INTERNAL CONDITIONS: EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES

This is just a short little post about being an anxious human.  Maybe some of you can relate?  And if not, please find your yogic compassion (and laugh behind your hand.)

A few weeks ago I registered for a weekend workshop in Seattle with Gary Kraftsow.  He's the American guru of the Viniyoga tradition in which I was trained.  He's like three people back from me in the lineage, so you know, Great Uncle Gary!  Mostly I signed up to see him in person (I'm an old rock n' roll groupie and still sort of get giddy about being in the presence of people I admire.)  His workshop is summarized as:  "Hrydya Granthi Bhedanam -- Cutting the Knot of the Heart."  The idea is that we are attached to internal conditions and external circumstances, not seeing our true nature which keeps us in bondage to desire, action, and ignorance.  We will learn to untie these knots which will lead us to the psycho-energetics of transformation.  Whew!  I may be in way over my head here.

I actually sort of love this esoteric stuff and I've done many, many personal growth workshops in the Jungian "shadow" tradition, so I'm familiar with that tradition's jargon.  This one will be new to me but probably I'll sort of be able to follow it.  We'll see.

My more immediate concern (external circumstances) was where to sleep.  I could stay at my son and daughter-in-law's house while they are out of town (lonely).  I could commute (a hassle).  I wasn't sure how to find the venue, where to park, how to meet up with my friends (internal anxiety conditions).  And then at the last minute, two friends invited me to share a hotel room with them for the weekend and the relief I felt was immense.  I didn't have to find the venue alone, navigate unfamiliar Seattle streets alone, find scarce parking alone.  Yay!

One would assume that an adult woman such as myself with years of life experience would be so over this familiar "fear" of the unknown.  But au contraire!  Not me.  I still like the comforts of familiarity and find even the least adventuresome adventure to often be anxiety-producing.

What to do?  Well, I know that anxiety manifests in the sympathetic nervous system.  There is no lion chasing me, but still my heart rate ramps up and my breathing shallows.  To tame this monster all I have to do is get still and breathe, long exhales.  Yoga has given me my very best tool against the rising anxiety I used to feel acutely.  Now I just recognize it and start my belly breathing. 

So,  if breathing is the secret to untying those heart knots, I'll go to the head of the class.  I've had lots of practice.

Namaste, donnajurene

WHY PRACTICE YOGA?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We are a week into 2020 and by now your list of resolutions has likely already been pared down some.  If you are like me, a new year (or week, or month, or season) means a new dive into how I can improve my life.  I make lists.  Some of the things I want to do keep falling to the bottom (clean the attic) and some stay near the top (watch more TV....but only PBS, of course!  LOL)  There is a natural culling process because it's really hard to make everything an equal priority.  Time, energy, ditching the "shoulds" all play into what we do in real life as opposed to what we might write on that sheet of notebook paper.

By the looks of the class sizes at Yoga Circle this past week, I'd say many put "take a yoga class" on their lists.  Will it stay near the top?  Will you commit to your yoga practice?

Let me warn you, it's not always easy.  Starting any new thing (or returning to it after a long hiatus) can be challenging.  For me, I often feel clumsy, confused, overwhelmed, embarrassed.  I look around and tell myself stories about everyone else being "better" than I am at whatever we are doing.  That may or may not be true.

But here's the thing....being "better" is in the eye of the practitioner.  Sure, another yogi/yogini may execute a perfect Downward Facing Dog, but his/her brain may be simultaneously thinking about their grocery list.  This is NOT yoga!  You may be feeling off balance, unsure of the pose, yet totally focused with mind and body on being in the moment.  Guess what?  That IS yoga!  So, who's practice is "better"?

Yoga is letting go of judgement and just showing up. Yoga is finding compassion for yourself and others.  Yoga is focused attention on the present moment.  The postures are there for us to focus on while we rest our busy minds.  The postures are there to help lubricate and heal our physically stuck places so we can rid ourselves of physical discomfort distractions as we sit in meditation.

The Yoga Sutra tells us:  Yoga is the process of stilling the fluctuations of the mind.  That's it.  But wow, right?

Our asana (posture) classes focus on the body for sure, and it's important to execute a pose correctly to avoid injury.  But every pose can be modified to "fit" each individual body.  What's important is to find the shape of the pose that is right for you, not the person next to you.

But if you listen closely you will realize that an asana class isn't just about poses. Your teacher will also guide you in breathing techniques to calm the nervous system, will impart wisdom about compassion and self-acceptance, will share Yoga philosophy about living in harmony with the earth and other people.  All of this is yoga.  If you only come to class and sit in silence or lie in savasana for the whole 90 minutes, turning your attention to breathing deeply and to calming the mind, you are practicing yoga.

Why practice yoga?  It is an ancient practice with proven results.  It calms the busy mind, strengthens, flexes, and balances our bodies, gives us a guide to living an ethical life of love, service, and compassion, and ultimately allows us to rest in the true seat of our soul where worldly concerns drift away, even if only for a little while at first and then more and more often allowing us to see that those worldly concerns are temporary.  We gain perspective on life's dramas and find a more peaceful way of being.

That's why I keep yoga at the top of any list of intentions and resolutions, every day.©

Namaste, donnajurene

Photo Credit:  www.pixabay.com