As I've been reading about the Eight Limbs of Yoga and writing my papers, I've been trying to digest, journal and/or blog about my findings. One of my new favorite yoga books solely focuses on the first two limbs, yama and niyama (restraint and observance). Each of these two limbs has five separate "branches." As I read about each branch, I've been trying to put these practices into my daily life.
The first branch of yama is ahimsa. While this technically means "non-harming," I like to think of it as its more positive opposite: how can we heal others and ourselves and thus find peace? Harming can be any form of physical abuse to any living creature, as well as hurtful words, thoughts or actions towards others or ourselves. Yeah, that makes it a little more real.
For some people, the first hurdle to overcome is how we think about and treat ourselves. Are you constantly putting yourself down, focusing on your failures or comparing yourself to others? Author Adele explains, "how we treat ourselves is in truth how we treat those around us" (pg. 29). So basically, if you treat yourself like shit...you get the picture.
This is the spot that really hit home for me: "If you are a taskmaster with yourself, others will feel your whip" (in my case, my students say I am mean, for example, which is fine). I hope my friends and co-workers do not feel my whip though! Yikes!
The last part of ahimsa that speaks to me is worrying about others, which brought me to a realization that I needed to apologize to my husband: I worry about him, which I find normal because I love him! Ahimsa says that worry towards another person is a lack of faith in that person. "We both devalue and insult others when we worry about them," states Adele (pg. 35).
Let's cycle back to our original question: how can we heal and bring peace to others and ourselves? (I'd like to think I am a peaceful person, but my control freak-ness proves otherwise.) We must first learn to love and have compassion with ourselves, even through our failures and struggles. This means forgiving ourselves and meeting all situations with love. So don't forget to pause, breathe, and love. And maybe yoga in there somewhere :)
Long quote but so worth the read, I promise:
Life is amazing. And then it is awful. And then it's amazing again.
And in between the amazing and the awful, its ordinary and mundane and routine.
Breathe in the amazing,
hold on through the awful,
and relax and exhale during the ordinary.
That's just living heartbreaking,
soul-healing,
amazing,
awful,
ordinary life.
And it's breathtakingly beautiful.
-LR Knost
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Pause. Breathe. Love. Surrender.
I start my Yoga Teacher Certification classes in a few weeks, and I've been obsessed with reading the required and recommended books listed on the class syllabus. I'm also getting ahead by writing papers to meet one of the certification requirements. Three of the books I've read have to do with the Eight Limbs of Yoga, so I'm getting to know each of the limbs pretty well. The first book, "Eight Limbs of Yoga" by Stuart Ray Sarbacker, was a great introduction. The second book I read, "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" by Alistair Shearer, was a little more abstract and harder to grasp, but I pushed through and got a lot out of it. One of the many books I am currently reading is "The Yamas and Niyamas" by Deborah Adele. This book focuses on the first two limbs (yama and niyama) and describes each of their parts in great detail. Needless to say, I've been obsessed with this book because it is opening my mind to the Eastern way of living and thinking. What an eye-opening experience it has been!
As I've been learning about each limb, I've also been journaling my thoughts and how I can apply these practices to my daily life. Being OCD, I started with ahimsa, the first part of the first limb. However, today I decided to break the rules and read about the last part of niyama: ishavara pranidhana (surrender). I found this "branch" to be most applicable to my life right now, and I wanted to share what I am learning:
Surrender is the idea of transforming everything we do into an act of devotion. We can and should devote our time/energy/whatever we have to a higher power, a person, humankind, etc. We do this not for our own gain, but for the gain of those around us, thus, surrendering putting ourselves first and realizing that we are only a small portion of the larger picture in life. We grow as beings most when we do this. Life isn't about getting what we want and throwing a tantrum if we don't get our way. It sounds silly and obvious, but it happens everyday for many and multiples times a day for some. Adele writes, "just think about how many times you tell yourself you had a 'bad day' because it didn't go the way you had planned" (pg. 165). I don't know about you, but I am so guilty of this! Often times, we are our own enemy, getting in the way of living a life of true harmony and peace.
Shavasana (corpse pose) is the ultimate posture of surrender. It is "easy" in the sense that you just lay on your back with your body relaxed. However, it is said to be one of the most challenging poses to yogis because it requires us to withdraw our senses, clear our minds and meditate/devote ourselves to something without getting distracted by the world around us. Some yogis do this for hours, although most people can only do it for a few minutes, if that. Corpse pose as it is called is also practice for our last surrender, death. Its purpose is for us to "learn the meaning of letting go of all the ways we physically and mentally fight with life" (pg. 167).
"But I don't have 15 minutes, let alone an hour" is usually what people say. What is it that is so important that we are afraid to stop and do one of the many things our body requires for life: breathe. I promise you, the dishes will still be there...but are they more important than the health of your mind, body and heart?
I'm known to be somewhat of a slob (which I need to work on because niyama does call for cleanliness on the physical and mental level), but honestly--I don't think that on my dying bed I will ever say the words "I wish I would've had a cleaner house and done more laundry." I'm going to say, "I wish I would've learned what was most important in life sooner: loving others and loving myself." I'm trying to live so that I won't have to say those words on my death bed. I'm trying to surrender myself to finding peace and loving others now.
