Dr. Ray Long comes to Tampa Bay

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RayLongYogaAnatomyBookCoverDr. Ray Long, MD FRCSC (FRCSC is the designation for Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada) will visit the Tampa Bay area November 7, 8, 9 for an event sponsored by the Suncoast Yoga Teacher’s Association. The multimedia workshop titled “Anatomic Yoga,” will be a great opportunity for yoga teachers and yoga practitioners in Tampa and the surrounding area to get under the skin of the yoga asanas through an intensive peek at anatomy.

The author of several books on yoga anatomy, Ray Long is a board certified orthopedic surgeon who has studied hatha yoga for over two decades and has trained with several yoga masters including B.K.S. Iyengar. His distinctive books are immediately recognizable for the fabulous illustrations by Chris Macivor.

Learn more about yoga anatomy and the work of Ray Long on his website, blog and his “muscle of the week” on Facebook.

Website: BandhaYoga.com

Blog: DailyBandha.com

Facebook: Bandha Yoga – The Scientific Keys

“Grow” your brain with yoga and meditation

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hippocampusIf you’ve ever been on an elevator for nearly ten minutes you’ll appreciate the speed with which neuroscientist Dr. Sara Lazar gives one of the best “elevator speeches” on a complicated topic. She became interested in how yoga and meditation might effect the brain.

The following is an eight minute, high speed run down on some of her work. This is a TEDx event filmed in Cambridge, MA in 2011 where she explains the benefits of yoga and meditation in terms that are easy to understand and amazing to comprehend. In her research she has found that the size of some of the regions in our brain change with yoga and meditation and that the physical change is a thickening of our grey matter:

A link to the TEDx video: How Meditation Can Reshape Our Brains, Sara Lazar

Background to her work, the research team and their approach: https://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/~lazar/

Science continues to show the benefits of how by changing our thoughts we can literally change our minds. Neuroplasticity is a modern term that demystifies what may have been considered a fuzzy, fluffy “story” that yoga and meditation practitioners have been telling for centuries. A person can actually change the size, shape and condition of their brain by thinking thoughts – both good and bad.

Read more about the effects of meditation and yoga on trauma and neuroplasticity.

Trauma and being present in the body

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The energy body is more than a metaphor used to describe the activity we associate with the concepts of the chakras and prana. Western science and Eastern philosophy merge with the phrase “energy body,” to refer to the actual, physical reactions to external stimulus. The brains of people who suffer from various levels of trauma exhibit a wide range of physical reactions that can be described as a disconnect with their bodies and are often marked by the inability to be “present” in a way that allows clear focus and concentration.

Trauma, like many complicated ailments that appear as a wide spectrum, is easier to spot in their extreme expression. Recent studies into PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) are a good illustration of trauma in the extreme because the experiences of people who suffer from PTSD are cut in such stark relief against those who experience mild depression or the stress of everyday life. PTSD can be looked at as  over-the-top trauma that is so extreme as to be  paralyzing in every way: socially, psychologically, physically, emotionally, etc.

It is with great interest to bring together a discussion of two ends of the spectrum – the extremes of either being present in the body or being unable to be present. What are the physical, chemical, energy body reactions that pull us between these opposite poles of being in the world?

Every moment of our lives is characterized by our physical reaction to the world around us. As it turns out (surprise!) we are primarily operating from the emotions and the physical response to our environment. It is a secondary response when we act from our brains logical response to emotional stimulus.

The following article by Bessel A. Van der Kolk, a psychiatrist from Boston University who speaks and writes on the topic of PTSD demonstrates surprising details of what goes on in the brain of the traumatized person.

Clinical Implications of Neuroscience Research in PTSD, Bessel A. Van der Kolk, 2006

Around numbered page 10-11 Kolk describes the parts of the brain affected by trauma and explains an actual shutting down of parts of the brain that would normally help us process/understand/integrate our emotions:

Specifically, neuroimaging studies of people with PTSD have found decreased activation of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The medial prefrontal comprises anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and medial parts of the orbitofrontal prefrontal cortices.  The anterior cingulate (ACC) specifically has consistently been implicated in PTSD. The ACC plays a role in the experiential aspects of emotion, as well as in the integration of emotion and cognition. It has extensive connections with multiple brain structures, including the hypothalamus, amygdala, and brain stem autonomic nuclei. Thus, the ACC is part of a system that orchestrates the autonomic, neuroendocrine, and behavioral expression of emotion and may play a key role in the visceral aspects of emotion. – B.A. Van der Kolk

Kolk goes on to discuss the effects of yoga, siting studies involving people practicing yoga. On page 12 he mentions the fascinating studies by Sarah Lazar involving yoga at Massachusetts General Hospital. As a related note, here is Sarah Lazar on TED Talk giving one of the best eight minute “elevator speeches” on the benefits of yoga and meditation and the physical change of thickening our grey matter:

How Meditation Can Reshape Our Brains, Sara Lazar

Bessel A. Van der Kolk is featured on the syndicated radio show, To The Best of Our Knowledge in their show titled “Super Senses,” a broadcast from September 28, 2014. The show is vignette based on the theme of the senses. Skip over to the time on the sound recording 26:35 to hear Van der Kolk describe his research and how we can heal from trauma, starting with the truest statement, “We ARE our bodies!”

Meditation and Two Wings of a Bird

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TwoWingsOfABirdSmallMeditation and Two Wings of a Bird

The image of a bird is the perfect metaphor for the gifts we receive through meditation. In meditation, there is an intention to gain freedom from the thoughts and patterns that keep us stuck and static in life. The bird symbolizes the freedom of lifting out of our troubles, gliding to a new horizon and moving peacefully through life wtih free-flowing grace.

Alongside the image of the bird as representing freedom, the concept of symmetry and balance and the effort of the flapping wings is the other side of the story. It takes wings and it takes skillful maneuvering. The wings must work in tandem because flight and landing both require that the bird have the knowledge as to the proper way to flex, tilt and lift the wings.

There are many misconceptions about meditation in the western culture and a lack of understanding of the requisite two wings. One of the most pervasive myths is that in meditation we are somehow supposed to stop the mind and prevent thoughts from entering our mind. Nothing could be farther from the truth! You cannot stop the mind from thinking but you can change its focus.

The myth of emptying the mind may be an outgrowth of our frustration as we struggle to control the natural duality of our minds. We have the thinking mind with its logic and reasoning and the emotional body with its ever-firing neurons and totally wired energy system. The two wings of the bird are representative of our mind’s ability to become aware and our body’s ability to modulate our emotional systems.

