset about something, one of the best things I can do for him is to empathize and let him express his feelings.  That's yogic!

How do you experience the rasas?  Feel free to comment below.

Breaking the Surface

I was having a conversation with a friend last week, and we were talking about how so many people just live life up on the surface, just going with the flow, dabbling in a little of this, a little of that, tasting from the flavors of life's smorgasbord.  It reminded me of a recent visit I made to a tapas restaurant- we got tiny little plates of food, just a sampling really, a bunch of tasty appetizers. And the thing about appetizers (even apparent in the name, really,) is that they are meant to be tantalizing, to stimulate your digestion, to prepare you for the meal to come.  So, after sitting at the table at the tapas restaurant, even after eating plate after tiny plate, we didn't feel satisfied, it felt like the meal never quite arrived.

Similarly, when we live a life of dabbling, of trying a little bit of this, exploring that, it's like we never get that feeling of satiation- the meal hasn't arrived.  We haven't gone below the surface to experience the wonders of the depths, whether that's the depth of learning about a subject extensively, the depth of emotion, or the depth of a relationship.  And why not?  What's so scary about going deep, that we are happier to stay up on the surface, just treading water, just marking time?

As a little girl, I remember learning to swim underwater.  It was scary to learn to hold my breath and submerge my head in the pool at the apartment complex where we lived.  But learning to swim below the surface opened up a whole world of fun for me, including "underwater tea parties" and breath-holding dare contests with my friends.  By learning to go deep, I learned a lot about myself, that I was capable of more than I thought, able to adapt and expand and grow.

In yoga, we sometimes talk about "going with the flow," or being in the "flow of life."  I picture myself floating above water, on my back, with the warm sunlight shining on my face, seeing the clear blue sky above, and not much else.  But, to roll onto my belly, and dive under the surface of the water, I can then swim in any direction, not just be carried by the current, and explore the underwater world.  There may be a myriad of plants, rocks, fish, and other unknown treasures to see and explore.  I can feel the water swishing through my hair, and see the bubbles of my escaping breath rising up toward the surface, even as I swim deeper to investigate.

I think that in order to live a "yogic" life, we have to be able to do both.  To sometimes surrender our will to the current of the Universe, and allow it to carry us along, but also to sometimes exert our free will to go deep- to direct our attention to the details, to question what and why and how, and to go as deep as we need to until our appetite is satiated.  We can choose what it is that we care to "yoke" or bind ourselves to, and then fully commit to this one thing, for a time, not to flit along from flower to flower like a bumblebee, but to make a deep commitment, and stick with it, no matter how scary or challenging it seems.  This is where I think real growth can occur, in the dark, scary places that we stay in through the discomfort, through the challenge, and then we emerge with a new understanding, a new skill, victorious and changed, becoming more of who we really, truly are.

So, come on in, the water's fine.  Let's have an underwater tea party, and learn about ourselves and each other.  I dare you!      

Ahimsa- non-violence

This week in my classes we've been talking about Ahimsa, one of the Yamas (restraints) from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.  Ahimsa (non-violence or non-harming,) is a restraint that is seemingly easy to comply with on a day-to-day basis.  We generally don't go around town hurting people, or doing random violent acts.  However, Ahimsa deserves a closer look.  We do things all the time that we know cause harm to ourselves, such as eating junk food, drinking alcohol, spending too much time at the computer, (I'm guilty!) or not exercising enough.  We subconsciously have negative thoughts running through our brains much of the time, directed toward other people, situations, or even toward ourselves, and these thoughts take their toll on us.  Repetitive thoughts create patterns in our brains, which, like a rut created in a dirt road by the repeated passage of vehicles, can be hard to get out of once we fall into them. How can we live a less violent, more yogic life?

I believe the first step is to become aware of these patterns, actions, and thoughts, and see what negative affects they have on us.  If I am constantly thinking that I am not a good person, that I'm unworthy of love or intimacy, or that I bring little value to the world, then my attention is focused in a negative place, and I am missing out on much of the joy of life.  I am creating a violent, unloving reality for myself, and for others around me.  When I notice that this is happening, that this is my current truth (Sat,) and I reconnect with Spirit, which is pure consciousness, (Cit) and choose to identify with my Ahimsic, non-violent nature, then I can change my thoughts to ones which are more harmonious and in alignment with Nature and Spirit.  That's when I'll get that "hit" of feeling that life is good, and feel the bliss and joy (Ananda) of living a yogic life.

Yoga is simply the invitation to align our thoughts and actions with the highest and best parts of ourselves in order to honor Spirit.  In order to take that action, we must first move out of a place of ignorance (Avidya) and identify those thoughts and actions that are not aligned with Ahimsa.

