GURU PURNIMA....A DAY OF RECOGNITION FOR OUR TEACHERS

Today is Guru Purnima -- a day to give thanks to our teachers (gurus).  Many of my Hindu- and Buddhist-leaning friends used the occasion to post thanks on Facebook to those who have been instrumental in their ongoing explorations of life and practice.  What a lovely tradition!

I thought of my own life and of those who have been instrumental in setting me on my path:

My strong and courageous supervisor, Julie, in Chicago who introduced me to feminism 42 years ago and encouraged me to move beyond what I ever thought possible in my life, sharing her experiences and providing me with a role model for education, activism, and perseverance.

The founders of two personal growth groups for women, Char of "Woman Within" and ALisa, Jude, and Sarah of "Women in Power" who supported me, and scores of others, in delving into the wounded places in our souls and finding healing, grace, and power to move through the hurt to a place of strength and intention -- with a toolbox full of practical modalities for ongoing self-awareness and growth.

Two journalists/teachers, Mary Ann and Fred, in classes at the UW Non-Fiction Writers Program who told me I could write and encouraged me to keep at it.

Poet, Jack, who said everyone has a story to tell in the form of a 3-minute poetry performance and led me to my first Open Mic.

My meditation teacher, Bruce, who taught me mantra meditation and that the present moment is infinite.

Bhakti teachers Jai and Gina who inspired me on the path of devotional chant and whose wisdom, humor, compassion, and humility are ever an example for how to be in the world.

Karen, my Yoga guru and role model for joyful and abundant living at every age.

My women friends who show me every day the healing balm that comes with deep sharing, mutual support, and uproarious laughter.

Also....my husband and sons,  daughter-in-law, and grandchildren for teaching me the depth of my capacity for love, patience, and forgiveness.

I am blessed with so many gurus, so many who have in the past, and continue in the present, to challenge and support me to lean into greater physical and emotional health and wisdom.

Who are your gurus?  Now would be a good time to reflect and say... ©

Namaste,  donnajurene

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YOGA IS FOR KIDS

I went to a Yoga class Sunday afternoon with dogs, bunnies, lions, giraffes, elephants, cats, cows, butterflies, snakes....

Nope.  Not at the zoo.  It was right in the familiar confines of Yoga Circle Studio.  Meg led a fun and silly and altogether wonderful class for children and their adult companions.  I took my nearly six-year-old granddaughter.  There was a mom there with her four-year-old daughter too.  Yep.  Just the four of us.  I think class attendance suffered from "sunny skies syndrome".  Hopefully others will flock to the next one, on August 9th, because it was really special and fun!

I had tried once before to take my little Yoga Buddy to a yoga class, the Mothers Day when I got my whole family to go with me to a special "Family Yoga" workshop.  My granddaughter was only 2-1/2 then and spent most of the time removing the bolsters from the shelves and building forts.

This time she was more familiar with yoga and Meg used the perfect imagery to engage the young girls -- all those animal poses with funny noises and asking us to imagine ourselves as each creature.  We had a snack break half-way through class (there was much discernment over which of the dried fruits in the bowl of trail mix were favorites) and another break to "get the wiggles out" that was meant to be a dance with a "freeze in your favorite yoga pose" moment when the music suddenly was turned off (a la musical chairs), but which ended up being permission for the girls to run a race from one end of the studio to the other, back and forth, several times -- no dancing, just running, but with the "freeze" pose tagged onto the race, thankfully!

I had to remind my companion a few times to "listen to the teacher"; "watch your teacher".  She wasn't distracted so much as just wanting to do things her way.  I guess she was merely "modifying" her poses, but with each one she seemed compelled to hold her pretty pink block (whether needed or not) and create her own version of the pose.  I smiled, but was a bit irritated at her independence in this regard.  I also felt her alignment could have been better; these poses are done a certain way for maximum benefit, after all!

Lest you think me a drill-sergeant grandma, I'm not!  I recognized my own rigidity and self-judgment immediately.  I recognized how I strive so hard to follow the example of my teachers at all times and not deviate much; to "get it right"; to concentrate on proper alignment.   I laughed at myself and made a conscious decision that unless my companion was being disruptive and inappropriate in her behavior, I would just let her be.  Let her have fun.  I would smile encouragingly and not scowl with disapproval.   Of course!

Which is good advice for myself as well.  I am rarely disruptive and inappropriate, but I am often obsessed with "getting it right" in Yoga and in Life.  I could take a lesson from my granddaughter:
Run with abandon. Ask questions when I'm unsure.  Watch, listen, learn -- then be creative.  Laugh a lot.  Share my snacks (savoring the dried pineapple chunks!)  And no scowling!

We ended the class with a legs up the wall savasana, where we were admonished to remain very still, as if Queen Elsa had walked into the room and we had all became frozen.  (Those little girls immediately stilled and remained so, being well-familiar with the story!)   My companion said that was her favorite part.

We took pictures after class.   My Yoga Buddy posed up on the raised teacher platform in a modified eagle pose and also doing side-stretches with Meg.  She asks to see them every time we have been together since.  She was proud of knowing the closing Sanskrit song: lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA3ZZOvd7yo having learned it in preschool, where a classmate's mom comes to teach yoga to the kids on occasion.