A curious aside to the concept of the two wings of a bird needs mentioning here. Large, exotic pet birds that live out most of their lives in cages often escape with fabulously strong wings with perfectly formed flight feathers. As anyone who has ever tried to catch an escaped pet bird knows, the bird finds it very easy to fly up but has no real knowledge of how to fly down! This is not another bird metaphor. Wings are tools that require skill and knowledge.

Learning to meditate is a practice of balancing our tools of mind and body. It is achieved through a process of paying attention to the two wings of a bird.

A Few Words on a Wing

Mindfulness             Loving-kindness

Wisdom                     Calmness

Insight                       Compassion

Thought                     Relaxation

Observation              Intention

Clear-seeing              Compassion

 

Neuroscience and Meditation

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Highlights of the research of Dr. Richard Davidson, neuroscience professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • Develop a more consistent state of calmness
  • Control reaction to unpleasant stimuli
  • Return to calmness more quickly

Dr. Davidson is at the center of a field of research involving meditation and its effect on the brain. His numerous studies utilize structural and functional brain imaging technology performed in a state-of-the-art facility focused on neuroscience, psychology, physics and statistics.

One such study involving Tibetan Buddhist monks, with tens of thousands of hours of experience meditating suggests the actual structure and the function of the brain can be altered through the practice of meditation. The concept of “neuroplasticity,” the ability of the brain to change throughout our lives in response to our experiences is at the core of understanding the effects of meditation.

MonkWithElectrodesDavidson first studied Matthieu Ricard, a French-born monk from India by hooking up 128 electrodes to his head and recording his brain activity as Ricard meditated on “unconditional loving-kindness and compassion.” Two strikingly unusually results were immediately apparent: Ricard produced powerful gamma brain waves oscillating at 40 cycles per second and oscillations from other areas of his cortex were in synchrony in a fashion similar to that of patients under anesthesia. Gamma brain waves are often faint and hard to pickup but in Ricard’s meditative state they appeared unusually strong, indicating his ability to maintain intensely focused thought.

These results led Davidson to expand his study to include more monks and to include college students with little or no experience at meditation. The end result was that the monks produced gamma waves 30 times as strong as the students. The other finding was that the monks had larger active areas in their brains as compared to the students. Of significance was the area of the brain responsible for positive emotions, the left prefrontal cortex.

After a negative event or emotionally charged situation meditators recover and return to a calm state faster than individuals who have not developed calming skills. The monks are an example of this skill where they have learned compassion mediation. Their ability to activate the prefrontal cortex in response to the situation and modulate areas of the amygdala helps them to reduce reaction and quickly return to a state of calm. The ability to “down regulate” the amygdala is key because that is the area of the brain that forms and stores memories associated with emotional events and is concerned with vigilance and threat detection.

Note: image of monk with Electrodes comes from National Geographic, photograph by Cary Wolinsky and associated with this story by James Shreeve: Beyond the Brain

 

Shh, you know all you need to know

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LaylaAlbumCoverThe Jewish myth of Lailah, the angel of night is an ancient story that captures the essence of the idea that we already know everything we need to know. It describes how we obtain infinite knowledge before birth and how we start down the path of forgetting that wisdom at the time of birth. It is the tale of how we leave the womb, enter the world and begin learning lessons that are of the world. Mark Nepo calls this “the unlearning of God.” The Jewish myth and Nepo both remind us that it is our mission to begin the process to return to our original knowledge and to unlearn our way back to God.

The word Lailah or Laylah is Hebrew for “night” and is the name given to the angel of the night represented in the Talmud and in other Jewish mythology. The album “Layla” by Derrick and the Dominoes, ala Eric Clapton probably had another night angel in mind when the lyrics for the song of the same name were penned. If you squint your eyes and open your mind, the beautiful album cover could be seen as a representation of the beautiful angel Lailah!

In Jewish mythology it follows that the angel Lailah chooses a soul from the Garden of Eden, joins it with a seed and commands it to enter the embryo. As the “midwife of souls” she watches over the womb as it develops. Lailah places a lighted candle at the head of the unborn infant in the womb so that he or she can see from one end of the world to the other. She teaches the unborn child the entire Torah, as well as the history of his or her soul, showing the rewards and punishments available to the individual.

Right before birth, Lailah extinguishes the light of the candle and as the child emerges the angel lightly strikes its finger to the child’s lip as if to say “Shhhh.” This causes the child to forget what was learned. This “shushing” creates the philtrum, that crease located just above the lip.

Officially, angels are supposed to be sexless but most all other angels have masculine names. Most other angels names end in “el,” God’s name such as Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. There is debate as to whether Lailah is a male or female angel since Lailah is the angel of conception and all her characteristics relate to nurturing.

Jewish scholars note that God decides the fate of the child when it is conceived and leaves one thing undecided, whether it will be righteous or wicked, allowing it to have free will. The story of Lailah implies that knowledge is present and only just forgotten at birth, much like the Jungian concept of the collective unconscious.

Lailah serves as a guardian angel throughout a person’s life and at death and leads the soul into the afterlife. It is our mission in life to recover the light, to remember all the lessons that we have always known and to return to the place of knowledge that reveals our deep past and ultimate destiny.

Various sources are listed on this Wikipedia entry for Lailah.

Unlearning Back To God

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MarkNepoAwakeningBookCover2From Mark Nepo, Unlearning Back To God: Essays On Inwardness, 1985 2005

“Each person is born with an unencumbered spot, free of expectation and regret, free of ambition and embarrassment, free of fear and worry; an umbilical spot of grace where we were each first touched by God. It is this spot of grace that issues peace. Psychologists call this spot the Psyche, Theologians call it the Soul, Jung calls it the Seat of the Unconscious, Hindu masters call it Atman, Buddhists call it Dharma, Rilke calls it Inwardness, Sufis call it Qalb, and Jesus calls it the Center of our Love.

To know this spot of Inwardness is to know who we are, not by surface markers of identity, not by where we work or what we wear or how we like to be addressed, but by feeling our place in relation to the Infinite and by inhabiting it. This is a hard lifelong task, for the nature of becoming is a constant filming over of where we begin, while the nature of being is a constant erosion of what is not essential. Each of us lives in the midst of this ongoing tension, growing tarnished or covered over, only to be worn back to that incorruptible spot of grace at our core.

When the film is worn through, we have moments of enlightenment, moments of wholeness, moments of Satori as the Zen sages term it, moments of clear living when inner meets outer, moments of full integrity of being, moments of complete Oneness. And whether the film is a veil of culture, of memory, of mental or religious training, of trauma or sophistication, the removal of that film and the restoration of that timeless spot of grace is the goal of all therapy and education.

