HOW ARE YOU? REALLY?

How are you?  How are you, really?

In this strange, historic, scary period of our human global history, I'd wager we are all feeling off-balance; no degree of excellence at Tree Pose prepared us for this coronavirus pandemic. 

I wish I had unique words of wisdom to impart, new words of encouraging news to share, bright examples of how to cope.  I could come up with any and all of that, but if you are like me, there is already plenty to go around on your social media feed, the nightly news, amongst your friends.  I have nothing new to add.

But that doesn't make me silent.  This is a global conversation we are having; a shared experience that we all experience in different ways, but which we all must endure.  We all have stories to tell.

I read a meme the other day, which of course I cannot now find to offer credit, but the gist was something like: "When the World Falls Apart, We Turn to Art".

Can you relate?  Are you binging on Netflix fare?  Artistic people created whatever it is you are watching.  Do you read poetry, or novels, or essays?  Artists created those too.  Are you availing  yourself of all the free online museum "tours"?  Artists!  How about listening to music?  Artists again.

And that makes me think of Yoga and Art.  Could yoga be considered at art form?  One could certainly look at the beautiful shapes and forms of the asana poses and see art there.  I have a friend who is working on a series of felted art pieces depicting yoginis in poses.  They are stunning.

At this time of anxiety and chaos, may we all find the true meaning of yoga -- calming the fluctuations or mind -- by turning to the art of solitude and silence, whether in asana, meditation, or finding some emotional peace with our favorite artists.

I'm looking forward to returning to our beautifully artistic Yoga Circle Studio (lovingly cleaned, sanitized, and nurtured in our absence by owner/teacher/artist Karen Guzak) embraced in the love of community there.   Hold that thought.©

Namaste, donnajurene

BREATHING THROUGH ANXIETY

Breathe!!! Breathe!!! Breathe!!! And don't panic!!!

Easy for someone other than myself, who has a health anxiety disorder even when there isn't a pandemic raging.

Covid-19 novel corona virus is here.  Big time.  Our area has been hard hit.  We have more cases in the greater Seattle metro area than anywhere else in the U.S.  It makes for giving one the jitters; especially one who is in the higher risk range of being over 60 and who regularly sees friends who have underlying health conditions that raise their risk even higher, so I don't want to bring bad "bugs" to them either.  I am grateful to be healthy, but when it was explained to me that age alone weakens the immune system, I sat up and took notice.

We are all washing our hands, keeping a social distancing space from others, staying home with the first sniffle.  But we are also inundated with a constant barrage of news reports on TV, headlines in the papers, and post after post on social media platforms that keep us up-to-date on the most recent social, governmental, and educational announcements of closures, updates on cases/deaths, and updates on addressing this pandemic from elected officials.  To ignore it is to be ignorant of what we need to know.  To immerse in it is to ramp up fear and isolation.

I am one who, when something unsettling happens, seeks information, almost compulsively.  I think I'm looking for no-nonsense truth-telling and also reassurance that all will be well.

I have been practicing radical social distancing.  Basically I've left my house exactly once since last Saturday.  I know it's over the top, but I have nowhere I absolutely need to be, so why be out there where the virus is running free?   It's a decision I've made, shared by some, not by others.  It's been a good one for me.  I've read, watched, learned.  I've panicked.  I've calmed.  I've reached out to others similarly sequestered, especially those who have underling conditions (cancer, respiratory illness) and let them know I am with them.  I've tried to lean into kindness for all who are afraid and unsure.  My anxiety allows me to have deep empathy.  That's one gift of this thing I deal with.

The other is knowing I have tools to turn to to help myself when I start to spiral.  Yoga asana and meditation are my go-to remedies for a buzzing brain and a thumping heart.

I recently took a 4-part class at the studio on Yoga for Chronic Pain.  I noted at the time that it was geared to physical chronic pain, but I could see the parallels to using the practices we learned to deal with chronic emotional pain as well.  It is now serving me well to have that knowledge to draw from.  I'll write more about these classes and share the learning from there in coming days. 

