Blinded By Our Own Light

I believe we don't dare to experience ourselves as profound and beautiful, so we fall in love. Because through their eyes, we can begin to gaze upon our own beauty. It gives us a way to own up to our divine nature.

gobodhiyoga.com

Extended Hand to Big Toe Posture: How To

1. Stand in Mountain Pose, or Tadasana with the feet firmly grounded. The heel of the foot should be directly behind the second and third toes.

2. Bending the right knee, lift the right leg straight up towards the torso.

3. Hold on to your right big toe with your right hand.

4. Slowly extend the right leg out to your right side and straighten the leg as much as possible. Work on opening the hips.

5. Stretch the leg upwards. You may extend the right arm out to the side for balance, or leave it straight at your side.

6. To come out, bend the knee and slowly lower the foot.

7. Repeat on the other side.

gobodhiyoga.com

How To: Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)

Dhanurasana, or Full Boat Pose, the Bodhi Yoga way provides a beneficial release in the shoulders. It strengthens the back, aids in digestion, improves posture, stimulates the thyroid and improves liver and kidney function.

1. Lie on your belly with your hip bones in the palms of the hands.

2. Bend the feet in towards the behind.

3. Stretch the arms back to grasp the feet, ankles or shins.

4. Use the strength of your core and quads to lift the head off of the ground.

5. As you inhale, raise the trunk and thighs. Stretch the shoulder blades back. The knees should be in line with the hips.

6. To work in the posture, reach the feet upwards. Allow the pull of the feet to lift the torso higher.

7. Release the legs and lower the body to the floor to come out.

Books Every Yogi Should Read

1. "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran
This beautiful book is one flowing song musing on a variety of subjects ranging from work to crime and punishment.
"Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed.
For love is sufficient unto love.
...Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself."

2. "Yoga: the Iyengar Way" by Silva, Mira and Shyam Mehta
While it is best to seek to learn from a guru, you could essentially teach yourself yoga with this comprehensive guide. This was recommended to me by my guru.

3. "Power Versus Force" by Doctor David Hawkins
A life philosophy on why things are the way they are and how to change the world. He believes that everything can be measured on a scale of conciousness. Dr. Hawkins also teaches techniques for muscle testing.

How To: Ustrasana or Camel Pose

Ustrasana, the Bodhi Yoga way, opens the heart.
Before attempting Ustrasana, one should already be comfortable in child's pose and in kneeling.

1. Begin by kneeling with the thighs vertical and the knees hip width apart. Inhale and lengthen through the spine and neck.
2. Make fists with your hands and place them on your back in the hip joint. Press your hips slightly forward and exhale as you slowly arch backwards. Slowly stretch as you feel the extension growing from the pelvis to the ribs to the sternum.
3. Reach the hands down to the heels and stretch the head fully back. Open through the chest. Flex the thighs as though you were trying to rip your mat in two with your knees. The tops of your feet should be pressing firmly into the mat, grounding you.
4. To come out, you may slowly roll up, shrugging the shoulders to protect the neck. You may also drop back into child's pose.

Adho Mukha Svasana or Downward-Facing Dog Pose: How To

According to "Yoga: The Iyengar Way," Downward Facing Dog Posture rests the heart. It is a tamasic pose. (read my entry on the gunas here )

1. Begin in Child's Pose. (learn Child's Pose here )

2. Extend the arms straight out in front of you, palms facing down.

3. Rounding the spine and tucking the tailbone, come up onto all fours.

4. Tuck the toes

5. Extend the spine, lifting the tailbone and turning your gaze upwards.

6.Exhale and roll your body like a wave on the ocean as you straighten your legs and drop your head and chest towards the ground. It is okay to keep the knees slightly bent or the heels off of the ground at first, to accomodate varying levels of flexibility.

7. Check your alignment. Roll the pressure on your hands in towards the thumbs. Take the pressure off of your wrists by "milking" the earth or your mat with your fingertips.

8. Lift the sit bones as high as you can. Work your belly towards the front of your thighs. Flex the quads and feel the energy spiraling up from the heels, through the inner legs and out through the hips. Try to open the heart (chest) as much as possible.