Regardless of subject matter, this is the only thing worth teaching: how to uncover that original center and how to live there once it is restored. We call the filming over a deadening of heart, and the process of return, whether brought about through suffering or love, is how we unlearn our way back to God”

Yoga Music Playlists

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Music is not a necessary element to the practice of yoga. Sometimes music in a yoga class can be distracting in that it is annoying or even worse, if it is so good that you find yourself listening to the music instead of your breath! Whatever the circumstance, music has a way of tapping into our senses and into our emotions. Most everyone has had a profound experience with music through its effect on mood and emotion. Right now you are probably recalling hearing a song that made you incredibly sad, one that kept playing over and over in your mind, a catchy melody that you found yourself humming at some random moment, a song that went perfectly with a ride along the ocean or one that made you jump to your feet to get out on the dance floor.

So it is with care that music for the yoga class is selected carefully. Some yoga teachers play ambient music at a real low volume to act as a soft buffer, others like to play popular or rock music to lighten the spirit and enliven the energy. For me, I gravitate toward music that sets me in mind of the ancient wisdom of yoga. I also like to time my music to start off slow and contemplative, building to high energy and then coming down to a cooling, soothing musical space to carry the class to Savasana. I like an element of surprise in the musical selections, choosing eclectic sources that one might not consider for yoga.

I’d like to share a dozen of my yoga class playlists. Check these out on iTunes or SoundCloud and use them in your own practice. Or, come on over to the Take Me To The River Yoga studio for class and hear them first hand!

YogaMusicTakeMeToTheRiverYoga1

 
YogaMusicTakeMeToTheRiverYoga2

 
YogaMusicTakeMeToTheRiverYoga3

 
YogaMusicTakeMeToTheRiverYoga4

 
YogaMusicTakeMeToTheRiverYoga5

 
YogaMusicTakeMeToTheRiverYoga6

The first responsibility of love is to listen

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Themes in my yoga classes are often influenced by podcasts that I listen to. One of my favorites is from Tara Brach, a Buddhist teacher combining Western psychology and Eastern spiritual practice. She founded the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, DC and has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

I listened to a podcast where Tara was presenting a teaching titled, “Listening to the Song.” It was an appropriate theme for this year’s Valentine season and the message grew so large for me that I continue to excerpt ideas from what she shared.

The full version of Tara Brach’s talk “Listening to the Song” is on her website and can be played as audio or video.

Here are the “Cliff Notes” from her discussion:

  • Paul Tillich quote, “The first responsibility of love is to listen.”
  • Mark Nepo quote, “To listen is to lean in softly with a willingness to be changed by what we hear.”ChineseCharacterToListen
  • The Chinese characters that make up the phrase “to listen” include symbols for ear, eyes, undivided attention and heart.

Three energetic conditionings that keep us from listening:
1. Wanting – approval, control, someone or something else, having an agenda
2. Self Protection – need to appear a certain way to others (right, smart, etc.)
3. Inattention – being distracted or “blanking out” when none of our particular wants or fears are being addressed

Gateways to listening:
1. Opening your senses
2. Awakening with undivided attention
3. Invoking a tenderness of heart

The whole discussion combined an approach similar to how and why we practice yoga. We set an intention, we practice, we become very still and listen to our own reaction within our bodies and within our hearts. Listening to ourselves and listening to others is a similar exercise needing no less than 10,000 hours to gain competence.

Tara does not lead us into the final yoga posture of “savasana” near the end of her talk but it would have been wonderful if she would have asked the audience to come into the corpse pose and be still while she red the poem “Lost” by David Wagoner. For it is in our stillness that we find ourselves “here” and bring ourselves in the present moment, listening to the forest that has made a place around us. Now, if we can only let it find us!

Lost
by David Wagoner
from Collected Poems 1956-1976 © Indiana University Press.

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

 

Yoga 101 – Exercising the Energy Body

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This article was originally posted on March 1, 2011 by Danielle Prohom Olson but it mysteriously disappeared some time in the first two months of 2014 from her blog bodydivineyoga.wordpress.com. I’ve recreated it here because it is an informative piece on the energy body.

heartfield1Yoga, as practiced in the west, is commonly regarded as an exercise system for the physical body. But the ancient yogis of India, China and Tibet had a very different idea, they saw yoga as a kind of exercise for the body’s energetic system.

meridianWhile different schools had different yogic techniques of breathing, postures and meditation, they were all rooted in a similar concept. Yoga was practiced to cleanse and strengthen the body’s energy pathways (Meridians or Nadis) and enhance the flow of life force energy (Prana or Qi). This was considered key to health, vitality and longevity.

While the idea of the energy body may still seem flakey to some, science today confirms its existence. We may be solid flesh and bone, but we are at source; an energy field embedded in greater energy fields.

Our bodies are electromagnetic in nature. Electromagnetic signals travel our spinal cord and nervous system, they animate our cells and fire our neurons. In fact, medical scanning technology like the EKG and MRI have been measuring these frequencies for decades. The electromagnetic field that surrounds our body has been documented as extending outwards approximately 3 -5 feet in all directions.

earthfieldNot only do rhythms of electrical and magnetic force affect our health and well-being (regulating our circadian rhythms and hormonal cycles) they ultimately compose us. Our bodies, along with animals, plants, the earth sun and stars, are constantly creating, receiving storing and sending electromagnetic signals in and out of an interconnected cosmic energy field.

In his book Energy Medicine in Therapeutics and Human Performance, James Oschman PH.D. writes electromagnetic fields “form a structural, functional and energetic continuum extending into every nook and cranny of the body, even into the cell nucleus and genetic material”.

Oschman refers to this greater energy field as the “living matrix” and in an idea that echoes the teachings of ancient yogis, he suggests that a healthy fully ‘integrated’ body may be a body that is entirely free of restrictions to the flow of energy signals. Oshman’s book documents the work of many leading energy medicine researchers whose research is coming full circle with the wisdom of the yogis. Countless studies in bio-electricity and acupuncture have begun to confirm there exists, hidden in our flesh, a vast network of energetic meridians that can be stimulated for regeneration and healing.

shiatsupointsBernard O. Williams Ph.D. has demonstrated that skin at meridian lines has a lower electrical charge than the surrounding areas. In fact, “specific structural-protein complexes within the mass of the skin provide channels of heightened electron conductivity, measured at acupuncture points on the surface.” In other words, acupuncture needles create an electric charge at the point of contact and stimulate a transfer of electrons at acupuncture points on the surface of the skin.

