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Feel the Prana

2011-08-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

If we can’t see something or quantify it, does it mean it doesn’t exist. We can’t measure emotions, but they are real. The physiology of our bodies changes when we feel strong emotions.

In Yoga there is a concept called Prana. Prana can’t be seen and it can’t be defined concretely. It is something like “life force”. Breath is often equated with Prana. Breath and Prana are not equal. Breath is more of the transport mechanism for Prana. The breath is how Prana is moved.

Concentration or focus is also essential to the movement of Prana within the body. This connection on breath and movement to move Prana is one of the main reasons why, in Yoga, it is soooooooo important to move with the breath, matching the movement to the breathing. When our concentration is placed on matching the breath with the movement, this allows Prana to move throughout the body.

Feel the Prana.

Visualize that the breath is carrying the Prana throughout the body as you breath. You don’t have to understand the visualization for it to work, just visualize it.

Sit and take six breaths.

Then sitting, move your arms up from the front as far as is totally comfortable on inhale. On exhale, lower the arms. Do this for about six breaths.

Now visualize that the breath moving the Prana through your arms as you inhale and raise the arms and the Prana moving through the arms as you exhale and lower them.

Sit for a few minutes and notice how your body feels especially how your arms feel.

Prana is moved through attention to the breath and movement of the body.

Some things to reflect on. What does Prana do? How does it serve us?

Yoga helps you listen to your body.

2010-08-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Yoga helps you listen to your body. When we listen to our body, we take better care of ourselves.

Its as simple as this. When we move the body with the breath, only moving as far as is comfortable, we start to become more connected to our bodies and less connected to our thoughts. We begin to listen to what our body is saying. Listening to your body lets you know where you are at that moment and what you need.

To listen, you have to stop talking (thinking). When we place our attention on the breath and its alignment with the movement of the body, we slowly start to become more focused on our body and less on our thoughts.

Try this. Sit in a chair with your arms by your side. Inhale and lift the arms up from the front matching the movement to the breath and pausing for a second after inhale and after exhale. Do this for six times.

Next, inhale and lift the arms from the side - again matching the movement to the breath and pausing for a second after inhale and after exhale. Do this six times.

Now close your eyes and reflect for a minute on how your body feels. You are listening to your body.

First you learn to listen TO your body then you learn to listen WITH your body! Next posting I will describe listening with your body.

Yoga Supports Self-Do Not Self-Help.

2010-06-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Yoga supports self-do not self-help.

The self-help industry is a huge and very lucrative industry. I noticed most of these self help books suggest reprogramming your self and being disciplined about doing so.

Here is the rub, when you are really stuck in a situation, it is often painful to think about it much less to be disciplined about it. Knowing what needs to change and how to change it is one thing, but having the capability to make the change is a whole other story.

One way to develop this capability is a daily Yoga practice. When we take as little as 15 minutes a day to be with our breath and body, we begin to feel more of ourselves. We slowly begin to see things a little differently, feel differently, and make different decisions.

Then change takes place. The change does not come from disciplining and policing ourselves. The change comes from being more connected to your body, breath, intellect, personality, and emotions.

Then we develop the capability to behave differently - in a way that is more kind, healthy, and balanced for ourselves. As Westerners, we are already so hard on ourselves. We might question how helpful it is to discipline and force change on our selves on top of all the demands we already make.

Wanna be lucky? Practice Yoga

2010-06-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

As I have said in my previous post, Yoga is primarily about developing the capacity to calm and focus the mind.

See below. It seems as though a British researcher has discovered that luck comes from focus!

This suggests practicing Yoga makes you lucky!

"It seems luck may not be so much something that happens to you, but rather a result of how you focus your attention."

"According to Wiseman, lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles: They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good."

Richard Wiseman, author of The Luck Factor

For further info see http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4149

What does Yoga have to do with patterns?

2010-01-22T18:34:00.001-08:00

Ever notice that our problems often repeat.