For now, I am turning to home practices:  My Daily Calm meditation app is getting lots of use.  My membership in Yoga International online classes and lectures is at my fingertips.  I'm setting up a designated yoga space in my home, surrounding it with art and inspirational messages.

I miss the studio and I will be back soon.  I feel myself moving from fear to resolution and resilience.  It just takes me a bit longer, with a bit more effort, than others to find a new normal in this time of heightened concern and awareness.

What I know is that no matter how we face a crisis, we owe each other compassion.  We owe each other kindness.  We owe each other the spirit of community that can sustain through any trying time.

Let's lean into kindness, friends.  Let's breathe.

Namaste, donnajurene

OUT OF THE RUT

Rut: a long deep track made by the repeated passage of wheels of vehicles; a pattern of behavior that has become dull or unproductive but is hard to change.

My yoga practice is definitely NOT dull or unproductive, but it is comfortable, familiar, and hard to change -- because I love comfortable and familiar things.  I'm not a seeker of new adventures.  I generally scare myself with all the ways things can go wrong.  And I'm generally wrong about that, but every time I have to start from the scared place.  Sigh.

My usual yoga practice is to go to the studio on Wednesday and/or Friday and maybe a weekend day sometimes.  This is a switch from Tuesdays and Thursdays of times past due to scheduling conflicts.  Still, whenever I go, I know the teacher; I have my favorite spots to unfurl my mat; I'm pretty confident I'll be able to do the poses.  I like the gentler, more therapeutic classes lately which help me feel physically renewed and emotionally calm when I leave.

But recently I moved out of the comfort zone and tried a couple of unfamiliar classes.  I went to the new YMCA in town with a friend and did a Sunday yoga class there.  It was not at all like my beloved Yoga Circle Studio!  The room was huge, chilly, and barren of any pretty things.  The group was huge too -- about 60 people and the teacher wasn't the best fit for me.  I left feeling a bit let down, but an hour of yoga is good thing, regardless.

Last week I was back at the studio, taking a class I've long been curious about, but not brave enough to try.  It's the Saturday morning at 8:30 Warm Energy Flow:  "An energetic practice moving from one posture to the next.  The Sun Salutation is often the foundation for this class.  Flow yoga warms the muscles; builds heat, and moves through to cooling and relaxation.  This is an intermediate level class, as the class is vigorous.  At the same time, we encourage a focused and peaceful mind while performing the poses.  The room temperature is allowed to rise to no more than 80 degrees to facilitate your movement, but not cause discomfort or stress."

Whew!  That sounded totally out of my comfort zone!  I dressed in layers thinking even me, who runs cold all the time, would get hot!  I was ready with my inner pep talk about going at my own pace.  I was looking forward to a challenge.

As soon as I hit the door and saw our teacher, I lost my nerve and I announced my nervousness and said, "I hope I can keep up!"  She immediately reminded me that was not the point of yoga.  I know that!  I know!  I appreciated the reminder that my ego was squawking at me and I could ignore it.

I ended up loving the class.  It was not as vigorous as I'd anticipated.  I did warm up and shed a layer. I was challenged by a few of the stronger poses, but reminded that I used to do more of that before I went full on 'gentle' and while I noticed I could use some strength-building, I loved doing what I could and look forward to more.  I noticed my  mind was definitely focused -- no autopilot.

Sometimes a rut is a fine place to be and sometimes jumping out of it opens new opportunities for experience and growth.

Just remember, yoga is not about poses -- except in service to having a body that can feel strong, flexible, and at ease when focusing on calming the fluctuations of the mind.  We can do that no matter the degree of difficulty and duration of our Forearm Plank.

Namaste,  donnajurene
Photo Credit:  www.pixabay.com

PREPARE TO DIE

With this post I'm following up on my last post about preparing to attend the Gary Kraftsow weekend workshop -- Kraftsow the "father" of the Viniyoga tradition in the West.

With all the logistics worked out I was eager to get on with the workshop -- Friday night, all day Saturday, all day Sunday.  Six of us from our yoga teacher training were there and it was great to reunite and be in a learning space again.

