1. YOGA INTERNATIONAL LETTER TO EDITOR
2. THREEFOLD PATH
3. HOW TO BEGIN YOUR PERSONAL PRACTICE
4.LETTER TO THE EDITOR PRINTED IN YOGA INTERNATIONAL 9/95 "ON HATHA TRADITIONS "
5. WHAT IS YOGA
6. PRANAYAMA - Breath Control - Breathing Excercises
7. CHAKRAS
FIRST ARTICLE: A WORD ON PERSONAL PRACTICE
There are two important points that warrant our attention regarding our personal
practice of yoga:
ATTITUDE
REGULARITY
Regularity: It is important that we spend some time each day devoted to our practice of yoga. If all you can mange in the beginning is 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the evening, then definitely take those10 minutes. In time it will grow to 20 and 30 and more. As your interest and involvement increase and as you become more aware of the effect that your practice has on you both mentally and physically, the amount of time willgrow.
Attitude: Asanas should never be done carelessly. A state of mind that is attentive, receptive and awake is essential to the highest goals of yoga. All the great Masters tell us again and again, that what we refer to as our waking state is closer to sleep than it is to true wakefulness. You can see this for yourself at the end of any given day. Sit down and try to recall how many actions you executed without full awareness, how many things that you thought about that now you can’t remember, and in general how many gaps there are on your memory of what you did during the day. Being in the HERE AND NOW is the most difficult task confronting us, whether walking, talking, eating or going about the general chores of the day. It is precisely this HERE AND NOWNESS that is required for the practice of yoga. It is to this end that the following suggestions are given.
Place: It is recommended that your practice be in the same place. Your place should be clean, comforatable, well ventilated and relatively free of disturbances.
Time: It is best to practice at the same time every day. This way the mind can get used to a new and reular habit. Mornings are usually the best time for practice, so that we can tune in to the rays of the rising sun. Evening , at sundown is also a good time for practice. You may have a vigorous morning practice to tune up your energy for the day, and a calming meditative practice to enter into your evening.
Food: An empty stomach is the best for yoga practice. If you must eat before a class have a salad or fruit no later that 1-2 hours before your class or practice. Yoga and a full stomach do not go well together. Either do one or the other.
Bath: A shower or bath before yoga practice is recommended to relax your muscles and feel awake.
Breath: Always maintain breath awareness and make the breath full and complete throughout your practice. Visualize that you are drawing the breath and filling the space in your body with the breath.
Eyes Closed: Throughout your practice keep your eyes closed. We are constantly distracted and drawn to that which is around us. By keeping the eyes closed not only is mental and physical energy controlled but your inner sensitivities are heightened and the subtler effects and sensations in your inner space are more easily perceived.
RELAX: Above all Relax Relax RELAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX !!
2. Witness Awareness: become the silent witness, the observer, be the "Seer" rather than thinking that you are the "Doer". Watch your thoughts, feelings, sensations come and go without being carried away by them. When you are just let go and come back to the silent witness.
3. Acceptance: Be where you are, accept the present moment as it actually is instead of thinking how it "should be". Accept where you are in your practice and trust in that. Be honest with yourself.
4. Patience: Allow your practice to unfold in its natural way in its own time.
Let go of thinking that some time in the future will better than the present moment.
5. Trust: have complete trust and faith in your practice of yoga. Listen to the wisdom in your body and let your body assume the postures and movements it needs for optimum results. Dont let your mind get in the way.
6. Non-Force: let go of resistance, don’t try to force a square peg into a round hole. Apply the power of your will and positive mental attitude. Honor your body and its limits.
7. Letting Go: let go of your body, let go of your thoughts , create this "letting goness" and just let it happen.
Second Article: The Threefold path to Health, Fitnes & Well-Being
All strength, energy, power and force comes from your breath (not your body).
In the science of yoga this is called prana which means vital force, life force, or
"That which animates matter".
Prana exists in all matter. Prana is the source that fuels the sun, that is
in the wind, that makes the earth produce. This same force of prana is in all of us. Prana is
also force, as in magnetic force, gravitational force, electric force or nuclear energy. It isa
the force that holds the universe in its ever changing state.