Often we don’t see habits that are not helping us, because the habits become ingrained. So, this loop can go on and on. We keep entering the same cycles of patterns time and time again.

And these cycles take up energy and effort and can take a toll on the body, mind, and spirit. It is like a story that recreates itself again and again with slightly different circumstances but with the same overall set up.

Yoga is the process of replacing the patterns of attention that do not serve us with patterns of attention that are good for us. In other words, Yoga suggests that we practice the good habits and the bad habits will lessen.

To change habits, you must see the habit clearly and have the discipline and discrimination to change the habit. Yoga, helps us to see our habits more clearly.

For example, when we take fifteen minutes each evening before bed to do some breathing and movement, we create a new habit of of placing ourselves in a relaxed state before we go to sleep. Simply creating a new habit of placing yourself in a relaxed state of mind and body before going to sleep each evening can have a profound effect on your life!

Detachment is a Good Thing!

2009-11-20T15:38:00.000-08:00

The Yoga Sutras says that we move towards the goal of Yoga by practice and detachment. When we are able to do both of these then we know Yoga is working.

The order is important. You practice and then something happens. That something is usually what lets us not be so attached to a behavior or outcome. In this context detachment is always positive. In the West we tend to view detachment as meaning that we don’t care, when actually it is exactly the inverse. When we are able to be detached towards someone we are able to be deeply compassionate towards them. In a sense, detachment means you don’t project your stuff onto other events or people.

Practice is important because Yoga is about experience and practice. We do something, we try it out, and then we realize something or we don’t realize something.

Practice and detachment feed each other - practice enables detachment and detachment enables practice.

Why is detachment so important? Because, the more detached you are, the calmer your mind is. The two big goals of Yoga are a calm mind and seeing clearly.

The Focus of Yoga. The Yoga of Focus.

2009-08-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

The definition of Yoga is Yoga Citta Vrtti Nirodah. This probably does not mean much to you as it is in romanized sanskrit.

Translated, the statement indicates that Yoga is developing the ability to manage (nirodaha) the mental activity of your mind (vritti), so that a refined state of mind (citta) is supported.

T.K.V. Desikachar, a great teacher of Yoga, describes it this way - “Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively toward an object and sustain that direction without distractions.”

For example, when we practice asana, we are focusing on the breath and aligning the movement of the body with the breath. We are being present to ourselves - focusing on ourselves. That is one of the reasons why Yoga works - you focus on yourself, become more aware of yourself, learn more about yourself, and this awareness then informs the choices you make.

When you practice Yoga, you are practicing and developing the ability to focus on one thing. You can then apply this ability to whatever you choose - a musical instrument, writing, gardening, building something, etc. Valuable use of time no?

Yoga enables acting with clarity

2009-08-02T16:08:00.001-07:00

In Yoga, you are breathing and moving in tune with where your body IS at that exact moment. You are practicing being WITH where you are.

Then....

The ability to go slow and be aware of your actions seeps out into your everyday world. You develop the ability to watch yourself, to see where you are more clearly, and to act from that space.

When we act from where we are, rather than where we want to be, we see more clearly and respond more appropriately.

So Yoga let’s you practice slowing down and being attentive - then you start to have more clarity - and act with clarity.

Yoga in Action! You practice Yoga, but how do you do Yoga?

2009-07-29T10:47:00.001-07:00

The Yoga of action, the Yoga you can do, is composed of three parts- practice, self-examination, and letting go of the outcome.

Let’s break this down. . .

Ultimately, Yoga is about increased clarity which leads to a decrease in lack of clarity.

PRACTICE. When you practice something, you get benefits from the practice or you get better at what you are practicing. In a previous post, I mentioned that when you practice Yoga, you are practicing (1) consciously developing a good quality of breath, (2) concentration, (3) bodily awareness, and (4) being present. All this contributes to greater levels of clarity.

