‘Process’ over ‘Goal’

In Yoga we become very aware of life as it is, we cultivate a Practice of paying attention to that which is intrinsic, this is not to imply that we’re attempting to shut off access to the extrinsic, it’s more accurate to say that consistent practice renders us so adept at self-awareness that our perception of our environment comes from a much more informed place. In this context, the hallmark Western concept of goal-orientation becomes utterly irrelevant. In Yoga, the emphasis is on the Process with a capital P. We are not striving for validation or victory or anything for which the ego thirsts but rather we are grounding ourselves in the moment-to-moment nourishment of living as fully present beings.

The definition of ‘success’ in modern cultures hinges on reaching the pinnacle of something, financial wealth, fame, a public win, a grasping of a result …….and therefore a blind spot to the intricacies of the lessons, the failures, the vicissitudes, the valuing of each moment and the constant refinement of skills like patience, concentration & discipline. What I’m talking about here is the Noble Path of Understanding, the celebration of the internal challenge, the never-ending road of self-mastery.

If we approach our entire existence as a Process…..if our purest intention is to actively & properly ‘understand’ that Process, then we shall know ourselves and indeed LIFE more deeply. This Practice of Yoga is life-long….On Purpose, we do not require an exam day, a televised competition or an achievement award…. because the daily prize, in real time, is a life lived through Yoga.

Reaching a goal can give you a title… but realising the importance of the Process gives you a life.

Namaste.

Separation

Yoga is a Gift, generously offered from India to the world, it helps us to deal with the tangible ‘reality’ of what it is to be an incarnated Human and how to learn & evolve using the particular circumstances we’ve each been given as our cirriculum! The philosophy of Yoga guides us to realise that we are, in fact, the Infinite Awareness which observes the Human Life that we’re living AS WELL as the Human Being…Now, while we know that this sounds like a paradox, fear not, this alleged ‘knowing’ is just your mind trying to make sense of a linguistic explanation of the Union, Integration or ‘Yoga’ which is already perfectly present and the confusion comes when we attempt to define & equate using the gorgeous, yet limited tool of the intellect! Are you with me so far? Of course you are! You just ‘think’ you aren’t! In other words, that which you already understand from a place more deeply wise than your academic mind, cannot be satisfactorily verbalised and so the mind picks holes in the conceptual ideology, in order to prove itself right that that which can’t be measured doesn’t exist! However, it can, we are existence itself and that’s what we connect with in our Yoga Practice.

Most of us live our lives and begin our Yoga Practice from a place of complete separation from who we truly are, we neither consider nor do we wake up to the fact that we are conditioned to act, think, work, socialise, speak, eat, etc in ways which are crafted by our families, countries, religions and cultures of origin, everything is mapped out and so we fall into those pathways without question until, there comes a time in our lives….doesn’t matter what age we are, when we, either suddenly or in fragments, start to recognise the silent depths instead of the noisy surface and yoke ourselves, not to the patterns which were manufactured for us to blindly follow but rather, to the Truth of our Potential.

Then we, especially those of us already in a Spiritual Practice, begin to engage in that Practice from a place of integration and the, in our case, Yoga becomes more authentic and in turn so too does the expression of ourselves. I remember hearing a recording of Alan Watts describing the Western attempt to intellectualise the Eastern Teachings as ‘Eating the Menu instead of the Meal’ How Excellent this is! It’s exactly what we do and when we bring the Practices into the realm of language, not only do we separate ourselves from the deeper experiences, we also create more separation within ourselves…..and when we remind ourselves that Yoga is a method for integration….why on Earth would we practise it from DISintegration?!!! Valid question isn’t it?!!

I observe it in all people, myself included, we journey through our relationships thinking ‘I am this and they are that’ separating & alienating ourselves from each other, I see it in the Asana Practice (Yoga Postural Stuff) often we’ll practise from a separation between mind & body, we do our Sun Salutations and we’re thinking of what we’ll do afterwards….or even within the body itself there’s a separation between the anatomy & the energetic flow, we push ourselves into a pose which the muscles aren’t strong or flexible enough to be in and the breath goes awry, or in another way, we have a disconnection say, between the rib cage and the hips and we practise a backbend from THAT kind of separation and not only fortify disconnection but risk injury! CRAZY….we are crazy little beings….practising a beautiful ethos of Unity from all sorts of separations! It’s kinda funny though and indeed we shouldn’t take ourselves tooooo seriously, it’s good to laugh at this stuff, humour facilitates our ability to self-improve and ditch our bad habits with a flavour of Love and Love is at the root of all worthwhile Practices!

So, invite yourself to merge, to see opportunities where separation can grow into collaboration as you open to a higher standard of focus, this is our Practice, let’s integrate the mind & body, the breath, the intention, our communities and ultimately our Souls….because we’re already ONE anyway….we might as well wake up to it and enjoy!

