BAG OF HAMMERS POSE

So, last week Karen did a whole class using blocks.  Blocks between our arms.  Blocks between our thighs.  Blocks between our feet.  Our feet resting on blocks.  Our heads resting on blocks.  Our hands supporting our posture on blocks.  Blocks under our backs. Blocks. Blocks. Blocks.  I liked the challenge of using props in familiar poses.

Then at Savasana time, we did a set up where one block rested between our shoulder blades while we rested our head on another.   Karen suggested we just 'give it a try'.  And if it didn't work for us, by all means make a change.

I gave it try.  But in short order it wasn't working for me.  I could tell because my Monkey Mind, instead of calming to a meditative state, started to go wild.  As I felt one hard block like a cement paver under my tender skull and the other digging into about twelve places on my back, my fantasies turned to kidnapping.  I decided I should try to breathe through the discomfort because if I was ever kidnapped and thrown into a trunk (which happens all the time on HBO),  and landed on a bag of hammers, I'd be able to overcome the pain by harkening back to this Yoga class.

Karen came 'round and pushed my shoulders back (a little ouch-ie, truth be told) and massaged my shoulders a bit (aaahhhh....nice).  She moved on and I focused on my breath.  I wondered how dark it would be in the trunk.  I wondered if I could use my newly Yoga-muscled legs to kick out a tail light.  I squirmed a little, trying to find a place of ease.  Nope.  No ease.  Then I decided, "Hey!  I'm not in a trunk!  I'm at Yoga Circle and this is my reward time!  Let go of struggle and take action on your own behalf."

I sat up and moved the blocks off to the side.  I made my usual comfy Savasana nest and lay back down.  Much better.

I know that some practice with breathing through and transcending discomfort comes in handy.  I've  used it when sitting way back in the coach section on long flights.  I've used it when perched on uncomfortable stools around kitchen counters.  I've used it in the dentist's chair and on the exam table.  But I decided that I will rise to the challenge of whatever situation I find myself in and heck, kidnapping is not likely to be one of them.

I'll take my Savasana lying down, thank you.  Flat, no blocks.  But, hey, give it a try.  It might just be your thing!©

Namaste,  donnajurene

Photo Credit: http://www.prevention.com/fitness/yoga/10-minute-gentle-yoga-routine-can-help-you-lose-weight

HOW TO MEDITATE -- I'M CHANGING MY MIND

"I changed my mind."  We hear that all the time as the fickle vagaries of human decision-making shift and take new shape.  "I was going to use my black purse, but I changed my mind; brown is better with this outfit."  "We started out to see 'Boyhood' at the movies, but we changed our minds and went to 'Wild' instead."  You get the idea....

But what if you could literally 'change your mind'?  What if you could make your brain bigger, healthier, and more resilient?  You can!

Articles are appearing everywhere in the mainstream, popular press these days about brain research demonstrating the positive effects of meditation.  Yep.  Those monks are on to something.  Those hippies had it right all along.  We YOGIS are doing more than twisting our bodies into pretzel shapes!

Just Google Brain Research and Meditation and you'll find enough reading to keep you (and your brain) busy all day.  Here's one article I like because it has pictures, charts, graphs, and easy-to-digest information for the layperson:  https://blog.bufferapp.com/how-meditation-affects-your-brain

I often hear people say, "I can't meditate; I just can't clear my mind.  My thoughts won't go away."  Well, of course your thoughts won't go away -- your brain is doing its brain job -- thinking!  Just because you sit down and say, "I'm going to meditate now" doesn't mean the usual jumble of words, thoughts, images, and feelings will automatically cease.  They won't.  Don't expect them to.  That was the first big lesson I learned from my meditation teacher.  He advised me to "watch your thoughts like clouds passing in the sky".  Acknowledge the thought but don't follow it -- that is don't add a story to it.

I might be sitting in meditation and suddenly I am consumed with the thought that I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow.  It's the most important thought in the world!  I have to decide how short to cut it and bangs or no bangs and should I buy that expensive shampoo....   Instead, when the thought "haircut" comes up, I acknowledge, "thinking about haircut" and then let it go....like a puffy cloud on a blue sky with no story attached.  I might spend the whole 20-30 minute meditation period just watching the thoughts come and practice watching them go.   Over time this gets easier and the brain starts to get bored with my lack of interest in what it is parading in front of me and finally quiets.  And by "finally" I don't necessarily mean in one session...I mean over weeks or months of practice.   But over time that settled mind state comes more easily.