SELF EXAMINATION. We watch ourselves, our behaviors, our reactions, our thoughts, etc. For example, when you have a conflict with a coworker, there is a part of you that watches your reaction to the conflict rather than all of you being consumed by it. You then learn from the conflict and make changes that improve the situation. If no part of you can observe, and the conflict consumes you, then you become angry at the person and tell yourself how sure you are that they are wrong. You then carry the incident around with you milling over it again and again.

So practice gives us greater awareness which we then use to examine our selves. Then we see more clearly the changes we need to make to take better care of ourselves.

The last one is letting go of the outcome. So we do our best and then we let go of the results. This is a BIG one. For many of us, a large part of our stress comes from either worrying about what we cannot control or trying to control what we cannot control and getting frustrated when it does not work.

Yoga suggest we PRACTICE, OBSERVE, and LET GO.

So when you go to Yoga class you are practicing. When are you doing the other two components?

Here is the way it goes. You practice, you take a look at yourself and you don’t beat yourself up about things. You show yourself some compassion. Then you let go of the outcome. I have done the best I can.

The practice gives you the space and the clarity to actually see yourself, and the space and the clarity allow you to realize that you can only do so much. Then you have some peace of mind and you feel a bit more free in your everyday life!

When you practice Yoga, what are you practicing?

2009-07-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

During the day, we mostly move our bodies in the same way - we walk forward, we sit - often at a computer, and sometimes we bend down. But, for the most part, we don’t move our body in many ways that it can move. We also don’t usually counter our movements. Like we don’t spend time walking backward (just kidding). But seriously, most of the time our shoulders are hunched over slightly and our back is rounded. Common sense would suggest that, at some point in the day, it would be a good idea to open the shoulders and arch the back.

Yoga is primarily about the mind. And about how absolutely necessary it is to stay connected to the breath when you move, and to coordinate breath with movement. The breath tells you where you are - tired, calm, agitated, focused, distracted, refreshed, impatient - the breath reflects all this.

So when you practice Yoga asanas or postures, you are practicing being present to your state (because you are connected to your breath) and you are practicing moving in ways that you don’t normally move. Now this is BIG. Stay with me here . . .

You are practicing doing things you normally don’t do and you are being present at the same time. In other words, your Yoga practice enables increasing levels of comfort with new situations, some of which may be difficult. At first the postures may be difficult because your body and mind are new to them. But, over time, what once seemed difficult, becomes easier to do.

Practicing dealing with new and uncertain situations and developing a sense of presence, alertness and calmness at the same time - if this is not pragmatic, I don’t know what is! Think about it. Better yet, do some Yoga and feel it, experience it, live it.

Wanna know what Yoga is or what Yoga does?

2009-07-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

It is important to be clear that Yoga is not religion. Yoga is a body of knowledge that originated in the region of the world that is now referred to as India.

Yoga is a body of knowledge that prescribes a way of understanding and working with the world we encounter. It can be thought of as an orientation or a way of seeing. In fact, these bodies of knowledge, of which Yoga is one, are referred to as darsanas. Darsana means means sight or vision.

An important aspect of Yoga is that we must practice Yoga. Yoga is not just a body of knowledge. Yoga is a framework that includes guidelines for practice.

Sanskrit is the language of Yoga as Latin is the language of Western Wisdom. There is an ancient sanskrit dictionary by Shankaracharya that gives some definitions for Yoga. These definitions are beautifully suggestive in terms of the ways in which the study and practice of Yoga serves us.

(1) Sannahana (protection) protects us, takes good care of us

(2) Dhyanam (meditation) ability to develop interactions with what we seek to understand

(3) Sangati (union) something that brings things together

(4) Yukti (wisdom) special wisdom, clarity, intelligence

These are gifts that Yoga gives. If they sound good to you, keep studying and practicing Yoga. You will begin to feel these gifts manifest in your life in one form or another.