Reverence

What do we do in a world which has lost its way? My inner child squirms in discomfort, while my ego climbs to the dizzy heights of self-righteousness in a bid to bring back a modicum of global Reverence again! How naive & ridiculous, for tis neither my right nor within the bounds of my ability to change the world, well, not the whole world anyway! I grew up in a house of Reverence, I was raised by an actual Reverend, my Father’s title was ‘The Very Reverend William Beare’ and he lived that title, it wasn’t just his job, it was his personality, his calling & his natural state of being to be wholly Reverent….not in a conservative or Bible-bashy way but in a broad-minded, unconditionally Loving way….the best way! I started out on this planet in the cradle of Christianity and I was joined at the hip to Dad, going with him to every Church Service, Ecumenical Musical Occasion & Spiritual Gathering possible, I was never forced to go, I loved it, I didn’t need the books, I knew all the prayers & hymns off by heart, (still do) a large section of my memories of my close relationship with Dad is woven into my relationship with my own sense of Spirituality. There is a Peacefulness & Gentleness within me where all my good stuff lives, it’s a haven where I hold my capacity for deep Love, Reverence & Compassion. It is difficult to say whether that part of me is Nature or Nurture and I guess it doesn’t really matter, it’s there! For a long time in my 20s & 30s I strayed from that part of myself, I think it was an unconscious disconnection, something to do with feeling inadequate the way I was & wanting to belong to situations which my underdeveloped mind perceived as cool….However I was never cool! This is not self-deprecation, I say this with affection & heartfelt acceptance of my blunderings. After years of Yoga I feel now that I’m finally coming back to the Reverence within & paradoxically now that my darling Dad is gone from this plane of existence, I am beginning to grow into the kind of person that he always was. Even though I moved away from organised Religion & found the more secular Practices to be a better fit, I do truly value my roots & the stability gained from them & lately, find myself dipping into elements of those Religious roots on occasion. It doesn’t matter how we connect with Spirit, it doesn’t even matter if we don’t consider ourselves Spiritual, there is always the option to be Reverent. Reverence, to me is a profound & strong respect & presence within every situation, some examples are taking the shoes off on hallowed ground, being silent when others are speaking & teaching, not being late, knowing when & where it’s appropriate and equally well NOT appropriate to curse! (that’s a tough one in Ireland!!!) readily honouring the chance to help another, manners, humility, gratefulness & the ability to recognise our own wrong-doings & atone accordingly. During the 2 years of this weird hibernation we’re experiencing due to the Covid Pandemic, I’ve been witnessing a loss of Reverence in our society, initially in the first 20 months, it felt like a terrible grief….like I was in mourning, I was pointedly aware of the absence of respectful discourse and also I was observing how vitriolic & combative people had become on social media & how I too was feeling the acidity of my own inner corruption… but lately, thankfully, by some divine insight, deeper than cognition, I’ve come to the following conclusion: (this works for me, find your own words/Practices to make the equation work for you) If I feel a lack of Reverence, instead of bemoaning the loss & fighting to convert the lost, simply become more skillfully reverent myself! Rather than trying to change the whole world, reconnect with the part of me that has a vibration with which I resonate, nurture a connection with that beauty inside by taking the time to look in, to go in, to bow to & align with that higher part of me. If I detect a lack of Reverence, that is the exact time to improve my own PERSONAL Reverence. Taking the time to do this, in our own individual ways is how we access our collective evolution. We may not have a physical place of worship, it doesn’t matter, TIME can be the sacred space, using some time to reflect & grow can be our portable Temple/Shala/Church, that way, we can always find Peace & we can cultivate everything we need from inside ourselves, even & indeed especially when we cannot feel it outside. Namaste.

Peaceful Warrior

In Yoga, we talk extensively about Ahimsa, (Non-Violence) there is the clearly obvious element of ‘Doing no Harm’ which comes to mind when we initially think about Ahimsa but Ahimsa is so beautifully complex that we could literally study it as a lifelong syllabus on its own! There are infinite layers & therefore bottomless depths to the concept of Ahimsa! The layer that this blog addresses is that of personal Ahimsa or Non-violence to the self. Our tendency towards self-deprecating dialogue, our need to fight with our flaws, our attempts to segregate from our perceived ‘negativities’ in a bid to somehow transcend the animal/human are all absolutely pointless! Take a sigh of relief…..not because you’re off the hook & suddenly have licence to be lazy around your self-development Practices but rather because you can stop seeing your inner life as a battleground!

Let’s start again….from a different perspective, there is massive merit in the realisation that we are wired in a certain way, the impulses of conflict, separation & defensiveness are woven into our nervous systems for the purposes of survival….we will never purge those instincts, they are part of us as long as we are alive & embodied much like the beating heart or the sensing skin, so rather than continuing to be angry about our inherent barbarity, let us use it as an opportunity to optimise our Swadhyaya! (Self-Study) Here’s an example of what we mean by Swadhyaya in our Practice: Yoga invites us into an uncomfortable place physically & psychologically so that we can observe how we are triggered by discomfort, the idea is that, once we are adults, the comfort zone is no longer a place of learning….kids can very successfully learn & grow in the comfort zone, they need to be nourished & protected in a very specific way because they are not yet developed, however after the human being’s brain has completed the quests & processes of infancy & adolescence, we need a more challenging type of environment in which to continue ‘growing’ the fact is that discomfort is often unpleasant yet necessary in equal measure! Our innate resourcefulness cannot express itself fully unless we are, as my Father used to say ‘In a spot of difficulty’ when we encounter an obstacle, a shock, a loss, a conundrum or a catastrophe, we then actualise what is latent and not only grow from the experience but also we unlock our potential…..potential is both useless & meaningless in our lives unless it can manifest!

So this is your homework, both on and off the mat, don’t resist who you are, do your Practice from a place of inquisitive study, as you plunge yourself into uncomfortable landscapes watch your reactions closely & see what you can glean from them because if we lie about our animal nature in the name of Yoga we are practising inauthentically, ignoring the fact that violence exists is as illogical an endeavour as undertaking an electrician’s apprenticeship without electricity! We can only find peace collectively, we can only become skilled in transforming our world into a Non-Violent one if we first make a Practice of understanding our inner war! The Peaceful Warrior is one who can strategise artistically so that what was once perceived as a battlefield becomes the study-house of the master. Stop fighting with yourself, only then can we stop fighting with each other. Om Shanthi.