7. Exhale and come out of the pose, slowly.

8. Email me or post a comment with any questions!

hands-on adjustments can really help you learn the postures

(Photography copyright of Chelsea K Nielsen)

Self Worth

Beautiful Lord,

Lead me to find You

in Me.


Ah

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

If we only see our own reflection in our lovers,

I must be beautiful...


****

Poem- I Seek

I now seek to nurse to sleep and nurture my sorrow.

As I caress and worship my joy in celebration--

I now seek also to celebrate my anguish

In reverence and appreciation.

*****

Spirit That Breathes In All Things

Spirit that breathes in all things,


I’ve come seeking your light.
Spirit that sings in all things,
I’ve come to hear your voice.
Spirit that smiles in all things.
I’ve come to be an expression
Of your rapture.
Spirit of Oneness, Spirit of Love,
I’ve come to spread your peace.






(through yoga)

Lighting Incense (or Learning Patience)

I want to learn to love and to worship,
To blow the flame out and let it burn slowly,
Feeling no hurry for the rose-scented smoke to rise
and perfume the room.

  (through yoga)

Experience Life More Fully Through Non-Attachment

The lovely book “Fire in the Heart” by Deepak Chopra recounts a traditional Indian tale of the ups and downs of life.

“Once there was a man who loved two things above everything else in the world. One was his son and the other was a pony. One morning, however, the man awoke to find that the pony had run away. A search party was mounted, but the pony was nowhere to be found.

'You must feel terrible,' a neighbor said when he heard the news.

But the man looked calm. 'It's not over,' he murmured.

The next day the man woke up, and not only had the pony returned, but with him came a magnificent white stallion. When he heard the news, his neighbor said, 'You must be overjoyed. You have your pony and a new horse that's twice as beautiful.'

But the man looked calm and said, 'It isn't over.'

The next day when his son was out riding the white stallion, he fell off and broke his leg. As the boy was carried into the house moaning with pain the neighbor said, 'What a terrible accident. How much you must be suffering to see your poor son hurt.”

But the man looked calm and said, 'It's not over.'

The next day the army came. They were taking away every able-bodied young man to go to war, but when they saw that the man's son was laid up with a broken leg, the soldiers went away and left him behind. The neighbor rushed over and said, 'How fortunate you are. Every young man has to go to war except your son.'

But the man only shrugged, 'It's never over.' "

The Western world is turned-off to the way of non-attachment, because it is commonly believed that non-attachment would take away the mind-reeling dark chocolate velvet pleasure of the moment. However, I believe that the truth is quite the opposite: practicing non-attachment increases your enjoyment of life and of the present.

My guru Syl Carson calls it coming to a place of witness. In this place, there is no need for worry and suffering. This place inside of you is like a calm, still temple that is surrounded by howling winds and torrential downpour.

So how do you find the neutral mind inside of yourself? As soon as you recognize that you are becoming emotionally entangled with the world, trying to control things outside of your control, simply decide to accept what is. Accepting what is does not mean that you do not take efforts to change an unpleasant situation. It only means that you recognize that you do not know where any given road will actually lead and you trust that it will all will work out. As they say, everything will be okay in the end. If it isn't okay, it isn't the end.

Envision yourself as a peaceful witness, observing all of the turmoil that your ego is involved in, saying “Ah, interesting. My ego is afraid to surrender.”

Often, the addiction to get swept into the storm is so great with a given situation that it requires divine intervention. At these times, I recommend a prayer or meditation in which you focus on becoming a peaceful witness, and on accepting what is.

"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference."

                   -Reinhold Niebuhr

On Relationships

We had another blissful fifteen hour weekend of yoga immersion teacher training this last weekend. In honor of the current life situations of the students, we discussed LOVE.

My instructor and guru, Syl Carson, expressed her belief that love is a mirror. We fall in love with our own image projected onto others. When we love our partner's compassion, we are really seeing and loving our own capacity for compassion.

Likewise, when there is something about our partner that drives us crazy, while they may really posses that quality, it drives us crazy because it is a trait that describes ourselves. For example, if I was enraged to see my partner sitting in front of the TV, it is really my own denied idleness that enrages me.