What's on your mind or (what's in your mind)?

2009-07-19T22:14:00.001-07:00

We talked about how Yoga is all about calming and focusing the mind. Calming and focusing seem like straightforward words. I, for one, often wonder what I am calming and focusing- what is my mind?

The Yoga Sutras define the mind by what it does - its activities.

The mind is presented as having five activities: (1) comprehension, (2) misapprehension, (3) imagination, (4) deep sleep, and (5) memory.

These activities can have positive or negative results.

When you see clearly, you see which ones are which- although they tend to overlap with the exception of deep sleep. When you don't see clearly you get them all mixed up.

The relationship example seems to work well. I meet this person that I am really attracted to. As a result, when I am with her I may be more likely to be seeing with "my imagination" so to speak - I already have this strong desire that she will like me so I am looking for signs that that is or is not the case. Instead of maybe looking at what is actually happening - clear perception, I see with my mind through the filter of my imagination- what I want to happen.

So, as always in the interest of understanding this experientially....

Exercise: Watching the mind of five.

Part A : Sit and take a look at your mind right now and notice what activities are taking place in your mind. See if you can sort and label the activities relative to the five activities (deep sleep will probably not be an activity when doing the exercise!) ? This should not take more than a couple of minutes.

For example:

Are you looking at the computer monitor in front of you and reading these words and letters correctly (comprehension)?

Are you assuming you know what I am getting at with my description and exercise (possible misapprehension - if you turn out to be wrong)?

Are you thinking of sitting by a beach in the nice warm sun listening to the sounds of the waves break on the shore (imagination)?

Are you remembering that you need to pick up that package at 3:00 today (memory)?

Part B: Sit for five minutes and reflect on whether or not you are clear on the activities of your mind at the present moment. For example, are you able to notice the difference between memory and imagination. What happens when you "think" the activity is comprehension but the activity later turns out to have been misapprehension?

So there is an important point suggested here. It is helpful to be able to see clearly whether a thought is comprehension, misapprehension, memory, or imagination. Referring back to the previous example, think about how you get these activities mixed up when you first enter into a relationship with someone special.

How do ya know what you are doing is Yoga?

2009-07-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

The Yoga Sutra, the 2000 year old manual on Yoga that I constantly refer to, states that when we do asana, bodily movement with a focus on the breath, we should also be relaxed and alert.

I am always saying Yoga is primarily about the mind. Think about this - if you are moving a part of your body in coordination with your breath, and at the same time maintaining a state of relaxation and alertness- then you are practicing (1) consciously developing a good quality of breath, (2) concentration, (3) bodily awareness, and (4) being present. You are using your mind and your body to practice all these different things. Good use of time, no?

Guess what happens when you practice something over time? You got it - you get better at it. Then, pretty soon, you get good at it.

Yoga is not really about doing difficult postures and getting a "good stretch" in the body. The Yoga Sutras is four chapters with 195 sutras - only three sutras are about asana, or bodily movement.

I have had students in my classes that can "go all the way" when they do a posture or can do challenging postures with little difficulty. While they may be able to get their body to move into the posture, if they are not connected to their breath and in a relaxed and alert state, then, according to Patanjali- they are not doing Yoga. They are not practicing (1) consciously developing a good quality of breath, (2) concentration, (3) bodily awareness, and (4) being present.

It is all about function over form. The function of Yoga Asana is to practice using the mind to coordinate movement with breath. This is Yoga, even if you are just raising one arm up and down 12 inches. On the other hand, or should I say on the other leg, even if you got your leg wrapped around the back of your head, if you are not matching your movement with your breath and you are not in a relaxed and alert state- according to the Yoga Sutras - you aint practicin Yoga.

Exercise:

Part A:

For about one minute - sit in a chair and practice moving your arms up as far as you can on inhale and lowering your arms on exhale. No need to focus on the breath, just raise your arms as far as you can on inhale and lower your arms on exhale.