Just as the universe is constantly changing and moving, so are our bodies. By
working with this force and entering into a personal relationship with it, with full
concentration and awareness, we can use it as a powerfull transformational force to bring about
the desired changes and results in our physical bodies and our mental states.
I began the practice of yoga in 1970 at age 23. In 1971 I lived in a Kundalini
Yoga Ashram in San Rafael California and became an instructor of Kundalini Yoga.
Kundalini yoga is a very accelerated form of physical and mental yoga involving powerful
spinal flexing, deep, rapid breathing and holding of the body and breath in a fixed
position for a long time. This brings about not only tremendous physical benefits but clarity
of mind and a great sense of well being.
Thus yoga forms the basis of my physical program which I practice every day
for 30-60 minutes. As I entered into my "middle age", I began working with free weights.
When I am working out I visualize that I am working with the force of gravity, that my
breath is sucking in this force through my nostrils and that this energy is being transformed
and reshaped into my body. As I lift or push up, I visualize that I am inhaling
the downward force of gravity that is creating the resistance. I am mentally sculpting that
force into the shape that i want my body to assume. This force is not "resistance". It is
a force to be worked with, a force of acceptance. It is a force that I take into myself thankfully.
The third part of my path to health, fitness and well-being is running. Running
is completely natural. It works on a horizontal plane whereas free weights besically
work on a vertical plane. This way I am using both horizontal and vertical force.
All running animals have low amounts of body fat. When I run through the park
or forest I visualize that I am a horse , a dog, a lion, a deer, a rabbit or fox. I meditate
on my breath and get onto a rhythm with this force that I am going into, that I am moving
with and not against this force. Once I start my run I don’t stop until I’ve finished and
I maintain a fairly steady pace as I am establishing a rhythm for myself.
As I run I talk to myself, saying “I can do it, I will do it, I’m in great shape”
and I visualize my physical body as I wish it to be.
Now, and this is simple, the three fold path of Yoga for stretching and flexibility,
weight training for strength and definition and running for stamina and endurance
can be done by oneself . A commitment to your yoga practice, purchasing some free weights and
buying a new pair of running shoes are all that is required.
The next step, which is what it is all about is TO JUST DO IT. Just like the
Nike commercial visualize that you are the star of your own commercial and resolve, commit
and dedicate the remainder of your life to having a strong, healthy, powerful
and flexible body that is your birthright along with a calm and flexible mind. After all,
that is why we are here. To be ALIVE.
Third Article: HOW TO BEGIN YOUR PERSONAL PRACTICE
You have already begun your practice, you just may not be aware of that.
It starts as a soft quiet whisper within you that says "yoga"
recognize and be aware of this.
DEDICATE YOURSELF TO YOUR PRACTICE OF YOGA MEDITATION See that you are
getting together with your best friend and lover, the One who knows you
best and who has been waiting for you to come to your yoga, your union.
Know that positive actions are being set in motion and that postive reactions
will come back to you.
LAY DOWN ON YOUR BACK , Relax...let go of your body, let it sink into
your mat, allow “letting goness’ to happen, the process of letting go
and opening up. When you are open you are creating spaciousness and this
brings a quality of lightness.
WITNESSING.....your thoughts go by without being carried away by them.
Visualize that you are sitting by a stream watching the water flow by.
You are stepping out of your thought stream that is very powerful and
keeps you moving from thought to thought. This is part of the human mental
process and that is part of our nature. In yoga meditation we step out
of the mental flow and “watch “ our thoughts float by just like watching
the clouds float by in the sky. We concentrate on the sky of the mind
and not the clouds that pass by.
BREATH CYCLE....bring your attention onto your breath. Watch your lungs
fill smoothly to the top and empty smoothly to the bottom. Thisa is called
your breath cycle. Establish yourself in your breath cycle and when the
thoughts come by to capture your attention, with practice you will be
able to let them go and come back to your breath cycle, your breath awareness.
meditate on your breath so that wherever you are in your breath cycle
whether moving up or down you are centered in your breath.. With practice
you will make your breath very smooth and subtle. This will take you deeper
into yourself.
SITTING...after you have layed out and centerred on your breath you are
ready to begin. Come into any comfortable sitting posture. make your head,
neck and spine in a straight line. Visualize that your spine is growing
out of its base within the pelvis like a stem growing out of the earth.