What is Yoga?

Yoga, in its wholeness is a Practice! It’s often misconstrued as merely an exercise regime and while moving the physical body is part of Yoga, it is not ALL of it! We are endowed with countless texts & accompanying commentaries on said texts to teach us the entire syllabus & culture of Yoga but I think the most valuable text, in terms of learning about your Practice is The ‘Yoga Sutras’ of Patanjali. As with all worthwhile writings, there are many translations and interpretations, so if you’re exploring online or indeed buying/borrowing books, make sure to studiously, steadily & patiently drink in as many different perspectives as you can, you’ll always understand the specifics of any subject more clearly if you open your mind to variation, Yoga is non-dogmatic so it’s best to explore in the groovy spirit of that and not fall into the very human habit of tunnel vision addiction!! The word ‘Yoga’ comes from the Sanskrit root word ‘Yug’ which means to join or unite, initially as we step onto our mats, we’re encouraged to blend the breath, the body & the intellect as a kind of trinity and to observe all 3 as one entity from a place of ‘Saksha’ or Witness Consciousness. It’s important to note here that in Yoga we make a distinction between the cognitive mind and the Consciousness, the teachings give us a very cool opportunity to learn that we are not our thoughts, we are simply observing them, also that we are not even our bodies but rather the watcher of our embodiment! This initial union of breath, body & mind is a preparatory state for Yoga as a reality. Both the Tibetan Buddhists and the Yogis believe that the source of all our misery is our habitual identification with our psychophysiology …..so then…. the REAL Yoga or union which manifests is the identification with the Witness Consciousness…THAT’S who we are and when we genuinely realise this, that is what we call Enlightenment. Aligning with your Witness Consciousness is not something you just DO, you cannot proactively practise enlightenment, the Practice of Yoga allows us to be in a state of readiness for our inner light to reveal itself ! …The Sutras will instruct you in the art of initiating that readiness, The text teaches us of the ‘8 limbed system of Yoga’ our first limb is ‘Yama’ this limb describes moral codes for maintaining healthy relationships. The second limb ‘Niyama’ guides us in a Practice of self-regulation & management, tis a hefty thing being embodied as a human so we need all the help we can get! Our third limb is ‘Asana’ this actually translates as ‘Seat’ but it has come to mean Posture and this limb is what we’re normally taught in the west as Yoga…..so you’re starting to see now that Yoga Postures are only one eighth of the Practice of Yoga! The Fourth limb is ‘Pranayama’ this is our beautiful breathwork study and with regular effort in a plethora of guided & appropriate breathing techniques we can bring great health to our systems. The next item on our list of limbs is called ‘Pratyahara’ this is withdrawing from the temptation to constantly respond to distractions that feed in to our nerves & brains through our senses, pretty tough this one as we are sensory beings, however I believe this to be one of the most important sections of our personal Practice as we tend to get overloaded without that discipline. ‘Dharana’ is the sixth limb and it is the noble Practice of concentration, giving our chosen subject the attention it deserves so we can become deeply focused, this is an excellent portion of our Yoga Practice because actually we can apply it to anything, learning a language, reading your emails properly, truly being a listener, successfully hammering a nail into the wall without injuring yourself….you get the idea! Our final 2 limbs are ‘Dhyana’ Meditation and ‘Samadhi’ or being one with the Consciousness and the reason I have mentioned these together is because these 2 limbs both happen spontaneously when we have practised the other 6 daily, what I’m saying here is similar to my earlier comment on not being able to ‘do’ enlightenment as an action, Meditation happens when you gain a bit of mastery over & grace in the body, the breath, the psyche & your interpersonal relationships and a subsequent realisation of oneness with the Consciousness happens when Meditation repeatedly invites itself to the increasingly receptive table we become!! Yoga is a Practice which weaves itself through life….. not just an hour long workout on a Yoga mat! Enjoy your Practice! Namaste

Fear of Self

Fear of the unknown is a common thing, it is a logical human faculty in terms of safety but we know that we must tread in uncharted territory so we can enrich our education….and so we move forwards in spite of it all, as scary as it is we walk the walk….some of us briskly with bare faced cheek, some of us cautiously and most of us in a circuitous fashion, wandering off the path to smell the roses on a regular basis!!! We have developed over thousands of years to a point where, as adults we have realised that risk, discomfort and even danger are part of what it is to know fulfillment. It is normal to be nervous about teaching a class, playing a gig, public speaking, travelling, parenting etc. It is healthy to have the jitters about taking the plunge into anything worthwhile but we know how to overcome & channel those emotions, instincts & thought patterns into the energy we need to get a good job done. In terms of the external world, we have it sussed! There are strategies in place in all cultures both ancient & new about how to do business, how to speak to others, how to be resourceful etc. but very few methodologies on how to explore the unknown within us, or even that a Practice of this is an option…What of the uncharted territory inside ourselves? Has all the focus on how to be a successful person been directed to externalising everything? Feels like it doesn’t it?! How many of us truly know ourselves? even after all this time…even having been through an assortment of life experiences, how willing are we to truly go in? Are we afraid of ourselves? I observed in myself a sort of addictive tendency last week, I looked out the window at a beautiful day and said ‘ooo I’ll go out now on my break and take a nice cup of coffee with me’ ….even in my solitude I felt I ‘needed’ not only to caffeinate but to hold a cuppa in order to make my break a meaningful event…. so accustomed to having distraction we are that we have normalised the act of needing habitual props. I came to the conclusion that we have disguised our fear of Self with an abundance of external activities, relationships & things. It’s not good! How are we supposed to evolve if we can’t even enjoy our down time without a phone, a beverage, a lunch date, a TV or even a radio… what is wrong with just going in? My thinking on this is that we have more of the unknown within us than we assume…otherwise Buddhist Monks, True Yogis & Enlightened Beings would have nothing whatsoever to do…my impression from reading about them & from meeting a small few of these individuals is that they are the most fulfilled Humans on the planet & even being around them makes us feel at ease! Someone who is not afraid to sit with exactly who they are is someone who has seen it all! I am certainly a long way from that kind of Wisdom but I didn’t take the coffee out with me that day last week and while it felt weird, it was a baby step towards finding the path again.