Rest for one minute.

Part B:

For about one minute -sit in a chair and practice moving your arms up as far as comfortable on inhale and lowering your arms on exhale. Pay particular attention to matching the movement to the breath. Also, as you move and breath, attempt to be relaxed and alert.

Rest for one minute.

Notice the difference in how you felt for part A and part B.

Wanna know what keeps you from seeing clearly?

2009-07-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

The wisdom of Yoga suggests that five things keep us from seeing clearly - (1) not seeing clearly (uuuu duh), (2) false identity, (3) excessive attachments, (4) unreasonable dislikes, and (5) insecurity.

(1) Not seeing clearly is the source of all the other obstacles, (2,3,4,5). The sanskrit word for not seeing clearly is Avidya.

YOGA IS ALL ABOUT SEEING MORE CLEARLY - REPLACING AVIDYA, LACK OF CLARITY, WITH CLARITY!

Recall, the main purposes of Yoga are to calm and focus the mind. We calm and focus the mind so that we can see more clearly

When we see more clearly, we are less likely to do things or respond in ways that create further difficulties for us down the road. This allows us to keep a more calm mind, which allows us to see more clearly - you get the idea - sort of like a positive feedback loop that just gets stronger and stronger.

So the primary focus is working on your state of mind, then you can see more clearly and act and perceive in ways that benefit you rather than hinder you.

Now lets go back to the other four obstacles to seeing clearly.

(2) False identity is when you get your own identity mixed up with what you are doing or what is happening to you. For example, you are a successful business person that has worked very hard to grow your company, then all the sudden one day it becomes very clear to you that some other areas in your life have been sorely neglected due to your solitary focus on your business. Or, you have a business that you started and it has failed. You think that this failed business is who you are. Your over identification with this event becomes an obstacle to your moving past it.

We can address (3) excessive attachments and (4) unreasonable dislikes together as they are the inverse of one another.

(3) Excessive attachment is when you are so strongly conditioned to go after what you like, what feels good to you, or what you are accustomed to that you don't see the other stuff that is going on in your life. You always had your own apartment and now you can't afford that so you are unhappy living with a housemate.

(4) Unreasonable dislikes is when you avoid seeing or responding to things or events that you may need to pay attention to because, at some point in the past, these things were painful or unpleasant to you. This is an easy example- you get dumped by someone you loved, so you become more cautious or closed when you get in another relationship.

(5) Insecurity is the feeling of anxiety about what is to come. Or, put another way, fear of the unknown. I think we all get this one!

Exercise:

Part One:

Take two minutes to reflect on (2) false identity, (3) excessive attachments, (4) unreasonable dislikes, and (5) insecurity - flick through the concepts like a slide show and notice how they relate to your life. You should be able, rather quickly, to identify the BIG ONE for you. Mine is unreasonable dislikes with, dare I say, insecurity coming in at a fast second place. Pick one to work with for the next two minutes.

Part Two:

Reflect on the one you picked and see what comes to mind, to body, or to emotion. This is not about judging, blaming, or feeling guilty - it is about gathering information from reflection that can help you! The whole idea of this exercise - if you can identify clearly (he he) what you need to work with, then it is much easier to work with it- of course! Knowledge is power or, should I say, awareness is power!

Objectivity is a psychological construct, not a reality.

2009-07-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

As previously stated, Yoga is about working with your mind - calming your mind and focusing your mind.

So why is working with the mind so important?

Yoga says we see "through our mind". Meaning that our state of mind determines what we see and how we react to what we see.

When I was studying in India they told a wonderful story that illustrates this point. Inside the yard of a temple, there is a man lying down with his eyes closed and he appears to be completely relaxed. Why is the man lying here? We were asked to reflect on this.

Here was the answer...

To the person whose mind is agitated and defensive, the man is pretending to be asleep. When there are not many people left in the temple, he is going to sneak in and steal some of the donation money.