You may find sitting on a pillow, cushion or rolled up blanket will make
sitting easier.
FOCUSING....bring your attention to a point. You may center on your heart
center and bring the breath into your heart. You may focus on your minds
eye located at the Ajna or sixth chakra slightly above and in between
the eyes. Concentrate your attention at this point to keep the eyes or
mind from wandering and to see and look within hence the term "minds
eye". When we meditate we use our minds eye to look within and "see",
thus intuition develops.
BREATH....meditate on the breath, practice pranayam, know that when you
meditate on your breath you are meditating on life, that breath is life.
Listen to the sound of your breath, the vibration and rhythm, this is
called nad. You are moving from waking state consciousness to a deeper
state of consciousness. This will feel very comfortable.
VISUALIZE PRANA..your breath, , life force, your vital energy moving
through you. Channel the prana from the air, sun, sky, wind, earth and
space that is all around you through your breath and into your being and
consciousness. Visualize the prana, energy, life force moving through
your nerves, veins , arteries to all parts of your body, bathing all organs,
cells, nerves, fluids, with positive energy cleansing and charging your
physical, mental and subtle bodies.
POSTURES... listen to your body, its talking to you and will tell you
exactly what it needs. There is nothing to memorize. Your body has an
intellligence and knows exactly what to do to take care of itself to bring
it into balance. Don't try to"think" of what postures you should
do. Just witness and watch the process unfold. You already have knowledge
of a wide variety of postures and movements , bandhas and kriyas and pranayam
to bring about the desired result. Listen, watch and let go... Postures
are like icebergs....we can only see the part that is above the surface,
which is about 10%, the rest which we can not "see" will rise
to the surface with practice. There is always more than meets the eye
in an asana as many competing and conflicting actions are set in motion.
Thus balance develops. Postures have two parts.....first is the asana,
the posture itself which is the cause. when you practice a posture practice
it correctly. Do not be sloppy in your asana. An asana should be steady
and comfortable. Practice to hold the posture and be smooth and steady
in your breath. This is the first part. The second part is the real exercise
and that is coming out of the asana and letting go, practicing deep relaxation
with awareness, allowing the quality of "letting goness" to
happen. make your breath very smooth and subtle.
TRANSFORMATION....results from your practice when you are open and let
go. It requires an effort and a concentration to do your practice and
the rewards are indescribable. This is the transcendent quality of yoga
that will take you into your SAMADHI....the end result of yoga and the
beginning..... OM SHANTI
Fourth Article: LETTER TO THE EDITOR PRINTED IN YOGA INTERNATIONAL 9/95 "ON HATHA TRADITIONS"
The article summarizes the various traditions as if the student were
shopping for a car in Consumers Digest. Just as a motor vehicle will take
the passenger to the destination so will the vehicle of yoga.
Students should approach the practoice of yoga with an open attitude
about the benefits and with faith and trust in their own practice. Speculations
about "how to screen a prospective hatha teacher" creat ea preconceived
idea that the class must conform to the students expectations. When these
expectations are not realized, the result is the exact opposite to what
the practice of yoga is intended for.
Certification does not make a teacher. What makes a teacher is the awareness
that the True Teacher operates through him/her. the only criterion that
the student should use in selecting a teacher is this. Do the words coming
through the instructor penetrate into the heart of the student? When this
happens the student is led to the True Teacher who sits in the heart center.
Then you know you're in the right class.
Fifth Article: WHAT
IS YOGA
What is yoga? Yoga is a noun and a verb. Yoga is an action and its reaction,
an active process and a passive reflection. It is both a physical and
mental activity and when practiced with awareness creates a great synergy
when the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. This brings
us to spirit.
The yoga that we do in class is "practice" yoga. We practice
certain techniques that we can later draw on when we are not in our yoga
class but in our everyday moment to moment lives. Yoga is an awareness.
Don't confuse practicing postures with yoga. Many dancers or gymnasts
can demonstrate incredible postures but that is not yoga. Yoga is practicing
awareness, awareness of the self, awareness of thought, awareness of the
mind awareness of the environment and awareness of consciousness. We start
with breath awareness.