It feels sweet for this grandma to share my passion for yoga with my granddaughter.  It was also sweet to share a post-class Lemon Bar at the Snohomish 1st & Union Bakery.  We both seem to have a love of "special treats", as well as yoga.  Can't wait to do it all again soon....and for years to come. ©

Namaste,  donnajurene

Photo Credit:  monicaroa©123RF

FIFTY SHADES OF YOGA

Well, all-righty then.  Last week we had a small class on Thursday morning.  I got there a tad late and didn't hear who said something (a request?) that prompted Karen to muse that "going to the wall" would be a good idea, but I sort of wanted to thrash whoever it was.  Going to the wall filled me with dread.

Have you done the wall yet?  You know, that lovely stained wood wall with the silver metal hooks?  You've looked at it, no doubt, and wondered...."Hmmm...wonder what that's for?"  Maybe you even noticed the long fiber woven straps hanging at the end of the wall.

Well, "going to the wall" means using the wall for support -- a good thing for those tricky balancing poses -- Tree or Half Moon.

It also means grabbing a couple of those long straps, attaching them to the appropriate hook level and adjusting them to fit around your arm, waist, hips...whatever.  You are literally strapped to the wall and the idea is to surrender to gravity; to trust the strap to hold you in a pose that you would normally do without the aid of a strap.  The theory is that you can relax your body into a fuller posture, not worrying about falling over or losing balance.  Some muscles get to rest while others stretch.  In theory.

But what often happens is we come face to face with our fears of letting go.  I found myself wondering:  Did I adjust the strap tightly enough?  Did the person who installed the hooks drill deeply enough for them to hold?  Does our teacher really think these postures are safe and beneficial?  My arm seems to be doing a Gumby-like stretchy thing!  Whoa!  Is that normal???

I found I was tentative at first.  Holding back.  Being safe.  But gradually I allowed myself to relax more, and then a bit more, into each pose until I felt the relief of a good long stretch.  I felt the joy of a wide Warrior stance, a deepening Forward Bend, a Downward Dog with no stress on the wrists as the strap pulled at my hips holding me tight.  I was even almost relaxed enough to do a backbend beyond what I would normally attempt, but not quite.  Safe word:  "Nope!"

What I discovered about the wall -- and me -- is that it's about trust.  Trusting the wall, the hooks, the straps, and my own sense of "more" and "enough".   When Karen said to "love the wall" and "trust the strap" I realized that over time I really did.  To a point...that point being a full backbend for me.

As with everything in Yoga, we bring our whole selves to the practice and that wholeness expands as we allow our experience to expand us into a new way of being.  My new way of being is next time when I hear "let's go to the wall" I'll have less dread and more sense of adventure.  And I'll know, as always, that I'm in charge!©

Namaste, donnajurene

Photo Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/476044623086631005/

LIGHTEN YOUR LIVER!

"Lift your kidneys!", our teacher directed in class today.  Hmmmm....that gave me pause.  To visualize where the kidneys were even located, I had to momentarily harken back to 1974, sitting at my med student husband's side, hunched over a Cadaver Lab human specimen, helping him study for an anatomy exam.  Then I realized she wasn't saying to lift them OUT of our bodies, of course, but rather to lift them UP -- as in straighten your spine, allowing more space for all those internal organs to move apart and not be scrunched into each other in there.  Got it!

This direction falls into the category of teaching prompts that seem unique to Yoga that I can never quite accomplish in the way my brain imagines I should.

"Brighten your heart!"  Dang!  Is my dark heart showing again?  I don't mean to be sad, gossipy, judgmental...   Oh wait!  She means shoulders back and down, chest forward!  Got it!

"Lift your arches!"  My arches are uncooperative; they don't seem to want to lift.  Not like the St. Louis arch, or even the Golden Arches.  They just sort of sit there in a sort of semi-collapsed state of archness, refusing to budge upwards.

"Apply the badhas!"  The what?  Head banda?  Rubber banda?  Rock n' roll banda?  Traditional Mexican banda?  Oh!  NOT band!  The bandhas -- those muscles to tighten at the base of the spine (mula-bandha -- Kegels in our lexicon), abdomen (uddiyana bandha -- suck in your gut, as in putting on tight jeans) and throat (jalandhara bandha -- sort of a semi-choke).  These are "energy locks" that keep the flow of internal energy from pouring out or moving the wrong direction, or something.  Yeah, I don't really get it either, but they are a really big part of practicing yoga and I try to apply them at least for a few minutes, when reminded; then they get all soft and squishy again and my energy flow likely falls with my arches.

What is interesting about various teachings using these and many more admonishments to think of our bodies (inside and out) as plastic, moveable, and malleable is that they are!  Yoga urges us to be self-aware of body, mind, and spirit.  We mostly live in a very static, immovable state.  We fall into habits of mind, body, and spirit which calcify into a belief system about what we can and cannot do.  Yoga teaches us that we can risk moving out of our usual comfort zone, away from our usual mode of limited thinking, and into an expansiveness of spirit that we may never have realized we could achieve.

For example, during Shavasana today I had the fairly trippy experience that I sometimes have in deep meditation, where I'm fully aware of where I am and of others around me, while simultaneously feeling like I'm floating into the great Universe Beyond bathed in joy and peace.  It's the Theta wave state of the brain in deep relaxation.  A groovy place to be.  I don't know how or why that happened to me today; it's rare for me to get there, especially lately when my meditation practice has been so sporadic.  But I do know I was fully present for my practice today, craving my time on the mat, feeling the energy of those around me in our full classroom, longing for a respite from what has been a very focused and busy number of weeks of commitment and responsibility.

Or maybe it was that my kidneys, heart, and arches were locked into a Bandha Love Connection with my brain.  Whatever works, right? ©

Namaste,  donnajurene

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