We all found spots on the floor, sitting in perfect extended spine poses when Kraftsow took the stage and said, "Yoga is to prepare you to die."  WHAT?!?  I thought it was to perfect my Tree Pose.  I thought it was about belly breathing to settle the nervous system.  I thought it was about calming the fluctuations of the mind.  My mind fluctuations went into overdrive with his opening statement!  I don't wanna die!!!  😩

I had heard Kraftsow could be a bit "heady" in his lectures, used a lot of Sanskrit terms.  I thought I was prepared for that.  But Friday night's intro/orientation to the subject matter was confusing and I left befuddled.  But I assumed all would become clear in the details the next day.

Saturday morning's session left my mind anything but calmed!  I realized that my 200 hour teacher training certificate was maybe equivalent to a BA degree. Suddenly I found myself in a post-doctorate program!  My head was spinning with esoteric concepts described relentlessly in Sanskrit (not my first language).  These teaching from the ancients (which Kraftsow learned in India from the sources of yogi masters T. Krishnamacharya and T.KV. Desikachar) were straight down the Viniyoga lineage, but this American girl raised on pop culture and simple analogies was lost.

We did very little asana practice; only enough to stretch and limber to allow us to sit relatively comfortably for more lecture time.  My back still started to ache, so I gave up on my bolster seat on the floor and found a folding chair.

His presentation style was also a challenge for me -- all over the map; not linear.  But some in the 70-person group seemed to follow right along, busily taking notes and asking questions I didn't understand and getting answers I understood even less.  Many were decades-long students of Kraftsow.   My self talk got very critical.  "Who do you think you are?  You don't belong here!  You are a pretender.  You are not smart enough to be deep into yoga.  Everyone else gets this and you are lost.  Just leave!"

Walking to lunch with my friends, I expressed my frustration, even anger, that he wasn't making this material accessible to all.  Elizabeth (from Yoga Circle and our teacher trainer) pointed out that Kraftsow is full of "Vata" energy -- one of the three energies described in Ayurvedic Medicine.  It is generally one of lots of movement, motion, and to me, chaos.  I am most a Kapha in energy -- quiet, solid, grounded.  His energy was very agitating to me, interfering with my ability to stay present.  This explanation helped me see it wasn't my lack of intelligence, but a differing style that was challenging for me (language barrier aside).

Armed with this knowledge, I was able to give my self talk a rest and just "be" in the afternoon session.  I stopped trying to take notes and just listened, picking up what I could and letting the rest go.  There wouldn't be a test after all.  In doing this I began to see parallels with the personal growth work I've done in the Jungian tradition...finding our core wound, identifying the life experiences that shape who we are, how we think and act, setting intentions with awareness to change what we see as no longer serving us, diving deeper into a spiritual journey to find the Source of All -- and our True Self without judgements and external trappings.

Oh! That's what he's talking about!  Well, it was for me anyway.  Coming from different traditions to end up in the same place, I began to re-frame some of the teachings into language I could understand and relate to.  Sunday I found some "a-ha" moments to treasure and bring home with me as new tools in the toolbox of self-discovery.

We die to our self importance.  We work to resolve dysfunctional behaviors.  We find the treasure of our full potential by deactivating the "land mines" we've buried to protect us.  We become free from the constraints of our minds and find inner harmony with all that exists.

It was a challenging weekend.  I'm not sure I got the subleties of the teachings, even though he was brilliant and personable.  I liked him.  But I took away a few chunks of understanding and have worked with these for the past couple of weeks in helpful ways.  I guess that's all one can ask of a workshop.

One analogy that I recall with clarity:  Kraftsow talked about the human life experience; we are born as if emerging from an underground spring, the water collects in a small rivulet, picking up dirt and stones and debris along the way, gathering force over time as our life becomes a wide river, full of murk and big chunks of muck, until we find ourselves rushing toward the vast sea where we merge with the Source of all, cleansed by the vastness of the endless waves.

I think the point is to live with deep awareness that we all have that vast sea within us at all times.  There's no need to gather and focus on all that muck.  And that knowledge really does calm the fluctuations of the mind and we can truly "die" to the vargaries of this crazy, complicated, confusing, frustrating, infuriating life -- and be free to simply live, practicing our Tree Poses in peace.

Namaste, donnajurene