In a love relationship, we make an unspoken agreement to see in each other the divine love that we have for ourselves. Doing so allows us to feel safe in understanding our love for ourselves. We make an agreement to do this for one another. Our partner therefore becomes a placeholder for divine love.

This is why it is so scary to be abandoned by a lover. We then feel unable to know the Divine's love for us.

Ultimately, I would like to be able to see myself as God (God being an all-encompassing term) sees me. As Syl said, “If I can love myself as God loves me, then I have intoxication of self-love!”

Doing this takes the fear out of love, and removes the fear from being alone.

So kiss yourself.

Namaste

*Rebecca Sky*

Confronting Concerns With Beginning Yoga: FAQS

Q. I am not flexible, and I don't regularly work out. Can I practice yoga? Isn't it really hard?

A. Yoga can be really hard, or very restful and gentle. Any pose can be modified to fit your individual abilities. Work with an experienced instructor to tailor your practice to your body and your needs! The less in shape you are the more important it is for you to begin yoga. Yoga will take you to a personally unprecedented level of mind and body fitness.

Q. Isn't yoga really easy and only practiced by women?

A. Actually, yoga was originally ONLY practiced by men, and men of the upper-class at that. No matter how fit you are, an experienced instructor can put together a class to work your muscles in ways you've never dreamed of. By practicing yoga, you will notice a dramatic improvement in your sports and athletic performance, regardless of how fit you were before.

Q. Do I have to become a Hindu vegetarian and quit drinking and wear nothing but a loincloth if I start doing yoga? Oh and talk constantly about my chakras and crystals and auras? Will people think I'm a left-wing tree-hugging-dirt-worshipping-hippie?

A. When you practice yoga on a regular basis (at least five days a week) it becomes more difficult to convince yourself to commit "crimes against wisdom" as my guru calls them. In other words, as you get more in touch with your body and mind, it becomes harder to justify doing things that aren't good for you, whether that be drinking, staying out too late, driving aggresively, whatever. It is still up to you to decide whether or not to make any other personal lifestyle changes. I recently spoke to a man who was concerned that doing yoga would hurt his reputation as a politically conservative army dude. Take comfort in knowing that as yoga becomes increasingly popular, it is being embraced across the Western world by people from all walks of life. You do not have to belong to any particular stereotype to practice yoga (except the stereotype of people who are in excellent shape who look young forever!) And loincloths are optional!

For more FAQs on beginning yoga, go here .

Playing the Edge

Yesterday evening, I decided to attend the 7pm restorative class at Bodhi Yoga. The restorative class is a much slower paced relaxing session. I had felt rather lethargic, or tamasic, all day. I was looking forward to an hour and a half of lying about on bolsters and various yoga props.


It was only about fifteen minutes into the class when I realized this was like no restorative class I had ever been to.

“Come up onto your knees,” Melanye, the instructor, spoke softly., “Push your calf muscles out to the sides, and if it's comfortable, sit down in between your ankles.” We sat down in Hero Posture which is like kneeling, only you sit on the ground in between your feet rather than on top of your feet. As I slowly lowered my sit bones to the mat, my knees ached in protest. I inhaled. I exhaled. And we stayed there...

Keeping our knees together, we slowly lowered our backs to the mat. The ache spread from my knees to my ankles, and through my thighs. I remembered a concept I had read before called “playing the edge.” To play the edge, you must reach outside of your comfort zone. Slowly, listening to your body, deepen your pose until you feel the first hints of strain. Use your breath to relax the body until you naturally pass this edge. Only once the strain has diminished, go as deep as you can into the pose. This will be uncomfortable. This will be intense. Stop before it becomes painful. Take several deep breaths here. Back off just slightly, returning to a space that feels good. After a few more breaths, return to your edge. Lather, rinse, repeat.

In Reclining Hero Pose, or Supta Virasana, I felt my first edge before I was even flat on my back. I stopped momentarily and reclined on my elbows. Here, I breathed and asked my body for permission to take it further. As I reminded myself that this is a mental exercise not a physical one, the intense sensation I felt in my thighs subsided. I knew I was safe to release entirely into the pose. I laid my back flat against the mat as I felt the opening sensation through my feet, legs, and ankles. I took several deep breaths here which enabled me to focus through the intensity. I then raised my back slightly off of the floor. When I was ready, I released my back flat on the mat again.