Light Seekers (a midsummer blog)

So here we are, it’s Summertime (in the Northern Hemisphere) The days are longer, sleep doesn’t come easy even if we’re exhausted & much like how the plants ‘know’ to travel high & fast at this time, a similar inexorable force is at work driving us to seek the light! With any kind of stimulation, be it from an external/internal source there comes a tendency to self-avoid in infinite & creative ways! This phenomenon does not mean that we are unenlightened, inferior or undisciplined, it is a complex & intrinsic ingredient of being Human. Our Hunter/Gatherer relatives knew it, the Ancestral Yogis knew it, the Shamans knew it and on & on! The impulses which inspire us to abandon ourselves are woven into our survival mechanisms….To further explain this I’ll use the example of trauma, we’ve all either had it or are going through it so the nature of its universality makes it the logical choice. During and/or after a loss, a shock, an attack, an accident or abuse, the brain steps in as the noble rescuer & depending on the personality, chemistry & background of the individual, any number of subsequent trauma responses can ensue & embed. The most common is that we shut off the pain, physical, emotional, psychological …..it’s all pain and if the incident repeats itself or if a different kind of disaster happens the brain will reinforce the numbness as a protective measure. The flight from pain, although it can lead to a cocktail of suppressed & unprocessed inner demons actually comes from love….it’s misguided & immature love but love nonetheless. This primitive attempt at self-love & protection which we locked into as children can cause problems in our adulthood but in fairness it facilitated our ability to survive, so it’s not too shabby but it needs upgrading as we grow! When we look at ourselves & our disfunction & wonder why we overreact, underreact or react in a way which utterly misrepresents us, these are the hauntings of our ancient coping mechanisms. They have gotten us this far but perhaps not in as healthy or fulfilling a way as we’d like, this modus operandum is akin to going hiking up the Alps in flip flops …..you can still do it to a certain extent but you will most certainly be injured, damaged & definitely not happy! So our Yoga affords us the ability to recognise that we need to update our coping mechanisms. We come to our Practice consciously so as to learn how to decommission that which is archaic & start crafting a more modern type of self preservation for the remainder of the journey…(a spriritual version of hiking boots!!!) Even in the midst of summer with all the delights, distractions & excuses to ignore our depth, we pledge to come to our mats, to stop running from ourselves & to perhaps seek the light inside!

Motivate

When we sit with our deepest selves there is potentially a wealth of acceptance of all our flaws & foibles! There’s a lot of Spiritual work that needs to happen around this though because the ego with which we identify is a harsh gate-keeper to that inner love. Often the motivation to change comes from outer circumstances, a death in the family, a realisation of the impermanence of the physical realm, a doctor’s warning or a sudden catastrophe. I am linking the 2 above statements in this blog because I feel from personal experience that both methods of motivation are effective & Yoga encourages unity & integration in all forms, therefore our Practice holds within it opportunities for motivation whether you are a skater, a deep-sea explorer or both!! Yoga’s most important premise to prioritise is ‘Ahimsa’ or non-violence, by that rationale we must constantly work on entering our Meditations & physical exertions from a space of love! This is the hardest part for most of us….that ego with which we identify? it would have us believe that we don’t deserve love, it would have us think that we are unworthy of such a beautiful gift & it hardens the heart & separates us from ourselves & each other.

Going deep straight away is overwhelming…no doubt! Even with a willingness to unravel the traumas & tensions which keep us knotted & imprisoned, it is impossible to cure our condition all at once! So here is where we come up to the surface, here is where we look for unlikely motivations as helping hands for our Soul-Practices!

The following is a list of my 3 current, most effective external motivations to deepen the efficacy of my Yoga Medicine:

1. The insufferable greed of others; This little gem is a lesson in how NOT to be but also it teaches us that there is a depth of programming in our society which is based on ‘success’ being about gain, when we attempt to understand this we can see almost immediately that the folks who we perceive as greedy have come from a lineage of graspers who are driven by a fear of loss. The insufferable greed of others encourages me in a Practice of genuine active compassion these days, compassion for how corrosive avarice can be to those who engage in it, we all dream of a bit more financial freedom but there is a cost to massive material opulence & we have seen how diminishing it is for the Soul, my Practice is to eliminate my own resentment for the predicament we are in due to those who take more than their share and to pray for those who are asleep to what they do even if they don’t know they are asleep!

