THUMBTOEARASANA (REDUX)

So, in class today I looked down to discover my feet were embedded with garden dirt.  I had worn my flip flops out to stomp around in the damp earth before class and didn't think to wash my feet before leaving the house.  Embarrassed!

Then it reminded me of this post, also an embarrassing moment in class.  I wrote this last year for my other blog, My View From Here, and Karen posted it at that time it on her website I think, or Facebook page, but if you didn't see it I thought I'd post it here again -- just to make you all feel better.

Some days I feel like the class clown!

Namaste...donnajurene
Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

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I recently got a nice little "Thank You" email from the Yoga studio where I practice, congratulating me on my anniversary with them.  I'm not sure which anniversary this is, but I'm guessing I've been going there fairly regularly for about 3 years.  Time is weird though; it could be 4...or 5?

Anyway, Yoga has become a regular part of my life.  I love it.  At least the Yoga I do at that studio with my favorite teachers.  It is a nice combination of ease and challenge, which is as it should be.  We move from one posture (asana) to the next in an easy transition that is slow and well-defined.  We hold some poses longer than others.  Sometimes we do a Kudalini-style where we more more quickly.  Sometimes there is a "flow", as in doing Sun Salutations, which takes one from standing to stomach and back to standing through various flowing movements. 

Yoga for me is a meditation.  I don't think too much about the "exercise" aspect of it, which I think is a very unfortunate Western definition of the practice.  It is not meant to be a "butt-blaster" routine... although who doesn't want that pert little "yoga butt"???

I say a silent mantra before stepping on my mat, making a commitment to mindfulness for the next hour and fifteen minutes.  I pay attention to my breathing, my thoughts, my body.  I try not to compete with the other students.  I try to find my "edge" -- that sweet spot where optimum effort is expended, but there is no undue stress or strain and certainly no pain.  I try to be aware of alignment. 

Sometimes I watch a brand new student and recall my first tries at Yoga.  I HATED IT!  I was in terrible shape and had no muscle strength and poor balance.  I was overweight and hated my body.  Yoga, I thought, was for the skinny, "jock" girls with no boobs and unnaturally flexible joints.  In fact, they probably had some congenital defect which allowed them to move into those pretzel-y shapes that no normal human could possibly attain.  Any pose that required me to put any weight at all on my arms or wrists ended in collapse.  And shame.  And anger.

And then, at a retreat with my long-time women's group, one of my 'sisters' led us in an early morning Yoga routine that was actually do-able!  She was funny and encouraging, plus I already loved and trusted her,  and was surrounded by other women who knew my deepest vulnerabilities already, so what did I have to lose?  And giving up all that Ego allowed me to just be with what was.  What was, was fun!  And I wanted more.

So that's when I joined the aforementioned Yoga studio.  Now, occasionally, I feel really competent.  Whoa!  Look at me!  I know how to do this and I do it well!  Oh, yeah, easy breezy!  Downward dog, cobra, eagle, pigeon -- I OWN those poses!  (Sort of...)

So, the other day I was doing some sort of twist (my favorite!) and reaching one arm overhead or ... I don't know... something...and realized when I went to move out of the pose that my thumb ring had become entwined with my fancy loopy earring and I was attached, thumb to earlobe, and could not untangle myself!

I had a moment of panic as I tried hard to disengage ring and earring, surreptitiously of course, and finally had to yank on my earring (bending it in the process) while simultaneously trying to remove my  ring, which seemed to be stuck on my fat thumb and would not budge, but by then I was ready to rip my thumb off if need be....

Finally it all just fell away; the earring lay in a bent mess on the floor, along with my thumb ring, still entwined.  And I moved on to sphinx pose, glancing around to see if anyone had witnessed my plight.  It didn't seem so...and then, suddenly, I just started giggling.

Thank you, Ego, for the smack down, this time appropriately.  Yoga is a practice of acceptance and I accept that sometimes I'm a Yoga-dork, even when I think I'm "all that". 

At least, that's the view from here... ©

DITCHING CLASS

I committed a transgression this week.  I blew off Yoga class to go thrift store shopping.  I fully intended to go to Yoga; really, I did!  I met a friend for an early breakfast, as we do just about every week.  Typically, we talk and laugh for about an hour and a half, then she heads to her office and I to Yoga practice.  But something took hold of me on Tuesday on the corner of Wall and Rucker and instead of turning right toward Snohomish, I turned left toward south Everett.

I had been looking the day before for a cheap little table.  I have the beginnings of a Meditation Garden tucked into the corner of my yard under a huge old fir tree.  I already have a Buddha statue there, just waiting for a couple of chairs and a little table for a pot of flowers or my tea cup.  I was gripped by the sudden urgent need to find that table now!

Plus, I was hyped up on maybe too much caffeine (two cups instead of my usual one) and I'd forgotten my Yoga mat at home, so I'd have to use a studio mat.  And it was only Tuesday…I had all the rest of the week to go to Yoga…. yadda, yadda, yadda.

Isn't it funny how the mind will pull out all the stops sometimes to pull us off course?  I'm still struggling a little with the guilt of giving in to the temptation to shop rather than practice.  I can hear Karen's occasional "missed class" admonishments about forgiving illness or travel…but not sloth.  Oh dear.

Well, the good news is I found the perfect little table at Value Village and I put a coat of chalk paint on it and it looks fab!  I also found a couple of comfy, rather straight-backed, perfect-for- meditation-lawn chairs on sale at Fred Meyer.  Yay!

