spring is here…practice being present

Old Door in Cortona Italy

It takes great discipline to practice the art of “being present.”  We are conditioned from the moment we wake, until we close our eyes and sleep, to being busy. When we come from that place, we are never really where we are, doing what we are doing, engaging fully in the moments of our lives. Some people don’t like to slow down. It scares them. It makes them notice their feelings and thoughts and wonder about their lives. Am I happy? What do I want?

Sit down and be still for a bit today. Notice your breathing. Notice your body breathing and your breath moving through your body. Just 5 minutes would be nice. Touch into your life that way and calm down a bit. You will nourish and replenish.

Reflect on times when you have felt really aware, present and relaxed. Noticing everything going on, within you and around you. As I reflect on my life these days, I look back at how raising my children were times where I felt very present and relaxed. Especially when they were very young. If we were at the park, or reading or eating together I loved experiencing through their filter, what the world was like. How new and fresh everything was. Long moments would pass and not much would happen. And it was truly satisfying. Very in the moment.

In the past few years I’m noticing that being present in nature gives me a great feeling of being present and open to possibilities. It sparks my creativity.  Being a city dweller I appreciate the culture and vibe of city life, yet being outside in nature or near water  is unbeatable for soothing our soul and calming our mind. It’s like gazing into a fire. We can all relate to the mesmerizing quality of gazing into a fire. It brings us home to ourselves.

Walking meditation is a wonderful way of cultivating being present . Try this. Now that Spring is here, go outside in nature as soon as time permits. Find a quiet place to walk. Walk slowly while being conscious of each step. The way your foot hits the ground. The way that feels. Just that. That is all you have to do. Just walk and notice. (and watch out for other people or things to bump into)

Best-

Yoga Jane

pratyahara-quieting the senses

Mandala outside the Uffizi in Florence Italy

As the fifth of the eight limbs of yoga, pratyahara occupies a central place. Some yogis include it among the outer aspects of yoga, others with the inner aspects. Both are correct, as pratyahara is the key between the outer and inner aspects of yoga; it shows us how to move from one to the other.

It is not possible to move from asana into meditation quickly. This would be like jumping from the body to the mind, forgetting what lies between. To make this transition, the breath and senses, which link the body and mind, must be brought under control. This is where pranayama and pratyahara come in. With pranayama we engage our vital energies and with pratyahara we gain mastery over our unruly senses — both quite helpful for successful meditation.

What is Pratyahara?
The term pratyahara is composed of two Sanskrit words, prati and ahara. Ahara means “food,” or “anything we take into ourselves from the outside.” Prati is a preposition meaning “against” or “away.” Pratyahara means literally “control of ahara,” or “gaining mastery over external influences.” It is compared to a turtle withdrawing its limbs into its shell — the turtle’s shell is the mind and the senses are the limbs. The term is usually translated as “withdrawal from the senses,” but it’s much more!

In yogic thought there are three levels of ahara, or food. The first is physical food that brings in the five elements necessary to nourish the body. The second is impressions, which bring in the subtle substances necessary to nourish the mind — the sensations of sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell. The third level of ahara is our associations, the people we hold at heart level who serve to nourish the soul and affect us with the gunas of sattva, rajas, and tamas.

Pratyahara is twofold. It involves withdrawal from wrong food, wrong impressions and wrong associations, while simultaneously opening up to right food, right impressions and right associations. We cannot control our mental impressions without right diet and right relationship, but pratyahara’s primary importance lies in control of sensory impressions which frees the mind to move within.

By withdrawing our awareness from negative impressions, pratyahara strengthens the mind’s powers of immunity. Just as a healthy body can resists toxins and pathogens, a healthy mind can ward off the negative sensory influences around it. If you are easily disturbed by the noise and turmoil of the environment around you, practice pratyahara. Without it, you will not be able to meditate.

There are four main forms of pratyahara: indriya-pratyahara — control of the senses; prana- pratyahara — control of prana; karma-pratyahara — control of action; and mano-pratyahara — withdrawal of mind from the senses. Each has its special methods.

Control of the Senses (Indriya-pratyahara)

Indriya-pratyahara, or control of the senses, is the most important form of pratyahara, although this is not something that we like to hear about in our mass media-oriented culture. Most of us suffer from sensory overload, the result of constant bombardment from television, radio, computers, newspapers, magazines, books — you name it. Our commercial society functions by stimulating our interest through the senses. We are constantly confronted with bright colors, loud noises and dramatic sensations. We have been raised on every sort of sensory indulgence; it is the main form of entertainment in our society.