What is it that we are so afraid of missing by pausing? I'm learning that there are two types of fear: survival (which we almost truly never encounter) and make-believe. We're living in a society that makes us fear there is not enough time to do all the things we need to do. It is not true; we are wasting our time on all the things we think we should do. (Side note: I deleted facebook from my phone because I thought it was interfering with my ability to pause and breathe during down time...best idea ever!)
With that, please take a few moments today to "pause, breathe, love" and surrender (you don't even have to "yoga," hence the name of the blog). I promise you won't regret it!
Until next time! Namaste.
As I've been learning about each limb, I've also been journaling my thoughts and how I can apply these practices to my daily life. Being OCD, I started with ahimsa, the first part of the first limb. However, today I decided to break the rules and read about the last part of niyama: ishavara pranidhana (surrender). I found this "branch" to be most applicable to my life right now, and I wanted to share what I am learning:
Surrender is the idea of transforming everything we do into an act of devotion. We can and should devote our time/energy/whatever we have to a higher power, a person, humankind, etc. We do this not for our own gain, but for the gain of those around us, thus, surrendering putting ourselves first and realizing that we are only a small portion of the larger picture in life. We grow as beings most when we do this. Life isn't about getting what we want and throwing a tantrum if we don't get our way. It sounds silly and obvious, but it happens everyday for many and multiples times a day for some. Adele writes, "just think about how many times you tell yourself you had a 'bad day' because it didn't go the way you had planned" (pg. 165). I don't know about you, but I am so guilty of this! Often times, we are our own enemy, getting in the way of living a life of true harmony and peace.
Shavasana (corpse pose) is the ultimate posture of surrender. It is "easy" in the sense that you just lay on your back with your body relaxed. However, it is said to be one of the most challenging poses to yogis because it requires us to withdraw our senses, clear our minds and meditate/devote ourselves to something without getting distracted by the world around us. Some yogis do this for hours, although most people can only do it for a few minutes, if that. Corpse pose as it is called is also practice for our last surrender, death. Its purpose is for us to "learn the meaning of letting go of all the ways we physically and mentally fight with life" (pg. 167).
"But I don't have 15 minutes, let alone an hour" is usually what people say. What is it that is so important that we are afraid to stop and do one of the many things our body requires for life: breathe. I promise you, the dishes will still be there...but are they more important than the health of your mind, body and heart?
I'm known to be somewhat of a slob (which I need to work on because niyama does call for cleanliness on the physical and mental level), but honestly--I don't think that on my dying bed I will ever say the words "I wish I would've had a cleaner house and done more laundry." I'm going to say, "I wish I would've learned what was most important in life sooner: loving others and loving myself." I'm trying to live so that I won't have to say those words on my death bed. I'm trying to surrender myself to finding peace and loving others now.
What is it that we are so afraid of missing by pausing? I'm learning that there are two types of fear: survival (which we almost truly never encounter) and make-believe. We're living in a society that makes us fear there is not enough time to do all the things we need to do. It is not true; we are wasting our time on all the things we think we should do. (Side note: I deleted facebook from my phone because I thought it was interfering with my ability to pause and breathe during down time...best idea ever!)
With that, please take a few moments today to "pause, breathe, love" and surrender (you don't even have to "yoga," hence the name of the blog). I promise you won't regret it!
Until next time! Namaste.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
...but first...yoga
Over the years, I've created a running blog documenting my 0-26 mile marathon journey, as well as a hiking blog documenting my many hiking adventures in my current state of residence, Alaska. Well, now it's time for my new and next adventure...Yoga!
I've been dabbling in yoga for years, attending classes here and there, but I didn't fully commit until this past summer when I finally got a temporary pass at a nearby yoga studio. From then, my obsession intensified. I got an annual pass and completed two 30-day challenges within three months. On top of that, I buckled down and decided, what the heck, I should just get certified to teach yoga! I start classes next month and can't wait to learn more about yoga, as well as how to teach it.
Until then, I thought I should document my recent yoga epiphanies:
1. Yoga is awesome :)
2. Yoga is a great core and upper body work out
3. Yoga reduces stress and increases mindfulness
4. Yoga can take place of other more intense exercises (in my case, running)
5. Yoga can be relaxing and restorative
6. Yoga can be simple yet challenging...if that makes sense
7. Yoga can make you feel like you just had a massage (especially after Christa's class)
8. Yoga decreases my need for wine (seriously)
9. Yoga is beautiful
10. Yoga is a journey...for the body, mind and soul
That's all for now. Check back for updates.
Quote of the day:
"Be your own. That's it."
-Me
I've been dabbling in yoga for years, attending classes here and there, but I didn't fully commit until this past summer when I finally got a temporary pass at a nearby yoga studio. From then, my obsession intensified. I got an annual pass and completed two 30-day challenges within three months. On top of that, I buckled down and decided, what the heck, I should just get certified to teach yoga! I start classes next month and can't wait to learn more about yoga, as well as how to teach it.
Until then, I thought I should document my recent yoga epiphanies:
1. Yoga is awesome :)
2. Yoga is a great core and upper body work out
3. Yoga reduces stress and increases mindfulness
4. Yoga can take place of other more intense exercises (in my case, running)
5. Yoga can be relaxing and restorative
6. Yoga can be simple yet challenging...if that makes sense
7. Yoga can make you feel like you just had a massage (especially after Christa's class)
8. Yoga decreases my need for wine (seriously)
9. Yoga is beautiful
10. Yoga is a journey...for the body, mind and soul
That's all for now. Check back for updates.
Quote of the day:
"Be your own. That's it."
-Me
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