I spent much of the rest of the afternoon stooped into a Forward Bend, occasionally a Downward Facing Dog, very often a Drafting Table, with much contemplation in Prayer Squat as I pulled weeds amongst the perennials.  In the evening I joined my Red Dragon maple in Tree Pose, in a pranayama practice of perfectly synchronized O2 and CO2 exchange; at one with nature.

So, I'm reminded again that guilt is a useless time-waster and is only the pastime of a judging mind thrashing about for something to criticize.  Hey, Mind!  Guess what?  Yoga is everywhere, all the time, even in the beauty of a battered table made new, the creation of a place of refuge, bowing to the bees and butterflies along a flowering garden path.

The practice doesn't begin or end at the studio door.  But  the studio does enliven and motivate and teach us how to mindfully take the practice out into the world.  For that I'm grateful.  For that I come back to practice, over and over and over. ©

Namaste....donnajurene

A GREAT YOGI PASSES

For many in the West, Yoga is merely a form of exercise, another way to get in shape.  Yet the practice of Yoga has many facets (those 8 Limbs) and is an ancient spiritual practice that goes far beyond a work-out.

The Yogi credited with bringing this practice to the West, in the 1950's, was BKS Iyengar.  He died this week at the age of 96.  He credits Yoga for his longevity, but finally his bodily form succumbed to kidney failure.

His style of Yoga has always been somewhat intimidating to me…I've seen videos of teachers of Iyengar Yoga perfecting student alignment with what appeared to be strict adherence to form accompanied by all manner of props and pulleys.  

Yet, his use of props to help with alignment is what has allowed many of us to practice at all.  How many would have given up without the support of a strap or a block or a blanket at times?  And I do agree with the philosophy of "getting it right"…or as close to right as possible.  I try to align my body in asana to the best of my current abilities and have seen progress over the years as I get stronger and more flexible, so that the "best of my ability" is expanding in definition.

I thought of this in class yesterday when our practice included 27 breaths of holding Boat Pose and Plank Pose (OK..no one quite got that far), of twists in Pigeon Pose that I could only hint at as my body stopped turning and my arm and leg were miles apart instead of happily entwined.  BKS Iyengar taught to keep a quiet mind as we practice….but my mind was chatting away, I tell ya, and not saying nice things to me.  

Then…again…I took a deep breath and, to honor his teachings, I became quiet in my mind, focusing on the beautiful cello music playing, holding and reaching to the best of my own ability, grateful and aware that whatever I was able to do were lightyears beyond what I was doing 10 years ago when eating bowls full of ice cream while watching TV was my main spiritual practice.

Born poor, Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja was not expected to live past 20 as he suffered through a childhood of illness: malaria, typhoid, tuberculosis, and influenza.  Yet, he went on to become renowned the world over and to live nearly 100 years.  This week he is mourned by those who studied with him and were influenced by him.

Perhaps this advice is among his best:  "Live happily and die majestically."  May it be so for us all. ©

Namaste,  donnajurene

Photo Credit: Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

"There's no place like home…."  Dorothy (of the Wizard of Oz) and I agree.   I've just returned from a trip to Alaska -- my first visit there and my first cruise, as well.   There was a lot I liked about the adventure, if you can call a luxury cruise liner an "adventure".  Yet, after about the third day out, I felt the pull of home.  And we still had to finish the cruise and do the Denali tour portion of the 11-day trip before I could head back to Washington.

So, I did what I do whenever I start to feel antsy or anxious -- when the pull of home got too strong, I got quiet, closed my eyes for a few moments, practiced breathing slowly and steadily and got very present in the moment -- not looking back, not looking forward, just being in that sweet silent space of "now".  Then I whined a little bit to my husband about how much I hate traveling.  Oh well….nice try.

Actually the trip was quite nice; we had perfect weather and saw some beautiful scenery.  We were traveling with friends and there was much laughter and have many stories we will share as we reminisce over the years to come.  And I'm still happy to be home, even if I seem to be a bit disoriented during my re-entry.

This morning I was back at the studio for the first time in two weeks.  I hopped out of my car and made a beeline for the door, only realizing when I was stashing my shoes that I'd left my mat in the backseat.  Hmmm…   Once class started I also realized that good intentions on the cruise didn't translate into actually going to any of the 7:00 a.m. Yoga classes they offered.  I felt stiff and out of practice.  "Take it slow", I told myself.  And I did.  Karen talked a lot today about riding the wave of the breath, riding the wave of the asanas.  My waves today were small and gentle, lapping at the shore as I carefully made my way back into the flow.

I thought a lot about "home" too and what home represents to me.  It's a place of safety, sanctuary, warmth, and comfort.  Just like our resting poses.  I wondered if others have a pose that is "home" to them.  Is there a pose where you feel like you could stay there forever?  Like you've come "home" to that place of refuge from the edge, from stimulation and challenge?  I know mine…it's Balasana -- Child's Pose.  My knees bent beneath me, supporting my body, arms stretched over my bowed head, my face against the familiar soft "ground" of my brown mat (the color chosen as that of the earth, to ground me in my practice).  I love relaxing into that "home" pose, safe and content.

It was great to be back in class today, seeing familiar faces, moving through familiar asanas -- even if I need to modify and go more slowly for awhile.   We stretch, we move, we flow out and flow back again, exploring and experiencing…but always coming back home. ©

Namaste....donnajurene