2. The insensitivity to our sensitivities; The fact is that no one outside ourselves can fully know what we are going through, we all have a different set of circumstantial ingredients for example one of my ear canals is at a jaunty angle and high pitched sounds cripple me (I famously avoid hen-parties for this reason!) We can have the most accomodating, well-meaning and loving people around us and we may still be hurt in some way by how they act. Often we ourselves are insensitive to others without even knowing it! My Yoga around this is to endeavour to be more magnanimous in my forgiveness of the mistakes of others as well as my own mistakes. We are all ignorant to a certain degree, even the most intuitive & kind ones will miss a trick sometimes.

3. Rudolf Nureyev; Some of you already knew, now all of you do!!! My background is in Classical Ballet & during my journey on that path I encountered, not the man himself but an observation of his deeply moving artistry & mastery of his craft. He said once ‘The morning I awake with no pain is the day I am dead’ While I’m sure there is a lot lost in translation here because Russian is so much more poetic than English, the intensity of the message has always been enough to motivate me through my changing scenes of life. I do not take it literally anymore but I still use it, albeit from a different perspective, as a motivational tool. I was once someone who forced myself onto the Yoga mat out of not feeling good enough, strong enough, thin enough or accomplished enough but now I get on the mat because even through the pain of this life we can experience such profound beauty that our hearts stay open. We can use our Practice to STAY OPEN, to let love in, to give love, to BE love… even when the mind doesn’t believe it, the Soul is always ready!

Find your grist for the mill, find your motivation for your Practice from the unlikely tools out there which present themselves every week, it could be an annoying brother, it could be a broken leg, it could be a crucifying insult, use life’s unpleasantries to inspire you, let daily difficulty not only be your Yoga mat but your flying carpet to Freedom!

Invigorate

I love the word ‘Invigorate’ It implies so much more than just the dictionary definition, it’s not just to give strength & energy to something, it’s also about consciously infusing ourselves with some extra potency & vigour! In Sanskrit, (the language in which our Yoga Practice is codified) the word for vigour is ‘Ojas’ Sanskrit is an exquisitely crafted language which paints with profound clarity on the universal canvasses of Science, Art, Spirituality, Mathematics, Music, Movement & Stillness. Ojas is the essence of vigour within all the ‘Dhatus’ or tissues which constitute the structures of the body: the blood, the muscles, the bone marrow, the nerves etc. when the Ojas is strong we enhance our immunity to viruses & unwanted bacteria, we improve our capacity for digestion & we become proficient at wise discernment! We are all born with Ojas as our internal essence, therefore as with any type of resource, we have the opportunity to either intensify or deplete it depending on our lifestyle & decisions.

Yoga plainly & simply strengthens the Ojas! We become more aware & mindful of which options & actions nourish the Soul the Mind & the Body, that is to say through the regular Practice of Yoga in its complete form, we develop the skill to recognise when we need stillness & reconnection, what information we fill our heads with & what kinds of physical exercise to do along with good eating habits. So as we move forwards in our lives we can become more selective about the newspapers we choose, the teachers we learn from, the people with whom we keep company, the cultures we soak up, our standard of nutrition, the way we meet our bodies & our breath, our habits around treatment of others & our planet etc. Yoga covers all this and more and so if we engage in a regular Practice of this sublime system of living, our essence/lifeforce can be exalted, not just individually but also collectively as children of the universe!

Most of us, especially in stressful times feel diminished…the easy course of action when we experience this depletion is to hold ourselves captive by addiction, avoidance of the truth, superficial living & self-deprecating narratives, we have all experienced these corrosive patterns and we know how draining they can be….most of us need to learn the lesson the hard way, I believe that a certain amount of struggle (Dukkha) is grist for the mill so we can rise more strongly having been through it! however we must also allow every possible opportunity to Invigorate ourselves so that we can be the Yogis that our world needs now more than ever! Wishing you all the motivation you need to get on your mat & Invigorate your Ojas. It’s perfect timing, let’s rise to the occasion!

Sensitise

We are sensitive beings, our modus operandi is such that we both consciously & unconsciously process information via the senses. Our sensory faculties allow us to directly experience the outer & inner world via the media of taste, touch, smell, sound & sight. In Yoga we call these 5 senses the ‘Jnan-Indriyas’ These gifts vary from human to human in strength, accuracy & number and irrespective of the amount and/or combination of these senses the presence of any or all of these faculties allows us to perceive the physical universe in all its wonder in the most beautiful ways. As a subsequent response to having sensory organs we can learn, create, communicate, dance, discern and indeed survive.

The Jnan-Indriyas are truly amazing, however as life gets more complicated, we are exposed to a wider diversity of information and while this current state of being is incredibly educational there is a very definite sensation of saturation. We are experiencing an overload of stimuli these days and the sensitivity to all this information can often act much like a thermostat automatically switching to cooldown mode when the temperature gets too high! What I mean here is that in order to protect ourselves it’s as if our system defaults to numbness when we experience too much input….and it seems to me that the more sensitive we are the more likely it is that we become desensitised because of the complexity of our world now. Our amazing bodies are punch drunk from a constant onslaught of STUFF ….where our minds were once like a clear starry sky now we have a psychological cityscape where all we can perceive are the orange glares from the streetlights & the din of the traffic jams through the fog.

This. is. a. big. problem!