Yoga is timeless. It comes to us today from a distant past and is as
timely and relevant today as it was thousands of years ago. Thats because
it is always NOW. yoga is not an activity or something we do to get a
good workout. Yoga IS, when we have that awareness then we are in the
state of yoga. We can cultivate this awareness by certain practices. They
are the practice of being still and quiet and working in the body to develop
the awareness of the thoughts that arise and letting go of them and of
the breath that moves through the body sustaining and maintaining it and
making the breath a conscious act. By practice of this do we come into
yoga.
Yoga may be called an art because it opens up the creative energies within
us, but it is more than an art. Yoga may be called the philosophy of yoga
insofar as it is based on truth and philosophy is a search for truth and
understanding .But it is more than a philosophy. Yoga may be confused
with religion as it can bring one closer to God, but it is not in and
of itself a religion. So we call yoga the science of yoga because it is
based on the scientific method of direct observation, direct experience
and cause and effect. Yoga may also be known as Hatha Yoga or the yoga
of holding postures.
HA means sun and THA means moon so Hatha means the unity of solar and
luner forces, of postive and negative charges, of male and female principles
and in the unity in dualities, or to look at it another way the merging
of dualities to form unity. the word yoga comes from the sanskrit word
"yug" which means to yoke or bind, Yoga has both an active and
passive aspect being neither one nor the other. The act of yoga, the creation
of the yogic state is like music. Visualize an instrument, say a piano,
a musician sits with the instrument and music comes forth. Where does
the music come from? from the instrument, from the musician? Is it divisible?.
So it is with yoga, the practitioner sits down for their practice concentrates
their attention and the process of transformation begins.
Sixth Article: PRANAYAMA - Breath Control - Breathing Excercises
Pranayama is based on the sanskrit word Prana- meaning life force, vital
force, energy, that which animates matter - or first unit of energy and
yama - which means transformation, transmutation from yama - the Hindu
god of death. So pranayama means literally transformation or transmutation
of life force, that which animates matter.
The purpose of practicing pranayama is to control the mind by concentrating
our attention onto our breath and to control and meditate on the breath
and to become aware, consciously aware of the effect that breath meditation
has on our consciousness.
Since our breath is our link to this physical existence when we meditate
on breath we are actually meditating on our life. So become aware that
you are meditating on your life, your beingness, and don’t take your breath
for granted. With practive you will begin to develop an awareness of your
breath throughout your day and evening and this will anchor you in your
practice of yoga. Yoga is not about doing excercises. Yoga is an awareness.
By practicing pranayama we become aware of our breath and will develop
this awareness that is yoga.
PHYSICAL BENEFITS So it is with our lugs. We normally use about 1/3 of our lung capacity.
When we run or engage in any strenuous physical activity our breathing
increases and we fully inhale and exhale air thus completely filling and
emptying the lungs. When we practice pranayama we do this in a controlled
way. The result is that the lungs and blood are completely oxygenated.
Oxygen travels through the blood to all parts of the body to all cells,
all molecules of the body sending prana, LIFE FORCE, ENERGY to all parts
of the body. The nervous system is charged, the blood system is cleansed,
toxins are removed and the eliminative properties of the body are increased
to remove poisons and negativity.The result is you feel charged, energized,
high and bright.
Practice in any sitting posture. Practice the excercises in the pranayama
section. Practice the excercises and let go and watch what happens. Most
of all - practice.
3 Parts of Pranayama 1 - The inhalation - may be very strong and powerful or very smooth and
light, depending on the excercise.
2 - Holding the breath - may be in between the inhale and exhale, or
at the end of the excercise - very important.
3 - The exhale - fully by contracting the stomach, pulling the navel
all the way in and expelling all air from the lungs.
4. Holding the breath -out of the lungs before beginning the next cycle.
Depending on the intensity and time of your practice you will begin to
experience a subtle shift in your awareness which will bring a clarity
and sense of calm. You will develop the ability to change your mental
state from lethargy to energy, from being tense to relaxed. Pranayam is
a natural transition from asanas to meditation.
Imagine if you never opened the windows of your home. Season after season,
year after year your windows are closed. Your home would be stuffy, probably
not so clean and the air would certainy be stale and toxic.