The problem is that the senses, like untrained children, have their own will, which is largely instinctual in nature. They tell the mind what to do. If we don’t discipline them, they dominate us with their endless demands. We are so accustomed to ongoing sensory activity that we don’t know how to keep our minds quiet; we have become hostages of the world of the senses and its allurements. We run after what is appealing to the senses and forget the higher goals of life. For this reason, pratyahara is probably the most important limb of yoga for people today.

That old saying “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” applies to those of us who have not learned how to properly control our senses. Pratyahara gives us the tools to strengthen the spirit and reduce its dependency on the body. Such control is not suppression (which causes eventual revolt), but proper coordination and motivation. One way to develop this aspect is by practicing restorative yoga poses with guided pranayama. The intention is to allow our bodies, minds and spirit to rest from our over-stimulated lives and return to a place of balance and calm.

Peace,

Yoga Jane

no wine with my yoga please

Sunset in India

Okay so I realize that being sick with pneumonia for many days might be making me a little cranky,  but I just have to vent on the topic of why I believe that mixing yoga classes with a little wine or chocolate gathering afterwards is creepy.  I’m sure I’m breaking all sorts of “blogging” rules (the one where you aren’t supposed to blather on and on about your opinions) and possibly may offend a person or two in this writing. I also realize that on a scale of 1-10 me being sick is less than zero when we consider world disasters and earthquakes. But when you’ve been laying on the couch coughing, sneezing and feeling sorry for yourself for a couple of weeks then you get to have a moment like this…right?

For the past couple of years I’ve slowly been noticing that more and more studios and teachers are offering “Yoga and Wine,” or “Yoga, Wine and Chocolate.”  EEEEEEEK. Is nothing sacred? We live in a culture obsessed with getting high, being healthy, cool and beautiful all at the same time which is completely nuts. So why do we have to take something as healing, basic and simple as yoga and mix it up with booze and sugar…arghhh…

Humans need places and time to be quiet, aware, learn how to breathe and how to move with intention in their bodies. They also of course need time for play, laughter and socialization. Mixing yoga and wine drinking after yoga class just goofs up the boundaries in my opinion. If a group of people want to go to yoga and then go drink wine afterward…great..but over the years I’ve had several students recovering from drug or alcohol abuse in my classes, and know that they need a safe place to be practicing yoga, especially new to their recovery process. They need a place where the cultural calling to get high isn’t happening..and to me a yoga studio is a really sacred space that holds energy from class to class in a powerful way. The studio says…we just aren’t gonna be doing that stuff in here…there is a bar down the street.

It just really bugs me that yoga is now so exploited that it’s losing it’s ancient coolness, and it was never supposed to be cool but in our great capitalist society we find ways to make a buck like nowhere else in the world …for a long time now yoga has been morphed into weird little subculture groups and courses that take parts of yoga and mix it with parts of other types of exercises or workouts…argh! Everywhere now you see classes advertised called Yogalates or ButtKicking Power Yoga Flow or Core Ab Yoga or Yoga for the Abs or Yoga for Hard Bodies…come on people!

Hopefully like most trends in America..these new silly trends that make yoga seem silly will die off..and the old guard will still stand. Okay well I got it out..I guess it felt pretty good. Hopefully I didn’t offend too much. If you want to let me know your thoughts on it…that would be fun:) Comments are welcome! And no….yawn…I will not be watching the Oscars either…yawn.

Yoga Jane

balancing our strength practice

Hapuna State Beach Hawaii

Let’s try a “balancing/strengthening” practice today…..

Om Om Om

Sit on mat in a comfortable cross leg position-breathing and being present for 3-5 minutes

Roll forward to table pose and practice cat-cow breath flow several times, shift back into childs pose

From childs pose sit up on your legs in hero and practice side bending a few times, arms extending up side to side

Stand up and practice:

3 Sun Salutations series A-hold down dog 3 full ujai breaths each time
3 Sun Salutations series B (adding powerful pose and warrior 1 each time through vinyasa)

Triangle pose-hold several breaths

Revolved triangle pose-hold several breaths, release into the twist without forcing…

Stand in mountain feeling calm and centered for several full breaths

Balance and strengthen sequence:

Warrior 3

Warrior 2

Revolved Triangle

King Dancer Pose

Tree

Practice this sequence twice on each side, time permitting, stay present

Move to floor and practice bridge pose, 3 times  working toward ease

Practice wheel pose if ya dare….come on! you’ll feel great afterward….watch for over efforting

Knee to chest hug

Twist with bent knees-each side  held for 1 minute

Bada-konasana-2 minutes, soft tailbone and open chest breathing, let go through shoulders

Deep Relaxation (Savasana) 5-15 minutes in corpse pose, mindfully resting with unhurried breathing Om Om Om