As I repeated this process several times, I felt powerful and entirely in control of my body. I was able to greatly expand my comfort zone in this pose, which brought confidence to other areas of my life simultaneously.

This reminds me of the importance of “playing the edge” in life as well. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing everyday that scares you.”

I hereby intend to make this my personal motto. When you frequently reach outside of your comfort zone, your edges expand. Get comfortable being outside of your comfort zone. People are like plants; if you are not growing you are dead.

Following are several ideas to bring you to your edge!

Every time an opportunity for promotion presents itself in your company, apply for the position. (Even if you feel that you are not qualified.)

*Take a new way home from work or school and stop at any location that catches your eye.
*Instead of eating hamburgers for the sixth night in a row, try Indian food. Or Peruvian food, Thai food, sushi, whatever!
*When you're an expert at something, admit it! Offer to share your skills and knowledge with people who can benefit from it.

(Photos copyright of  Chelsea K Nielsen)

One Who Has Achieved Harmony

During the yoga teacher training class I attended last weekend, it was suggested that everyone that comes into your space or your life is there to teach you. This thought gave me a fresh perspective on the guy in a huge truck who tailgated me on my way to the yoga retreat. I thought, “Okay, maybe he showed up to remind me not to look at myself as a victim.” (I drive looking in my rear-view mirror almost constantly, always on the watch for tailgaters and otherwise mean people.)

I learned in this retreat that there are three qualities of consciousness, or energy, called gunas. These gunas are tamas, rajas, and sattva. Things and actions can include a combination of these qualities, but one quality often dominates in any given thing, person, or action.

Tamas is an attribute of lethargy, introversion, inertia, depression, and stillness. Upward and downward movements are also tamasic. When a person is in a tamasic state, they may feel unmotivated, chronically fatigued, shy, and bored. They are not interested in doing anything, and the brain may feel cloudy. Certain foods are tamasic, such as alcohol, meat, processed foods, and white flour. When consumed, these items lead to tiredness and confusion. To find balance when in a tamasic state, breathe, and focus on your inhale as it brings you energy and life force.

Rajas is movement! It is an attribute of desire, excitement, anger, willfulness, and passion. Rajasic foods include all stimulants, such as caffeine and “uppers” as well as very spicy or very sour foods. Maybe not by chance, there is a girl in one of my classes at the university I attend who has a very rajasic energy about her. She is jittery and constantly talking and interrupting the professor. She angers at the drop of a hat, and her eyes are always open so wide that I am afraid they will pop out of her skull. Oh, she grinds her teeth. Every time she opens her mouth, I can't help but roll my eyes. Suddenly, during my yoga retreat, I realized that she was there to teach me. Only after feeling disgusted with her behavior did I realize how much I have in common with her. Only then was I able to see how unattractive my own behavior can be at times. After all, I drink coffee almost every day; I chatter incessantly, and I am rather opinionated, to say the least. I finally saw that moving away from rajas would improve my life and my relations with others. To find balance when in a rajasic state, breathe deeply, and focus on your exhale. This will help you to calm down.

Sattva is the last of the three gunas. Sattva literally translates to mean purity or reality. Sattva brings peace, enlightenment and clarity of thought. Sattvic foods include fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and milk products (only if the cow was well-treated.) These foods are easy to digest, light, and not fattening. They may be sweetened with honey, raw sugar, or other natural sweeteners such as agave. They should not have a large amount of pepper , spice, or salt. A sattvic individual is neither hyperactive nor lazy, but moves in rhythm with the earth. According to the Baghavad Gita, a sattvic person would be friendly, compassionate, all-forgiving, ever content, and free from anxiety, elation, anger, and fear. He (or she) would be one who neither hates nor grieves, one who has achieved harmony.

Remember that those who come into your life or your space are all there to teach you. They may be there to remind you of what you would like to improve in yourself, or they may be an excellent example of the sattvic state of being which we would all like to find in ourselves.

http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/

*Rebecca Sky *