ALL BREATHING EXCERCISES HAVE 4 ELEMENTS
1 - The inhale
2 - The holding or retention of the breath in the lungs
3 - The exhalation
4 - The holding of the breath out of the lungs
Chakra literally means "wheel" and has been described as swirling
energy vortices corresponding to nerve ganglia in the physical body. Chakras
have been described by yogis and mystics as having specific shapes, colors
and sounds that can be chanted to activate the energies located in each
chakra. These attributes can not be scientifically ascertained as the
chakra is not part of the physical body but of the subtle or energy body
thus being subjective.
Have you ever thought of how the chakras are arranged. We all know that
there are seven centers in the body at the root, navel, solar center,
heart, throat, minds eye and at the crown. Each of these locations may
correspond to physical or psychic centers and may correspond to certain
psychological behavior patterns. However this may be speculative with
the intellect trying to make sense of what is not material.
My experience is that rather than being arranged from the bottom up,
from first to seventh, the chakras are arranged in order from the top
down. The chakras correspond to the elements of nature or prakriti which
is the physical matrix of what we call reality. The movement of consciousness
and intelligence is from subtle to grosser states of awareness. Thus when
we come into our yoga practice and first come into this awareness it is
on a very gross level, the level of the physical body. We may feel the
weight of the body when we do our asanas. At first it is difficult and
a beginner may feel daunted as if they "can't do it". The awareness
of the practitioner is totally in the first chakra, that being of weight
or heaviness. this corresponds to the earth principle as the most tangible
expression of matter.The student is in total body identification. Postures
may be a struggle. Asanas are difficult to maintain. There is a tendency
to give up.
With practice and determination the breath becomes steady and the practioner
becomes more fluid within their practice be it a sitting or asana practice.The
breath moves smoothly and fluidly corresponding to the water principle,
that of the second chakra. The student begins to move through their posture
flow and sees "progress". Transformation has begun.
With continued practice the practitioner becomes established in pranayam,
tranforming the breath into energy or prana which produces heat corresponding
to the third chakra or fire principle. The perception of the body has
changed. It is no longer heavy. it is fluid but filled with a fiery energy.
Heat can be felt and directed to various places in the body.The student
is established in their third chakra. This is a very powerful place in
the students sadhana. and they may feel a pranic "high".
As practice continues transformation follows. The charged energy transmutes
into the heart center or fourth chakra.Tthe body and the mind become more
merged and a feeling of lightness begins to be experienced like being
lighter tha air The student is established in their heart center . Postures
and pranayam no longer require an effort but come with an ease. An experience
of lightness is experienced throughout the bodymind. This is the midpoint
or center. The student begins to feel "connected" with their
"higher" self. Love is directly experienced.
In time awareness becomes more refined and shifts to that of spaciousness.
Space, just like the space that is in the sky is directly experienced
within. This is the dawning of what is out there is also in here. Postures
bring a sense of space and openess throughout the bodymind. When there
is openess something comes to fill it. The awareness of spirit! The mind
begins to identify with endless space. Identifications with the body ,
intellect and emotions drop off and cease to occupy the practioner. The
student is established in the fifth chakra.It is like climbing up a mountain,
the view is so majestic. It is from this vantage point that the student
first begins to "see".
At this point, the consciousness of the student has shifted from the
first through fifth chakras and their accompanying awareness to that of
being still and "seeing" through the mind's eye or sixth chakra.
The student has been climbing up the mountain and meets their "guru"
sitting and staring into your eyes . It is your Intutive Self. There is
no longer any thought conjecture , speculation or expectations of mystical
events. There is simply a calm clarity. The consciousness has become very
subtle ..The aspirant is on top of the mountain where the air is rare.
The view of 360* (degrees) has never been seen before and Oh what a view!
At this point the student is about to ascend to the seventh chakra, which
is the beginning of samadhi. There is no longer an ego, or memory. There
may not be an experience of the physical body .The consciousness has become
very rarified. it is like being on top of a very high mountain where the
air is very fine. Where does the atmosphere of the earth stop and space
begin? or is it all space and then heavier layers of atmosphere coming
down to water and earth . It depends on your perspective. If your standing
on the ground looking up, or if you know that you are a traveler in infinite
space.