Another way to keep thoughts at bay is to focus on a mantra or image or to count your breaths.  Counting breaths never worked for me, but it's magic for some.  You simply count each breath from 1 to 10 and start over.  If at some point you realize you are thinking as you count, you stop, and start the count over again at 1.  Better for me has been to repeat a mantra.   I was given a Sanskrit mantra by my meditation teacher and I repeat it when I first sit down to meditate to give my mind something to do instead of thinking about that haircut.  "Om Shanti, Shanti Shanti" is a favorite for some -- it means "Om (the sound of God or the Universe), peace, peace, peace."  If you prefer to keep eyes open you can gaze at a burning candle or a spot on the wall...anything to keep your mind focused.

In our Yoga Basics class on Wednesday at Yoga Circle, Elizabeth explained and demonstrated how asana and pranayama prepare us for meditation.  Our asana practice (the poses) help open our bodies to the breath and help us begin to focus our minds by finding the alignment in a pose.  Pranayama (breath work) helps us use the breath to slow our physiological responses to our surroundings, employing specific breathing patterns to either animate or calm our emotional and physical landscape.  Generally, to sit for meditation, we need to "calm down" from our busy lives, so slow deep breaths with longer exhales will help.

And how to sit?  I've tried sitting on a zafu (those round meditation cushions) and I just can't do it without getting very, very uncomfortable (at least not yet.)  One of the best things my meditation teacher told me was that in his tradition there is no benefit in discomfort.  The most important thing is to keep a straight spine and an open heart area.  So sit up straight.  A straight-backed chair will do.  I sit in an upholstered chair in my living room that is fairly straight with a pillow at my back, feet on the floor, hands relaxed in my lap.  Easy.  No stress or strain or legs falling asleep.  If I get uncomfortable, I shift a bit, find comfort again and go right back to the breath, mantra, vision, or whatever.

I'm going to stop now, because I'm no expert, but these are the very rudimentary beginner things I've learned.  My "Monkey Mind" still swings from branch to branch; I fidget more or less depending on the day; I get bored or impatient.  Yet, I'm motivated by wanting all of the benefits mentioned in that article I linked to.  Who wouldn't be?

Well...gotta go.  Time to meditate!©

Namaste, donnajurene

Photo Credit: Hongqu Zhang@rf123.com

BE A STUDENT

What's your Samskara?  Wait...what's a Samskara anyway?

Well, if you were taking Elizabeth Gray's "Yoga Basics" on Wednesday afternoons at Yoga Circle you'd know that Samskara is a Sanskrit word which refers to the ingrained habits, thoughts, feelings, and personal history we all carry throughout this lifetime (and maybe others?)  This Samskara informs our Karma -- the "bag" in which we carry our ego-notions of who we are and how we behave.  And the who we are and how we behave are mirrored back to us over and over.  Do bad, get bad.  Do good, get good.

Do you know that how you breathe can mediate how you feel emotionally?  Nervous?  Anxious? Take slow, deep "belly breaths", with a longer exhale and feel yourself relaxing.  Your heart rate and blood pressure drop.  In fact, how you breathe can create how you feel!   Need an energetic boost?  Try some Breath of Fire breathing! You'll heat up and energize in a hurry.  Want to really relax and be present?  Alternate Nostril Breathing may do the trick.  

Of course none of it is quite that easy...in my mind, nothing about Yoga is easy, even if it's rather simple.  We breathe, we move, we think, we feel.  Coordinating all those to highest benefit for ourselves and others is the point.  Mental, physical, and spiritual well-being are the goals.

I have been a sporadic student of Yoga and Yogic philosophy for a number of years.  I've learned some Sanskrit mostly through Bhakti Yoga practices (chanting the Divine names of Deities in a Hindu-inspired practice called Kirtan).   I love my asana practice at Yoga Circle, have done very limited study of Pranayama (yogic breathing) with a couple of teachers, and have studied with a meditation teacher who gave me my very own Sanskrit mantra based on my Vedic astrological chart.  All of this adds up to barely, imperceptibly scratching the surface of the ancient, intricate, dense and beautiful practice of Yoga.

Elizabeth's class is introducing us to all 8 Limbs of Yoga -- how it all fits together to help us create a life of meaning, purpose, and peace.  I wish I was better at remembering all she has taught us so far.  I decided not to distract myself with note-taking for the most part, instead listening intently in the moment.  Unfortunately, when sitting down to write this post, I find my recall lacking.  I have to hear things many times to commit them to memory -- unless it's something frivolous like the lyrics to Gilligan's Island -- that's there forever after only one or two episodes.

At any rate, what I do know is that I am mesmerized by her skilled, knowledgable, and enthusiastic teaching and motivated to learn more, practice more. My at-home meditation and Pranayama practices are already more focused, and the extra class I'm attending each week with Elizabeth puts me on the mat three times instead of two at the Studio and I'm loving that!   I feel stronger, more grounded -- good things! ©

Namaste,  donnajurene

Photo Credit: <a href="https://clipartfest.com/">clipartfest.com</a>