The Yoga teachings encourage us to engage in a practice of non-attachment, this is very much needed because what has happened in our society is that we have, depending on our levels of sensitivity, become either overly attached (addicted) or completely detached (numb) as an autonomic response to unhealthy doses of hyperstimulation. Through the regular Practice of Yoga & Meditation we can return to the centre, we can once again sensitise so that we feel the beauty & the pain in equal & balanced measure without being indulgent in or overwhelmed by either. More than ever we need this Yogic Practice, life is just not sustainable without a daily healing regime anymore. People of all ages are realising this fact. We can only go so far if we’re clinging to the pendulum, controlled by the gravitas of our bi-polar potentials, but if we let go & rise to sit above the daily pollution, we can truly see & deeply feel again.

Explore

The definition of the word ‘Explore’ is to travel through an unfamiliar area, be it geographical, educational or discursive in order to learn more. Exploration is in us naturally, we don’t all have the time, energy or desire to explore EVERYTHING but there is an inherent impetus to educate ourselves further on topics about which we are interested. Lately it seems that there is a strange vibration which is turning the masses away from exploration in all contexts and towards echo chamber addiction & confirmation bias subsequently leading to what feels like the most divisive era ever in most of our lifetimes. Dear reader, the fact that you are looking at these words on a Yoga website means that you already want to explore, it means that you already know that things are strange ‘out there’ but yet your quest for more knowledge is authentic, it means also that you are humble enough to know, like all aspiring Yogis that we know nothing and that the path to Wisdom is letting go of the comfort of tunnel vision in favour of the sometimes scary yet altogether more beautiful & vast Truth! In the context of Yoga, our mission of exploration begins & continues with a trip inside! not a journey in a space ship to outer worlds but rather an expedition into aspects of ourselves which are unfamiliar…. This kind of travel is full of wonder & deep education but can be unpleasant!

Yoga invites us to observe EXACTLY what’s going on in the present! I know I define the Practice in this way regularly so apologies if you perceive repetition as a broken record…I hope for you however that you see repetition as an opportunity to learn more. When we properly face ourselves again & again, when we take away the lies that we have told to protect us from the hard truths & when we don’t avoid the muckiness of our bad behaviour, only then can we begin our daily internal exploration with genuinity. OK I’m going to sound like a strict old teacher with a cane again but please try to imagine me as a friendly one with a cake instead! If we do not approach our Yoga with the intention of learning the truth of ourselves, if we ‘say’ we have a Practice when we don’t, if we use it as yet another escape mechanism or indeed a way to delude ourselves into thinking we are more woke than others …..then it ceases to be Yoga. The real work happens inside, the more we all try our best with this effort, the more modest humility we apply individually, then the more the collective will benefit. It is not by accident that we are in the Global mess we’re in, we have lost sight of what it is to self-study to properly share & to Love Unconditionally.

Our Yoga won’t be the instantaneous antidote but it can be the beginning of healing if we are truly willing to explore. see you on the mat!

Cleanse

So what would happen if all the clutter just disappeared? if magically our houses were utterly cleared, if our minds were spontaneously purged of all hinderances & if our bodies were completely detoxified? eventually we’d fill up again right? space gets invaded, negative thoughts happen & sweet things get eaten! The fact is that cleansing needs to be a hand in hand companion for living. We often embark on dramatic quests for domestic minimalism, mental clarity & dietary virtue around the new year, springtime or whenever we’re sick of the accumulation of mountains of unfiled documents on the proverbial & indeed physical desk! Our cyclical nature of contentment leading to apathy forcing us into action is part of who we are as human beings, there are mountains, valleys and infinity in between, as we skateboard up & down the inclines of our peaks & troughs for long enough we realise that sometimes the grand gesture of detoxification is simply our fire element stepping in to burn off a bit of excess sludge! Whatever your perspective of this phenomenon is, it is undoubtedly factual that we need variety. For most personality types, if we cleanse too much we either deplete or rebel and if we indulge too much we dullen our lifeforce….I think it’s good to explore the edges but as I grow I also see the merit in teeny tiny changes along the way. My suggestion for your yoga homework is to explore the concept of cleansing in miniscule bites, do 1 thing differently per layer of life eg: write the urgent thought in a notebook instead of a loose sheet of paper, eat the boiled egg instead of the fried one, do 5 Sun Salutations instead of 3, access your 4pm ‘refresh’ button with a walk outside instead of a 9th coffee, give yourself permission to release any obligations to the ‘difficult’ people in your life once in a while instead of consistent martyrdom! and breathe……breathe, breathe breeeeeeeathe! your clean slate can happen every day….every moment, the time is now.

Step into your Power

No doubt there are forces at work well beyond our cognitive awareness! Even the most sophisticated of scientists & the wisest of elders all admit that they are brought to their knees in humility when met with life’s mystery. The acceptance of ignorance in ourselves is not an excuse to be defeated but rather an opportunity to step into our power.

Our tendency towards goal orientation can often weaken us, for sure it works for certain personality types in terms of motivation but my feeling is that if we can learn how to celebrate the mystery of ‘it all’ we begin to see that the process is the prize! When we play with the concept of the Yoga Practice woven into the Life Practice as an ongoing process with no beginning or no end we can reveal to ourselves a much more powerful type of artistry, meaning we can step into our power in EVERY single given moment without expectation or disappointment, this, my good Yogis is called being present!

To unpack this further let’s look at the human brain, it is wired to invite reward so much so that we have conditioned our societal value system to the worship of winners, so that said, what if we, in our Practice (Yoga/Life) re-calibrate our thinking so that we become so attuned to the value of the present moment above the finish line that we consciously feed the instinctive need for validation & completion with a recognition of this refreshing mantra: THE EFFORT IS THE VICTORY. When we look at the macrocosm or the big picture in this way, our perspective can immediately shift, our fears spontaneously dissipate, thusly allowing us to be so present that all challenges, even death itself is seen as merely just another moment…ah! and there we are, stepping into our power like it is the best pair of shoes we could ever imagine! enjoy your Practice, it in itself is the reward.