How can you practice Ahimsa on your yoga mat?  It's easy.  Notice what actions, positions, poses, etc. make you feel the best, and notice which ones cause discomfort or pain.  Make a point of doing poses that are nurturing to your body and spirit, in addition to the ones that challenge you and push you to your boundaries.  When practicing those challenging, difficult asanas, be sure to use good alignment principles to stay strong and integrated, so that you are not causing harm or injury to yourself.

Ahimsa off the mat is often more challenging.  Start by being the witness to your thoughts, words, and actions.  Look for the good in every person and situation, and consciously shift your thoughts toward ones that do not cause harm to yourself or others.  Do something nurturing for yourself (or for a loved one,) and see how great you feel.  You'll want to keep doing more!

Next week, Satya!  (Truthfulness.)
We are One,
Cheryl

Highway Enlightenment

I was driving up to the studio this morning, with my new "Yoga Revolution" CD playing in the car, listening to Krishna Das, Donna DeLory, and Peter Gabriel..... And all of a sudden, it hit me.  I was in my car, northbound on I-75, having my own particular experience, (actually I was thinking about the line from the old Popeye cartoons, "I yam what I yam," and thinking how yogic it was!) and whizzing by me at 75 mph were hundreds of other people, driving in their cars, on their way to their destinations, listening to their music and thinking their random thoughts.  And for a split second, I recognized myself in all those other people, not knowing even what they looked like, or anything about them.  I felt connected, plugged in, aligned with the planets.  I wondered if that was akin to a glimpse of enlightenment, and then I wondered if any of those other versions of me driving down the highway were having a similar experience.

I remembered Douglas Brooks saying something like, "Everything you have ever felt or experienced has been experienced or felt by someone else.  You are not unique."  So there we were on the highway, all slightly modifed versions of ourselves, travelling through our individual realities yet sharing similar experiences.  And in that moment, was someone else considering their spirituality at the same time as me, and if so, did that mean our realities had come to an intersection?  Were we travelling the same path? (as well as the same stretch of highway?)

And, just as these kinds of moments happen, it was over in a flash.  The CD switched to the next track, someone changed lanes, my exit was approaching, and that sweet glimpse of pure perfection was gone- I was back to the mundane world of the morning commute.  These precious moments are such a gift and a blessing, a reminder that we are not alone in our journey, and that even in the seemingly non-spiritual events of our lives we can remember who we truly are.

Namaste!

What is Kirtan?

Short answer? Call-and-response chanting, of course. Deep, meaningful, poetic answer?  Read on....

Kirtan is a celebration of life.  As many people walk the earth, as many animals, trees, and flowers, as many rocks, lakes, rivers, grains of sand, and stars in the sky- this is how many forms of the Divine are in existance.  It doesn't matter which forms we celebrate, because they are all perfectly complete in their Divinity.

When I'm with a person, and I look into their eyes, I see a sparkle, a shimmer, a spark of the Divine light that comes from the heart, and I remember that I'm seeing a reflection of God in another.  When I'm alone, in darkness and silence, and I close my eyes, I look inward to my heart and I feel the presence of the Divine.  I feel safe and joyful and loved, and I recognize that these feelings don't come from me, but from a bigger, Universal energy of which I am a small, but important part.  I feel the presence of God in my heart.

Some would have you believe that there is only one way to worship God- only one path to enlightenment or salvation.  But Kirtan is not a religion or a dogma- it is a celebration through sound of the many forms of the Divine.  It recognizes that we all vibrate together as manifestations of that Universal energy.  And as we chant the names of the Divine together, we raise our vibration and we return to that state of love, peace, and bliss, the state of freedom which is our true nature.

See you at kirtan,
Cheryl

Love rocks!

Love (verb) rocks (pl. noun)

I do love rocks, they are intriguing and beautiful and solid.  Small enough to fit in my hand, they are tactile and somehow comforting.  They hold a subtle vibration, storing the warmth from the sun which transfers through my hand to my heart.  Big enough to sit or climb upon, rocks make me feel so grounded, so connected to the Earth.  I feel as if all of my molecules align with that energy and all is right in the world.  Are rocks alive?  They are made of the same basic building blocks as plants and people, carbon and hydrogen, minerals and salts, etc. and their atoms vibrate in the same way as ours do- who is to say that every single thing in existance does not contain the energy of life?

Love (noun) rocks (verb)

Love is such a powerful force.  It has the capacity to change a life in an instant.  It gives us purpose, happiness, and creates well-being in our minds and bodies.  In love, we feel that all is right in the world.  Out of love, our hearts can feel crushed, dejected, worthless.  Love is everywhere around us, within us, all of the time, whether we are attuned to it or not.  What is that energy that makes sub-atomic particles vibrate?  Could it be love?  Could it be that the Universe pulsates out of it's own delight to experience love in so many different forms?  We can tap into that pulsation, that love, that delight at any time.  We don't have to be dependent on anyone else to provide love for us, because it is always there, ever abundant, all-encompassing.  And that TOTALLY rocks.