To the person who often feels bad or has health problems, the man is not feeling well and has had to rest right where he happens to be - in the temple.

To the person whose mind is calm, the man is taking a nap in the middle of the day because he is tired. He is so comfortable with himself that he has no problem laying down and taking a nap right there in the temple yard.

Now, here is where it gets interesting. The man wakes up slowly and walks towards you. What determines the quality with which you interact with him? How will this, in turn, affect his interaction with you?

Yoga says that everything we see, experience, and feel is real, because we DO see it, feel it, or experience it and it DOES have an effect on us. The sanskrit word for this is satvada.

If we practice Yoga so that our mind is in a more calm state, the world in which we act, move, work, and live becomes a more calm place.

Exercise:

Part One: Take two minutes at some point in the day and notice how your state of mind is filtering or coloring the "objective" reality of what you are seeing.

Part Two: Take two minutes to think of something that calms you, then watch the quality with which you interact with your world.

Duhkha - stuff that sucks!

2009-07-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

Duhkha is the sanskirt word for pain or discomfort that we feel. It does not refer to physical pain so much as the constriction in our chest that we feel when we are under a lot of pressure, or that "sinking feeling" we get. Duhkha also happens when something bad has happened, or when things have really not worked out the way we wanted them to.

Duhkha sucks! It feels bad.

Yoga says some interesting things about duhkha. It says dukha often arises from our lack of clarity. In other words, we don't see clearly so we do things or don't do things- and this causes us pain, discomfort, or suffering.

So I am adding to our running list of the main purposes of Yoga - to calm the mind, to focus the mind, and to develop the capacity to see more clearly. Yoga says that we when we act with a calm and clear mind, it is less likely that our actions will result in duhkha.

One of the benefits of Yoga is that it develops the capability to see the duhkha as it effects you. Like, if I am in debt and my finances are shaky, then I feel duhkha or I feel pain and discomfort. But there is a part of me that witnesses this rather than 100% of me feeling like someone in a lot of debt. There is a part of me (20% of me, let's say) that is separate from what is happening to me. Yoga helps you strengthen the identify of the part of you that is not affected by duhkha.

Exercise: Take five minutes to reflect on how you can really suffer as a result of something, yet there is a part of you that remains unaffected. What are the implications of this?

My favorite observation about Duhkha...

It is precisely those who are searching for clarity who experience a lot of Duhkha.

In other words, dust that lands on the skin is harmless, but if just a little bit of dust gets in your eye it is very harmful.

Another thing about dukkha is that it is how we learn, and it often is that which forces us to act. So while duhkha sucks when we are in it, the results of duhkha can often be helpful.

A little Yoga magic

2009-07-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

The primary goal of Yoga is to develop the capacity to focus on a single thing for a duration of time without being distracted.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Yoga is about the mind - calming and focusing the mind.

There a lots of different tools and methods used in Yoga. Asana, body movements matched to the breath, is only one of them.

But, asana is where we will start.

Please do this four minute exercise right now.

Sit with your arms resting by your side. Breathe out.

When you breath in raise your arms from the front as far as is comfortable.

When you breathe out lower your arms back down.

So you are lifting your arms as far as is comfortable when you breathe in and lowering your arms back down when you breath out.

The whole idea here is not how far you can raise your arms, but that you can match your movement to your breathing. When your breath ends, end the movement of your arms.

STEP ONE: One minute. In a seated position, (eyes closed - if this is comfortable for you) raise and lower your arms matching your movement to your breathing. Raising arms when you breathe in, lowering arms when you breathe out.

STEP TWO: One minute. Sit and reflect on what was different when you were doing this exercise. What was going on? Do you now feel different from when you started?

REPEAT STEP ONE

REPEAT STEP TWO

One reason why this stuff is so powerful ...