Numerous studies demonstrate these energy pathways and points conduct electricity even when needles aren’t used. The massage technique of Shiatsu have been found to stimulate the same energetic effects. Similarly, Qigong,Tai Chi and the postures of yoga have been found to increase electrical conductance at acupoints.

yinyogaYin Yoga (Taoist Yoga) claims to directly work with connective tissue and fascia to stimulate energetic meridians. Dr. Robert Becker M.D. was the first to establish when pressure is applied to certain body structures (joints, connective issue, cells) they polarize into positive and negative electrical poles and generate piezo-electricity. The knee for example, has the same piezo-electric capacity as a quartz crystal. This means that when we get a massage or perform yoga postures, currents of energy are being sent along the most conductive channels available in the body.

Information and energy flowing through electromagnetic frequencies are vastly more efficient than chemical signals such as hormones and neurotransmitters. Research conducted by Joie P. Jones PH.D. utilizing fMRI imaging has shown that when meridian or energy points in the body are stimulated, neural circuits in the brain are activated almost immediately – far faster than what neural conduction can explain.chakraenergy1

While the yogi’s never explicitly used the term electromagnetism to describe the energy body or its meridians, it looks like they may have well understood how it functioned. They knew that we are an energy body sheathed in greater energy fields, and that by influencing the field, one could influence the body.

So this is Yoga Fundament Number One. By working with the energy body, we learn how to sense and clear blockages and revitalize our energy systems. The energy body is “real” and caring for its health and maintenance is critical to optimum health and physical well-being.

Shiva’s 8,400,000 asanas

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Did Shiva really teach 8,400,000 asanas? How many asanas are there? How long is the list? The exact number of asanas is determined by who you ask! The history of yoga asanas on Wikipedia does a good job explaining the exact number of asanas within particular disciplines, giving various counts of 2, 4, 66 with 136 variations, 84, 908 with 1300 variations and the 8,400,000 Shiva list.

Apparently Patanjali never mentioned asanas by name in the great yogic text, The Yoga Sutras but speaks about the basic of elements of the correct seated posture as a part of the Eight Limbs of Yoga. From the Yoga Sutras we can surmise that the four basic asanas are the seated poses such as: Sukhasana (comfortable, cross-legged pose), padmasana (Lotus pose and its variations) Vajrasana (sitting on heels) and staff pose (seated with legs outstretched and feet together).

The Goraksha Samhita or Goraksha Paddhathi, considered the oldest of Hatha Yogic texts lists the 84 classic poses but only describes two in detail: Siddhasana and Padmasana.  The Hatha Yoga Padipika also lists the 84 classic poses and states that the first four are necessary or vital to attain yogic perfection: Siddhasana, Padmasana, Bhadrasana (also known in more contemporary texts as Baddha Konasana, bound angle butterfly pose) and Simhasana.

Shiva’s asanas “most useful in the world of mortals”

Shiva was said to have taught 8,400,000 asanas, which seems reasonable if you’re a god! He toned it down for us mortals and described 32 of the most useful to regular humans. It seems like a good place to start. Here’s the list with notes and common pose names in parenthesis:

    1. siddhasana (siddha in Sanskrit means “perfect” and “adept”)
    2. padmasana (lotus)
    3. bhadrasana (bound angle butterfly)
    4. muktasana (liberation)
    5. vajrasana (vajra in Sanskrit means “thunderbolt” or “diamond)
    6. svastikasana (prosperous – similar to Siddhasana except top foot is tucked into top thigh)
    7. simhasana (lion)
    8. gomukhasana (cow face)
    9. virasana (hero)
    10. dhanurasana (bow)
    11. mritasana (Savasana or Shavasana, corpse)
    12. guptasana (variation to Siddhasana where organ of generation is hidden by both heels, gupta in Sanskrit means hidden)
    13. matsyasana (fish)
    14. matsyendrasana (Lord of the Fishes, seated twist; see half seated twist Ardha Matsyendrasana and Complete Lord of the Fishes Paripurna Matsyendrasana)
    15. gorakshana
    16. paschimottanasana (seated forward bend)
    17. utkatasana (chair)
    18. sankatasana
    19. mayurasana (peacock)
    20. kukkutasana (cock or rooster)
    21. kurmasana (turtle)
    22. uttanakurmakasana
    23. uttanamandukasana
    24. vrikshasana (tree)
    25. mandukasana
    26. garudasana (eagle)
    27. vrishasana
    28. shalabhasana (locust)
    29. makarasana (crocodile)
    30. ushtrasana (camel)
    31. bhujangasana (cobra)
    32. yogasana (staff or Dandasana)

Learning the Sanskrit for Asanas

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Learning a new language can be a challenge for some people. There are those of us who seem to have a knack for acquiring language skills easily, mastering the exact pronunciation and gaining a good understanding of a new, foreign syntax. For me, it is more like the pounding of the round peg in the square hole. It just doesn’t sink in!

I find myself overanalyzing the word structure and trying to leap frog over the hard work of memorizing by making up word patterns that I think I am seeing. This approach of “analogous thought” has served me well when learning concepts, recognizing trends and when trying to anticipate the next likely event. It apparently is the worst way to learn a new language!

And so it is with my efforts to learn the Sanskrit names to yoga asanas. There are many lists on the internet and thousands of books that are helpful. Here are a few of my favorites:

The Yoga Toolbox by Joseph Le Page and Lilian Le Page. A sturdy binder containing 90 laminated cards. It’s a comprehensive book that illustrates the poses and gives detailed information about getting into the poses, alternate poses, the effects the poses have on the Chakras with notes on the Koshas, Prana Vayus and Ayurveda.

Yoga Journal’s index of yoga poses lists the Sanskrit name and the English name is an easy to read table with links to pictures and descriptions of the poses.

Wikipedia’s list of asanas is a table with columns for the Sanskrit translation, Sanskrit text, English common name, image and classification in an easy to navigate format.

My personal favorite tool in the form of a game with animated flash cards and score keeping for the competitive at heart:

Yoga Toolbox – Yoga Asanas on Quizlet. Quizlet.com is a simple online tool that is useful for teachers and people wanting to make learning easier and more fun. I’ve set up a set for Yoga Asanas that you may find fun and entertaining. The Quizlet platform has gone back to the age-old method of games as an engaging learning tool. I particularly like the “Scatter” and “Space Race” tools. Of course there is a Quizlet iPhone app that weaned me off time sucking Zynga’s “Friend” games like Words with Friends, Running with Friends, Hanging with Friends and Gems with Friends. Now I have a new addiction! Quizlet sets.