Flow State

‘Flow State’ is a term we commonly hear these days, it is a wonderful way of describing the psychological condition required to fully immerse oneself in the full focus & enjoyment of 1 project, getting in the zone as it were! In Yoga any 1 concept applies to all levels of the human, so mentally the flow state can be your ability to disengage from distraction so nothing disturbs your flow, physically we work on seamless transitions from 1 posture to the next so that the on-mat portion of the practice is graceful & dance-like, energetically we correct our breathing techniques so that the Prana (lifeforce) is unhindered & Spiritually we actively connect & align with our wiser most centered Self.

Culturally we are motivated by an end goal or achievement, we are taught that winning is the only route to success, Yoga suggests that the Practice itself is the important aspect, we are encouraged to devote ourselves without being attached to the outcome. . . these seemingly paradoxical stance points can enrich & balance our experience of learning.

We can acknowledge our conditioning ergo the education that is sewn into it while simultaneously breaking it & expanding our awareness past those limitations….this is evolution. And so…one of the coolest aspects of Yoga is that the flow state is a transferrable skill, Yoga is a microcosm of universal life meaning that as we commit to a daily practice we can infuse our lives with the flavour of that practice, the spark we feel when we focus on our Yoga can light the path in our day to day so that our whole lives can be a joyous expression rather than being so goal oriented that we miss the beauty of the present moment. My interpretation of the purpose of this practice is that we learn to be less fixated on external validation of victory & more focused on an entire journey of substantial inner meaning. In the eloquence of Mahatma Gandhi ‘My life is my message’

Energise

To energise ourselves is important, especially these days. We are ALWAYS in a state of change but lately we have been made pointedly aware that we haven’t much control about how or when those changes manifest. It can be very difficult to remain motivated, enthusiastic & vibrant when there is so much uncertainty. Yoga is a system which provides us with ways & means to regulate energy flow in the body & therefore increase internal power. To sustain this power or ‘Shakti’ we need consistent practice.

Pranayama (Breath Work) & Asana (Yoga Poses) in particular are wonderful ways to boost energy & lift the mood. We know from our Practice that we feel instantly better on all levels having been on the mat & the more regular we are with that discipline, the more potent the effects are. The difficult thing is though, in times of upheaval it is almost impossible to be inspired, motivation seems to be slumbering, and inertia, cleverly disguised as a comfort zone pulls us deeper into its toxic embrace!

What to do? well, acknowledgement of the slippery slope of underactivity is the first step. We are literally all in the same boat but we have different methods of sailing… you get the idea in the analogy, some will row, some will let the wind blow them or go with the flow of the current, some will get out of the boat & cling to a rock not going anywhere & some will sink. The substance behind perception & reaction to survival on an ocean which is in constant flux (life) is mainly down to character, however as our circumstances change we have this glimmer….this potential opportunity which can allow us to morph with the lessons & if we accept that challenge ….we evolve, pretty much immediately!

So let’s extrapolate from this that with the help of the awareness granted to us by our Yoga Practice, we are more capable than we thought we were & so we can deep-sea dive below even the most ferocious of waves & get to the shore as stronger, braver versions of ourselves, bathed in the wisdom that even though there is sometimes reluctance, we will always be energised by trying our best!

Freedom & Flexibility

We invite a Practice of freeing our minds & bodies when we walk on the path of Yoga. We stretch our consciousness beyond the boundaries of conditioning therefore learning how to open & grow from a deeper wisdom. We stretch our bodies so as to increase blood flow & muscular elasticity, ergo staving off stiffness & injury. A focus on questioning our belief systems & behavioural patterns is as necessary as mobilising our bodies, without such quests we remain mentally imprisoned by old habits & physically hardened & brittle, thusly unable to cope, adapt & evolve. Yoga encourages us to limber up and remain agile psychologically as much as physiologically!

‘Moksha’ is a term used in Yogic Philosophy to describe the ultimate Freedom, a state of ‘being’ where we are completely liberated from the cycles of birth & death and released from the Karmic wheel of cause & effect. What a beautiful concept this is, it feels so far away though, almost fantastic (like a fantasy) but yet we all have this capacity within us. There is a part of us, deep inside which is already a liberated Yogi and we study our Practice not to achieve enlightenment from an outside source but rather to uncover our potential as it sits blissfully within us all along.

I liken this process to spring cleaning instead of importing more stuff: We might have an impulse to buy something because we feel there is a certain sensation of lacking but as we clean ‘that room’ which we have ignored for years we suddenly rediscover beauty that had been forgotten, like a useful tool or a gorgeous piece of pottery or simply the crystal clarity of an uncluttered space!

Commitment is required for an effective Yoga Practice but that discipline is the road to extricating ourselves from a situation in which we once felt trapped, our bodies become lithe & supple, we realise that we have far more sovereignty over our own minds than we had thought previously, we observe or capacity for sweet healing, we glimpse infinite possibilities and we shed our baggage so our voyage to freedom is light & boundless.