What's interesting is that when you use your mind to focus on the movement of your body and aligning that with your breath - your mind is not thinking so much - the mind is focused on the body and the breath, not so much on - I should not have done that, she doesn't understand me, I hope this all goes well, will I have time for this, I can't wait to eat lunch, that is going to be so much fun, etc.

You are practicing Yoga - that is - you are practicing focusing the mind on one thing- alignment of breath and movement. You are also practicing bodily awareness by being with your body and breath - two fruits with one stone!

This is the magic of Yoga. Something happens when we regularly (every day) - even if just for five minutes- focus on aligning our breathing and movement.

Breath of honesty

2009-07-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

In Yoga, the main goals are to calm and focus the mind. In order to calm and focus the mind, you have to first be able to look at the mind and assess what state it is in.

The fundamental principle for working with Yoga postures or asanas is to establish and maintain a connection to the breath as you move. The main reason for this is quite simple.

OUR BREATH ALWAYS ACCURATELY REPRESENTS OUR STATE OF MIND.

We stay connected to the breath when we practice asana because the breath is always accurate, while our mind often is not accurate.

For example, in a Yoga class, you see the person next to you touch her toes when she bends forward, then your mind says "You should be able to do that too. Why can't you do that? I think you should try to touch your toes."

Here is a different scenario. You are in a Yoga class. Your attention is on your breath. You start bending forward and you notice that your breath begins to shorten when you are only 2/3 of the way down. Then you know where to stop. What is really beautiful about this? The information about your limitations came from your body and your breath rather than some external source - now there is a novel idea- that your own body knows best what its limitations are.

Do you have five minutes to understand this concept experientially rather than by just reading these words?

EXERCISE: Have a look at your breath.

Part A. Next time you feel agitated, impatient, or upset- stop for one minute and take a look at the quality of your breath- is it more short and interrupted or more long and smooth? Next take a minute to notice how the act of simply observing your breath has affected your state.

Part B. Next time you feel relaxed, happy, or comfortable - stop for one minute and take a look at the quality of your breath- - is it more short and interrupted or more long and smooth? Next, take a minute to observe how the act of simply observing your breath affects your state.

Two thoughts on the breath for reflection:

When a organism dies, it stops breathing. The breath can be said to represent metabolic activity and conscious awareness.

The word "spirit" is derived from a root meaning of breath in the same way as the word "respiration."

NOW, the first word on Yoga.

2009-07-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

"Atha" is the first word of the Yoga Sutra, a 2000 year old manual that presents the practice of Yoga.

"Atha" is a Sanskrit word. An important part of the wisdom of a discipline or a body of knowledge is often held within its native language. So it is wise to work with the Sanskrit word if we want to get "underneath" the meaning.

Perhaps, the first word of the Yoga Sutras serves as a key for unlocking the door to the teachings of Yoga.

There are about three meanings for the word "Atha". In this post, I will address the first and, from my experience, the most important.

"Atha" means "NOW".

So, this 2000 year old manual on the practice and teaching of Yoga starts with the word "now".

Maybe the best way to understand the meaning of "now" is to take a look at what it is not.

Now is NOT later, in a minute, tomorrow, yesterday, at some point, when I get this, when this is done, as soon as I can, if this happens, if that happens, when he starts this, when I feel better, when I am able to do this, etc... you get the idea.

Some words that describe what now IS ... the present moment, what is happening in front of me, what she is saying to me, what I am hearing, how I am feeling, what I see, who is talking to me, what is happening to me, how I am moved, etc.

In the interest of understanding a bit more about now, can you can spare five minutes?

Now, a little exercise.

Part one: take just two minutes and notice what is happening in front of you and in your mind that constitutes "now". Then, reflect for 30 seconds on how you felt when you did this.

Part two: take just two minutes and notice what is happening in your mind when you are thinking about or feeling what does not constitute "now". Then, reflect for 30 seconds on how you felt when you did this.

More to come. LATER.