To master, teach

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ToMasterTeach1IMG_2028To learn, read.
To know, write.
To master, teach.

Oh, how I wish I knew how to read tea leaves. After opening my tea bag, plunking it in my cup and covering it with boiling water, I turned over the tag to read these three simple lines of inspirational text. Sipping my tea quietly put me in mind of how teaching others is the best way to learn.

Maybe the tea leaves would reveal that I have always loved teaching because I love to learn. I love yoga and I love teaching yoga. And now teaching yoga is teaching me.

Malcolm Gladwell goes through many formulas for achievement in his 2008 book “Outliers – The Story of Success” but it’s his 10,000 hour rule that stuck with me. He says that it takes at least 10,000 hours of doing something before a person gains true skill.

Teaching motivates me to put in the time so that I might master a subject. After all, one should feel very confident in their understanding of something before they try to teach someone else. In order to know something thoroughly you have to read, write and practice. That takes time. Teaching gives you bonus hours once you’ve become competent enough to spend time passing knowledge on to others. Teaching also has the effect of making you feel like you’ve earned back much of the time invested, especially when the light bulbs burn brightly over your students’ heads.

I’m confident that I have put in over 10,000 hours doing yoga poses (asana – one of the 8 Limbs of Yoga) but I certainly would not say I have mastered asana. For the other seven limbs of yoga quick math tells me that if I spend an hour a day everyday for nearly 28 years I’ll make the required 10,000 hours. Quick psychology tells me 10,000 hours of teaching yoga would remind me that I’ll remain forever a student! Many traditions would say that the moment you think you’ve mastered something you’ve just hit the 10,000 hour reset button that puts you back at the beginning.

If tea leaves could talk they might say, “rinse and repeat:”

To learn, read.
To know, write.
To master, teach.

Pratyahara – the branching of the 5th limb

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In oral traditions much effort is given to numbering spiritual precepts. The four noble truths, the ten commandments, eight-fold path, three sections of the Torah, five pillars of Islam and others. This continues in print and online with titles in the self-help genre: the twelve step program, four agreements, seven habits of (fill in the blank) and the eight steps to seven figures, a healthy back, better communications, and on and on.

So it is with the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The list helps to compartmentalize the main areas of concentration for the yogic path. The limbs provide a mind map revealing interconnectedness and the endless suffering of the human condition. The word “limbs” is very well suited to the Eight Limbs of Yoga because it has many straight branches, curvy branches, leaves, roots and berries and bark of every texture imaginable! If turned into a pure listing it would be called the “16 subcategories of the infinitesimal inspection of spiritual molecules found in the human species.” That’s a little long to be memorable!

For this discussion I’d like to turn the fifth item on the list of the Eight Limbs of Yoga into an analogy. The fifth limb, Pratyahara involves so much “branching” that it seems better suited to analogy. Let’s consider this analogy: Pratyahara is to the Eight Limbs as trunk is to tree. Its mid point in the Eight Limb list makes it a good candidate for a trunk, supporting the top four limbs and connecting them to the lower three limbs. The trunk of Pratyahara reaches right down to the last item on the list, the ultimate oneness of Samadhi.

A few translations and definitions to get us started:

• To draw toward the opposite
• Sanskrit – prati means “against” or “away”
• Sanskrit – ahara means “food” or “anything we take into ourselves from the outside”
• Control of the senses, or sense withdrawal
• Withdrawing from thoughts or actions (i.e., internal: thoughts, impressions, emotions; external: all that we take in with the five senses)

Ok, here we go. Start climbing the tree. Did I mention it was a Sequoia? Pratyahara is one tall order. Shut off all input of the mind and all information coming in from the five senses. Withdraw all attention to what we experience as being alive and draw to the opposite. Got it?

B.K.S Iyengar explains that Pratyahara is a “hinge” or pivotal moment in the yogic path. He describes that the practice of yoga Asanas and Pranayama breathing generates an expanding energy that can spin out of control. The loss of control comes when the yoga practitioner falls in love with the extra attention and greater attraction that they receive in the world with their new found yogic strength. The hinge point comes when we incorporate Pratyahara in our practice by withdrawing from the desire to control, consume and seek gratification. The forward fold of this hinge comes with our detachment.

It is quite human and instinctual to experience and indulge the senses and to entertain thoughts and emotions. So how do we begin the practice of Pratyahara? Is it even possible to reach such a state?

A few ideas for practicing Pratyahara:

• Breath. Pranayama – Control the breath to control the mind. The mind is governed by the breath and the senses are governed by the mind.
• Spend time away from sensory overload – turn off the TV, computer and cell phone
• Stay away from wrong food, wrong thoughts and wrong associations
• Open up to the opposite (right diet, positive thoughts, right relationships)
• Meditate
• Use Visualizations (creating positive impressions and pleasant thoughts that clear the mind of external worry, anxiety, anger, tension)
• Karma yoga – right work, right action, service to others, surrendering personal rewards

And the most difficult practices of Pratyahara:

• Withdraw from unwholesome impressions
• Place your attention on the formless nature of the mind

At the very least it is helpful to remember: where the prana flows, the energy goes!

Yoga Sutra I.23 – Getting out of your own way

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I’ve always been really curious how one can learn to discern the point where “right” becomes “wrong,” where white starts to bleed grey before becoming black. It is not always so clear cut! I want to know – when does mind-centered determination need to give way to surrender?

How do we know when the contentment of santosha is wrong thinking in disguise? Is there a way to discern the right choice and the right direction in life? Who just asked all those questions anyway? Was it my small mind or my big mind? Early Homo sapiens probably pondered their own variation of these thoughts 200,000 years ago and before. Now, here I am with that same old monkey mind!

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras follows a most interesting format by dividing the sutras or threads into four padas (translated as footprint or step from Sanskrit), providing the backstory to enlightenment, steps to practice, the progression of the yogani, and how liberation is achieved.

In the first pada of the Yoga Sutras Patanjali is describing Samadhi and the theories of yoga. At I.22 Patajali states that the speed with which one arrives is based on whether one employs mild, moderate or intense practice. But then he cuts right to the chase with I.23.

Īśvara-pranidhānād va || I.23 ||

Īśvara – pure awareness, the ideal awareness, God, the Supreme Lord, the Almighty
praṇidhānād – surrender all actions, devotion
vā – OR, ALSO

I believe the meaning and the importance of this sutra is more pronounced because of the Sanskrit word OR (va). A true listener will sit up in their seat when an orator says “you can go this way, that way… OR if you want to just arrive at your destination, do this.” Patanjali is saying Isvara can be attained immediately by surrendering the self, the ego, i.e., getting out of your own way.