Build on your Strength

The cyclical nature of life exposes us to many changes both obvious & subtle, The ‘Sadhana’ (Practice Path) offers the opportunity to deepen our awareness of those changes & the subsequent ability to implement action or rest depending on what’s appropriate, for example, if we are experiencing extreme stress & lack of sleep, Asanas (Yoga Poses) which restore balance & energy like Balasana (child’s pose) are the correct prescription, if we are feeling light and dynamic then it’s time for Adho Mukha Vrksasana! (handstand)

In playing with the concept of building on strength we first of all must consider how we define ‘strength’...

In the context of Yoga, strength or ‘Utsaha’ is very much a holistic term meaning strength of mind, fair decision making, power, muscular fortitude, emotional stability, health, perseverance & discernment, in other words the first part of building on strength is discerning wisely what it is we need & when we need it.

The next stage of building on our strength is to choose an aspect we want to work on. The most easily accessed part of us is the body, this amazing vehicle in & through which our consciousness can experience this strange & wonderful life. It is tremendously helpful to our journey if we keep this body strong. We learn to work more deeply, then to also strengthen our connection with a healthy mind, authentic emotional responses & ultimately an alignment with our innate & boundless depths so as to stand in the knowledge of who we truly are.

And so it is that we look at our strengths, we look at and admit to our weaknesses and we approach the physical, psychological & spiritual aspects of our Yoga with an intention, a will to fortify our health, starting from wherever we are and improving as we go. Locked within all forms of progress are little setbacks, we injure, we get sick, we doubt ourselves, or sometimes the energy just isn’t there, in times like this it is important to recognise that our Practice is a PROCESS and occasionally, despite all good intentions, we can be weak, this is where we cultivate a listening practice, drawing strength from our inner wisdom so we can see that in order to jump over the big puddle we need to step back, or perhaps another more illuminating analogy is that it’s pointless to fight with a storm on the horizon but rather much more logical to find a safe space in which to weather it! Yoga, if practiced regularly infuses us with the ability to build on our strength on every imaginable layer within us.

Returning to Balance

Samasthiti is the name of a very familiar pose in the Yoga syllabus. All the asanas (Yoga postures) are described or named through the beautiful language of Sanskrit. We don’t have to be Sanskrit scholars to engage in the Practice of Yoga but it is often very helpful to know the translations of the asanas so we can fully understand their symbolism & the intention behind their existence. ‘Sama’ means same, equal or as one ‘Sthita’ is translated as standing, steadfast, present & firm. These root words married together to create ‘Samasthiti’ hold a deeper meaning than just a posture-title describing a body that is standing upright, what is also implied by Samasthiti is a way of being in equanimity, poise and balance.

My understanding of The Curriculum of Yoga is such that we are encouraged to care for the body by exercising it, yes but also to observe the health of the mind, the intensity of our emotional responses & the standards of behaviour towards others. So let us look at Samasthiti as a concept as much as it is a posture.

We experience life as a series of seeming paradoxes: good/bad, happy/sad, kind/selfish, birth/death, pleasure/pain etc. but what Yoga encourages us to do is to steady ourselves sufficiently so as to stand behind the duality from the vantage point of our consciousness and see the whole….to be the watcher of the big picture, to simply witness the dramas we encounter without getting sucked in by them….This, my Friends, while being a simple concept to intellectually understand is probably the most difficult aspect of our Practice to implement and the reason we need to do Yoga every day.

To wobble or to fall is not a failure within Yoga, but rather an invitation to recognise that we need to return to balance again & again.

We learn humility & humour as we tumble out of headstand, we learn that if we get sick perhaps it’s because we didn’t take time for rest when we should have, we get embarrassed by looking back on bad behaviour BUT we get back up, brush ourselves off and walk on with just a little bit more love, just a little bit more insight & hopefully a little bit more Samasthiti.

Om Shanthi

Winter Warming (a midwinter blog)

As we approach midwinter, Self-Care is more important than ever. As animals, our natural tendency in this period of shorter days is to want to hibernate, however as this is not always possible we look to our Yoga Practice to find ways in which we can establish inner balance through external changes, otherwise we can become much more easily depleted than we would do in the Summertime. I truly believe that we must look honestly at where our energy levels are at & approach our Practice accordingly, by this I mean the following: In the darker months, we may not always feel physically motivated to get on our mats for dynamic practices but we can still honour a daily Yoga session that is nurturing. We can activate, awaken, refresh, warm up & tune in with gentler Asanas (Yoga poses) Pranayamas (breathing techniques) & longer sits in Dharana & Dhyana (Concentration & Meditation) These are just as effective in energising us as the more vigorous sequences are, we simply change the pace & the mood depending on what your system is calling for. Another aspect of the magnetic draw of hibernation is the dreaded ‘get-out-clause’ this is where laziness cleverly disguises itself as exquisitely eloquent excuses to avoid Practice…..we’ve all been there, I’m smiling as I write this! BEWARE sweet Yogis, as tempting as it is to put self-care & laziness in the same category, don’t do it!!

The part of your mind which drives you away from your Yoga is only interested in the familiarity of the comfort zone! Let’s always remember that true self-care involves stepping out of the comfort zone as this is the only action which facilitates growth. It takes courage to look beyond the familiar, the easy & the comfortable, Yoga enCOURAGES us to face ourselves and sometimes that brings us fear but in the words of the wonderful Dr. Susan David ‘Courage is not an absence of fear, it is fear walking!’ So let’s promise ourselves to walk onto our mats everyday, if only for 5 minutes but every day nonetheless. Enjoy your Practice MahaYogis. May your Winter be inspiring, nourishing & wonderfully warming. Om Shanthi.