Chip Hartranft, in his extensive commentary and translation of the Yoga Sutras, discusses I.23 this way:

Realization may ALSO come if one is oriented toward the idea of pure awareness. Ishvara.

B.K.S. Iyengar in Light on Life (p. 261) describes the importance of Īśvara-praṇidhānda va and tells us what it is not, :

“[Īśvara-praṇidhāna va] is the most theistic of all aspects of yoga. Īśvara is Divinity in a general and nondenominational sense. What it definitely does not mean is using the ego to second-guess the will of God. It is, on the contrary, the surrender, through meditation (dhyāna) and devotion (bhakti), of the ego itself.”

Iyengar references I.23 in the closing lines of his book, Core of the Yoga Sutras this way:

“From cita-sakti, the yogi has to move from the four established aims towards the realization of the atman, to surrender totally to God. His journey moves him from citta-prasadana to atma-prasadana and from atma-prasadana to Isvara-pranidhana. Here culminates yoga-marga.”

These ideas combined as a line of reasoning and give me several take homes or points of view to ponder in relation to my original inquiry. We cannot second-guess the will of God. That should mean I can now afford to get out of my own way by eliminating doubt, uncertainty or operating from a lack of saucha (purity of thought).

Chip Hartranft’s translation of the Sutras closes with “… the power of pure seeing. That is all.” For me, yoking the concept of the power of pure seeing and “getting out of our own way” resonated as a potential answer to the opening questions and also addresses the inquiry I bring to my own yoga practice.

What remains for me is another question: what tools or concepts do we really have to help us see the moment when “right” starts to turn “wrong” and we begin to see the “white” turning to the proverbial  “black?” I understand the concepts of not second-guessing God, meditating and surrendering the ego – and the difficulty inherent in that path. The problem is made real everyday when we have to confront situations of loss, betrayal, selfishness, thoughtlessness, and dealing with the suffering we cause our selves and others.

The final answer most certainly is found along the yoga path. I still feel that the dividing line between right and wrong may move ahead of me like the mirage of wavy lines on a hot asphalt highway. As I trudge down the long road to freedom and enlightenment, I am expecting (hoping?) that what feels like giving in to someone else’s “wrong feeling” position today will look more like acceptance tomorrow. What feels like my righteous demands will give way to acquiescence. My own mind will still need to try to determine what is right and wrong. And my hand will still need to bravely draw an emotional boundary as a form of personal ahimsa. The load will become lighter, the path more defined. The monkey mind will become still and free from the need to know today what will be tomorrow’s present moment.

Teach me about heaven and hell

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A big, tough samurai heard that a monk living high in the mountains possessed a great deal of knowledge. He found the monk’s hut and standing outside he barked in a loud, commanding voice, “Monk! Come to me at once. Teach me about heaven and hell!”

IMG_1987Hearing the clamor outside his hut, the monk stepped out and stood before the fierce samurai.

He looked up at the mighty warrior and replied with utter disdain, “Teach you about heaven and hell? I couldn’t teach you about anything. And you call yourself a samurai? Why you couldn’t hurt a fly. You’re an embarrassment to the samurai class. Get out of my sight. I can’t stand you.”

The samurai became furious. His face turned red and he shook with rage. Drawing his sword and raising it high above his head, he was prepared to strike down the monk before him.

Looking straight into the samurai’s eyes, the monk said softly, “THAT is hell.”

The samurai froze, realizing the compassion of the monk who had risked his life to teach him this lesson. He lowered his sword and fell to his knees, filled with gratitude.

The monk said softly, “And THAT is heaven.”

Pranayama – teaching and practicing

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Pranayama is one of the 8 limbs of yoga that deals with using the breath to teach us to manage our “prana” or life force energy. Breathing is one of our most important life functions. We have direct control over our breath. The way we breath is the clearest indication of our state of mind. Pranayama practice is the most direct route to controlling our emotions and the start of controlling our mind. Breath awareness and breath practice will guide us to the proper way to dial into whatever energy level is required for our daily activities. This includes building up energy as well as calming the unpleasant energies of stress, anxiety and fear.

There are many types of Pranayama techniques. This discussion includes: Dirgha, Ujayi, Kapalabhati, Nadi Shodhana and Sitali.

The following Pranayama techniques should be done in a comfortable seated position with an erect spine. It is best done in the morning on an empty stomach and in a quiet location with fresh air and good ventilation.

General warning: consult your doctor before beginning this or any Pranayama practice. During this workshop or when practicing Pranayama on your own, if you experience any negative or physical or emotional effects (pain, anxiety, agitation, etc.), discontinue practice immediately and consult with me, another qualified yoga teacher or a physician.

1. Dirgha (long)
Three part breath: fill the belly, ribcage and collarbone
Main precautions: recent surgery to head or torso
Notes:

  • Is a warm up breath used to bring the mind into focus, is a concentration technique
  • Welcome the breath
  • Wherever the mind goes, the prana flows
  • Loosen jaw, relax, “invite” the breath
  • Options: 1) intense, working the breathe, or 2) gently, using regular breathing

Duration: 2-3 minutes

2. Ujjayi (victorious)
Ocean-sounding breath: create meditative sound by gently constricting the throat
Main precautions: respiratory infection, sore throat
Notes:

  • Victory over the mind, victory over the clutter of the mind
  • Be gentle with this breath, use steadiness and a rhythm
  • Is all about creating the sound, the technique of creating the ocean breath
  • The sound is heard on both the inhale and the exhale
  • Noise is created when the glottis in the throat is slightly closed by the epiglottis, some can create the sound deeper in the throat
  • Helps with letting go of distractions, stress, anxiety
  • Stimulates the parasympathetic, creates groundedness

3. Kapalabhati (skull polishing, lamp shining)
Skull-polishing or skull-shining breath: strong exhalation, passive inhalation. Done by gently pumping the belly during the exhalation and completely relaxing the belly during inhalation

Main contraindications and precautions: pregnancy, heart conditions, uncontrolled blood pressure, respiratory infection, respiratory conditions, emphysema, nervous system conditions, MS, COPD, glaucoma, hernia, colitis, IBS, acid indigestion, any recent surgery, menstruation (first few days), high anxiety, emotional vulnerability, ulcers, irritable bowl syndrome, cold/flu, heart conditions
Notes:

  • Breath is performed as if you were blowing out a candle with your nose, using a crisp, short exhale
  • Is a Kriya, a purifying technique
  • Active exhale (willfulness) and passive inhale (surrender)
  • To be done smoothly with rounded off edges
  • Stimulating, clears nasal, heating practice
  • Best in the morning, best seated or can be done standing

Duration: 30 breaths = 1 round, do 1-3 rounds

4. Nadi Shodhana (channel cleansing)
Alternate nostril breath: use Visnu mudra (right thumb and right ring finger)
One cycle: inhale through left nostril, exhale through right nostril, inhale through right nostril, exhale through left nostril
Main precautions: respiratory infection, deviated septum
Can be done hands-free, in which case there are no precautions.
Hands free technique:
Visualize the body being divided into two halves (right and left), as you inhale imagine you are drawing prana up one side and as you exhale imagine you are letting prana flow downward, loosening and taking out toxins. This is just as effective as alternate nostril because “where the mind’s attention goes, the prana flows.” Follow the breath with the mind’s focus. “Pranafied and purified.”
Notes:

  • Nadi = river or channel, Shodhana = to purify
  • Alternate, closing off the nostrils using the thumb and ring finger of the right hand
  • Can put 2 middle fingers on forehead (creates heat), or fold 2 middle fingers down for a more cooled experience
  • Thumb represents “space” element, ring finger represents “water” element
  • Quiets the mind, soothing, calming
  • Good for PTSD, insomnia, nervousness, anger, fear, high blood pressure, grief, writer’s block, lack of clarity

Nadi Shodhana is the most important Pranayama technique and profoundly healing
If done daily for 15 minutes will change your whole perspective

Body has 72,000 Nadis, or channels for prana.

The 3 most important Nadis are:
ThreeMainNadis

  • Sushumna – intense, energetic channel that runs up the spine along the chakras
  • Ida – left nostril (controlling the right side of the brain: feminine, cooling, creative, intuitive, lunar)
  • Pingala – right nostril (controlling the left side of the brain: masculine, stimulating, linear, rational, solar)

5. Sitali (cooling)
Cooling breath: inhale through curled tongue, exhale through the nose
Sitkari – an option if tongue does not curl: inhale through clenched teeth and exhale through the nose
Notes:

  • Pronounced SHEE-tali or SHA-tali
  • Swallow frequently as this dries out the tongue and mouth
  • Cools down the tongue, good for moods of anger or aggression or whenever the mind is running hot with emotion (Anger is pitta – fire/hot)
  • Good for excess heat in the blood (i.e., rash, hives)
  • Good for frustration, criticism, inflammation, any kind of “itis”

Duration: 30 seconds to 2 minutes, be soft, quiet and consistent

Four seats of yoga – these ground the prana:

  1. Sukhasana – easy pose, simple cross legged
  2. Swastikasana – sun wheel, creates a closed chain keeping prana enclosed
  3. Padmasana – full lotus, slightly open chain, blood pools in the belly which is good and needed for advanced Pranayama
  4. Siddhasana – half lotus, accomplished or expert pose

When the ego (Ahankara) is challenged by prana, two things are likely:

  1. We quit, close down
  2. Get tired, become fatigued

Prana can bring up/create strong emotions (Samskara) and can cause fatigue.
“Invite” the prana into those areas of our body or those spots that are dark and “inky.”
Slowly and slowly!

Marma points used in Ayurvedic

AyurvedicMarmaPoints

Teaching and guiding Pranayama (Tips)

  • Warm up, speed up, cool down
  • Teach from your own personal experience
  • Emphasize precautions/contraindications
  • Offer options (i.e., “If you cannot do Kapalabhati, stay with Dirghe”)
  • Pause to assess energy between each round (“Scan the body” “How does that feel?”)
  • Don’t overwhelm (“pepper” just a little Pranayama in the class as appropriate)
  • Do not force
  • Give yourself permission to not know (the answer to questions)
  • Medical conditions: if you are not sure, give basic/safe options (i.e., safe = Dirghe and Nadi Shodhana)
  • Provide time for integration (e.g., journaling, meditating, sharing, etc.)

Deciding which kind of Pranayama to practice or teach

    1. Determine what is needed for balance before you start. Is calming and gentleness needed or is energizing needed?
    2. Beginners may not want/understand much Pranayama at first.
    3. Steps to presenting: name, define, give benefits/contraindications or precautions, demonstrate, lead practice.
    4. Can use Pranayama before Asanas to center the class.
    5. Dirghe can help center the class at the beginning (maybe use a short sequence, then do Asanas, then add in more Pranayama if appropriate).
    6. Can follow the flow of Ashtanga, the 8 limbs of yoga in your approach to a yoga class structure, going from gross to subtle:
      • Yama – read a poem
      • Niyama – set or invite and intention
      • Asana
      • Pranayama
      • Pratyahara
      • Dharana
      • Dhyana
      • Samadhi
    7. Breath and invite prana into the areas that need healing.
    8. Prana is powerful and subtle. As a teacher, build up skillfulness with a specific Pranayama, study it thoroughly, and find out what works best for you.
    9. Try all sorts of variations, guides, queues, times of days, conditions, etc. to find your own way to “language.”
    10. Know your audience (i.e., may not want to say “clean and purify” to someone with eating disorders but would instead say “nourish and calm”).
    11. Love, patience, compassion – consider language that is most appropriate for the student.
    12. Recognize what is out of balance in someone, then choose something that will help balance that. You may have to start with energies that attract them and then slowly (slowly and slowly!) introduce opposites and skillfully guide to harmony.

Learning to be with yourself in a deep and satisfying way is the springboard for sharing that depth with others. Share yourself in a way that is fulfilling and keeps your love flowing. Teach from the radiance of your own experience with Pranayama.

Share the stuff you love.
Share and teach the things that light you up.

Sources

Workshop with Larissa Hall Carlson at The Lotus Pond Center for Yoga and Health, Tampa Florida

Illustration of Marma points from various sources including: http://ayurvedayogavilla.com/scretsofmarma.html

Illustration of three main nadis from various sources including: http://www.india2australia.com/ajna-chakra/

A gift for the Lotus Pond Center for Yoga and Health

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Please make a donation toward the purchase of the two gifts to be given to the Lotus Pond Center for Yoga and Health.

The gifts will be presented with love and gratitude by the 2013 Spring Infusion (graduating December) & Immersion (graduating October) 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training classes.

Donations in any amount are acceptable, with the suggested amount being between $25-$40.

We’re still accepting donations.

If you cannot pay online and need to pay in cash or check, please email Tish Ganey at takemetotheriveryoga@gmail.com to make arrangements.




Namaste!

A discussion of Tapas – the third Niyama

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What it means to me, where I practice Tapas in life and yoga practice, ways I do not practice tapas and how I bring this practice into my daily living.

Any discussion on the meaning and importance of the term “Tapas” in the modern western world wouldn’t be complete without mentioning that many of us think of Tapas as small meals eaten in overpriced restaurants. It fits in this discussion because the Spanish word “tapas” is derived from the verb tapar, “to cover.” According to The Joy of Cooking by way of Wikipedia, “the original tapas were the slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry.” Wikipedia further describes Tapas as being either hot or cold, can be combined to make a full meal and are designed to encourage conversation. Consider this topic covered and still relevant in a yoga discussion!

Hold that half Buddha smile as you consider that the Sanskrit term “Tapas” is not too far afield from these small plates of Spanish food. Laugh out loud with a shaking Buddha belly as you envision an enlightened master tell the story of keeping the annoying “fruit flies of life” out of the sweet sherry of your contented mind by covering your glass with Tapas! Is your western mind having trouble following the thread? Here’s the analogy: fruit flies are to impurities as glass of sherry is to body-mind. The two will seem as one in a few more paragraphs.

In traditional yoga teachings Tapas comes from the Sanskrit verb “tap,” or “to burn.” Scholars writing about Tapas describe it as the fiery discipline needed for purification. It is the burning off of impurities and impediments (and fruit flies!) through a consistent, dedicated practice. Tapas is the first component in yoga in action (Kriya yoga).

Several sources of yoga literature describe Tapas in very strict terms using words like asceticism, abstinence, penance and austerity. I believe these terms cloud the concept in severity and harshness that seems unwarranted. It is true that bringing discipline and consistency to our lives and our relationships can be harsh and very difficult. But let us consider that as human beings on the difficult path to union and bliss (Samadhi) there is nothing wrong with having a hard time mastering Tapas. It may be an unfair starting point, for mere mortals working to gain discipline along the path, to think of Tapas as atonement, repentance, or a penalty for some wrongdoing.

Instead, I relate to teachers like B.K.S. Iyengar who describe Tapas as having a zeal or passion for “yoga in action” (Kriya yoga) that is a determined effort on the path. Tapas is the burning dedication and aliveness we feel when we are on a quest, a pursuit, or involved in a spiritual endeavor. This approach to Tapas feels positive and helps to inspire and motivate. At the very least it speaks to the concept of restraint, as a personal choice one makes, in exchange for a better life.

Another school of thought on Tapas I am trying to bring into my relationships and yoga practice is the idea of abiding and of enduring opposites. I am trying to approach this form of Tapas with a passion and patience using continual awareness of the thoughts in my mind. Watching for opposites as they arise helps me see them and understand where they come from. I can do this by noticing what happens in my mind when I experience wildly opposite emotions (love/hate, joy/anger, calm/anxious), when I practice breathing (Pranayama) slow or fast, or when I stay in a yoga posture (Asana) for longer versus a shorter amount of time.

Many times in the course of a day I notice I am not practicing Tapas. One of the most obvious ways is when I finally realize that I have not considered Tapas for several days! This is a clear sign that I am not practicing with any of the adjectives in this discussion: zeal, passion, dedication, abiding and consistency. Specific examples are when I choose to eat breakfast or dinner before practicing yoga, making it unlikely that I will go to my mat. Or when I meditate for a few minutes and then have the urge to stop and look up something on the internet that (ostensibly) relates to my practice. The list goes on with things like: becoming impatient or irritated at running into an acquaintance who is very different than I am, or who talks at length on subjects for which I strongly disagree. Or the experience of road rage. Anger or jealousy toward loved ones. These would all be considered impediments to purification, or roadblocks to clarity and focus for the practice of yoga, Pranayama, and meditation.

I continue to work at bringing more Tapas into my life by choosing the intention and discipline to practice yoga and Pranayama everyday, along with the other 8 limbs of yoga. I work to actually use the words “yoga in action” when I speak and when I make decisions. The three components of Kriya yoga: Tapas, Svadhyaya and Ishvara Pranidhana help with this. I find Tapas slips from my daily practice when I become too rigid on the length of my yoga practice, or in the intensity of my Asana series. Back to the glass of sherry analogy . . . I don’t need a full glass of sherry everyday, and a few fruit flies in the glass won’t kill me! In other words, I need to remember the Yama’s of Aparigraha (non-grasping) and Brahmacharya (non-excess) so that I am not clinging too tightly to how things must be, or expelling energy in wasteful ways.

To borrow the definition of Tapas from the Spanish term “tapar” I would like to reiterate that keeping a cover or a lid on your glass is yoga in action – where you remain pure and free of fruit flies, and where the sherry in your glass is always rarefied and clarified! Both kinds of Tapas are less like small meals and more like morsels that increase the appetite for the larger feast of life.

Notes

Translations and Yoga Sutra

Sanskrit verb “tap” means “to burn.” Tapas is a “fiery discipline” for purification.

Tapas svadhyaya isvara pranidanah kriya yogah  (Yoga Sutra – Chapter II, v. I)

Self-discipline, self-study and devotion are yoga in the form of action, as a means of orienting toward the ideal of pure awareness.

Tapas in Niyama and as Kriya yoga

Tapas is the third of five principles of Niyama and the first of the three components of Kriya yoga (yoga in action: Tapas, Svadhyaya and Ishvara Pranidhana).

Explanation

Tapas is the ability to endure opposites like heat and cold, pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow. It is often referred to as penance and austerity. Tapas is not simply enduring difficulties but abiding in the midst of difficulty. Tapas is having a zeal or passion for yoga in action and is a determined effort on the path (the Sadhana, or quest, practice, discipline, pursuit, spiritual endeavor). It is the discipline of consistency that is focused on the quality of life and relationships. Consistency is difficult because it requires a dedication to practice (postures, meditation, breathing) regardless of external circumstances. Tapas is having a willingness to begin practice again and again, over and over to bring awareness to the present moment.

Purpose of Tapas

The purpose of Tapas is to bring strength to the body and mind through the elimination of impurities. This happens by burning off impediments that keep us from being in the state of yoga. The body prepares to hold the infinite consciousness and the body-mind can come to see the divine that is in everyone.

Sources

Judith Lasater: http://www.judithlasater.com/writings/livingtheniyamas2.html

Chip Hartranft – The Yoga-Sutra in English, Appendix B, The Wisdom of Yoga by Stephen Cope.

B.K.S. Iyengar, Core of the Yoga Sutras