Foundations of Ayurveda with Brendan Feeley M.A., N.D.

Ayurvedic Philosophy, Diet & Lifestyle
Dates: TBA
$250

Ayurveda is the knowledge that indicates which activities and eating habits are appropriate and inappropriate, auspicious and inauspicious, what brings happiness and sorrow, as well as what increases the measure of life itself

- Charaka Samhita 1.41

Ayurveda, the “knowledge of longevity”, is the oldest and the most comprehensive systems of healing in the world and it has its roots in the philosophy of the ancient Vedas. It is an integral part of yogic psychology, philosophy and practice. Ayurveda relies on the six systems of Indian Philosophy, the Shad Darshan, for its founding principles, particularly Sankhya philosophy of creation and evolution.

Darshan is more than philosophy. It is a system of knowing based on perception and inner vision. The enlightened rishis of the Vedic age were able to discover the truth of life through the purity of their hearts and their exalted sense of awareness.

The goal of Ayurveda is to restore balance to the body, mind and soul. Disease is seen as the abnormal expression of the vitiated dosha and to restore health, the increased dosha must be pacified and returned to its site of accumulation. At the same time the destruction of the tissues and organs, caused by the imbalanced doshas, must be addressed and suitable therapies must be used to restore their function. In Ayurveda prevention is emphasized. It is easier to treat the disease at its accumulation stage than at the later stages of complication and destruction. The reasons are obvious.

In this 16-hour introductory course, the theory of ayurveda will be presented. We will cover Sankhya philosophy of creation, the 24-Cosmic principles (gunas, buddhi, manas, ahamkara, indriyas, the tattvas and tanmatras), the doshas and sub-doshas, Agni and digestion, Ama, and an introduction to the science of the six tastes.

Brendan Feeley is an internationally recognized author, speaker, teacher and consultant in Ayurveda and Jyotish (Vedic Astrology). He has an M.A. degree in Jung’s depth psychology and doctorate degrees in naturopathy and homeopathy. His practice is based in Rockville, MD.

He is also a faculty member of the American Council of Vedic Astrologers (ACVA),and a member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association.

poses after swimming!

So today instead of doing yoga I went swimming at one of Washington, DC’s lovely indoor swimming pools. Like all parents, I try to make the best of the limited time I have for myself. After finishing, I did these poses to balance the shape I created for my body in mainly freestyle. I felt great, and more long and lithe than I normally do after swimming.

If you swim regularly, try these for a couple of minutes afterward and see if it makes a difference. Notice that the shapes are very basic equal-and-opposite stretches after creating the shape of freestyle in the pool.

The first pose is a forward fold with hands on the starting block, because why not.

It’s about more than the toothbrush

Asana means pose or posture — another translation is “steady seat.” We mess around in class with these shapes mainly because we want to stay healthy and fit, and elastic and strong, for as long as possible.

The point of asana is not to perfect the poses — that’s impossible anyway, because all bodies are situated just a little differently and will not look the same on “completion” of the shape.

The point is to move more energy through the body, more precisely and with longer-lasting effects. So you can do asana anywhere, really, when you are typing, walking or getting up in the morning. Any movement evolves into asana when you become aware of the movement, when you are so deeply engrossed that you can watch your body both relax and form into the movement (reaching for the toothbrush) instead of thinking of something else (I’m hungry) as it happens.

To be sure, yoga class is a good way to start. As teachers, our job is to guide you into heightened awareness of yourself, and the body you have that takes up space. From there, you can become as aware as you want, anywhere, in such a way that you start to release patterns of tension (e.g., thinking, “Omg, I have a lot to do today” as you scrub you body with soap in the shower) and open to a new state of relaxed alertness. It’s pretty sweet when you “arrive” at that place.

multitasking yogimama

I’ve discovered that you can do utkatasana holding a 15 lb baby. You need to do it twice, with the baby on either arm to even things out; and you can do it with baby in one arm to pick stuff up with the other (especially useful as they start throwing things).

This yogimama is happy to find new ways for asana off the mat.

This Week’s Pose: Trikonasana

This week’s One Pose is Trikonasana. It’s the first asymmetrical pose in the series where the sides of the body do not mirror each other. Yet there is something very natural about the star-like shape the body takes in Triangle Pose. The action of coming into the pose has often reminded me of  Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawing of classical proportions, the Vitruvian Man. If you look closely at the Vitruvian Man you can see him standing with legs together as well as with legs apart, as if he is setting up for Trikonasana. 

Trikonasana by Emily Sloat Shaw

This Week’s Pose: Bhujangasana

Think of a snake. They are almost all spine. The snake’s long spine would appear to be fragile, but it is wrapped and stabilized by a lattice of muscle. This combination of makes them capable of  grace and power simultaneously.

The aptly named bhujangasana, or cobra pose, captures flexibility and strength of a snake. Bhujangasana takes the attitude of a cobra hooding up in a threat display. The spine extends, supported by a network of muscle, and the chest broadens and lengthens. The limbs are secondary in this pose.

Since we’re not snakes, bhujangasana can be a challenging and subtle pose. Learning to rely on the strength of the small muscles of the back is hard when you’re not used to it. Cobra pose can help build strength and flexibility for deeper backbends.

Join boundless this Sunday, October 25 for an exploration of bhujangasana.

Bhujangasana by Emily Sloat Shaw

Where the stories live

Last night, at Tara Brach’s Insight Meditation group, we meditated and then listened to Tara talk about hearing the stories that we tell ourselves, over and over — the stories about our lives that feel “normal,” but that keep us unhappy and restricted. She pointed out early on in her talk that when the mind is constricted, so is the body. This means that we tighten ourselves when experiencing (thinking) stress, and we escape or fight the stress by developing coping strategies that eventually settle in as constriction and repression in the body. This happens from childhood. We can only unearth these repressions if we sit with ourselves and create space for awareness to enter the body.

Tara concluded her talk by emphasizing how essential it is to catch ourselves in a story — “I’m so depressed,” “I’m weak when it comes to…,” “I never meet the right guy…,” — and feel where that story lives in the body. Where do we feel constricted or held back?

In the context of a yoga class, the question can often be answered simply. Forget the story! It’s my hamstrings! My upper back! My abdomen!

And yet, combining the physical learning we do in a yoga class with mindful meditation is powerful. Whereas Tara suggested that we listen to our bodies when we catch ourselves telling a “typical” story about ourselves, we can also feel what’s in the body first — and then notice our thoughts.

So in  yoga, you can say, OMG I’m in savasana (corpse pose) or trikonasana (triangle pose) or this friggin’ backbend and can’t relax my shoulders! What kinds of thoughts are you having right then? What are they about, and do they sound familiar? From there, sit in meditation — later that night at the end of class or after class, or the next morning before work — and observe the shoulders. And then notice the thoughts again. And then go back to yoga class in a few days and see what turns up.

This is the work of opening to consciousness. It comes in from every angle, whether you want it to or not. It comes flooding in when you give it more than one door.

This Sunday: Chaturanga Dandasana with Kristen Krash

Chaturanga Dandasana by Emily Sloat Shaw

If you’re like me, Chaturanga is your nemesis.

It appears deceptively simple—body extended, arms tucked in at the sides, weight balanced between hands and feet. But finding the combination of strength and length to push your prone body off the ground is surprisingly difficult. When it’s done well, a body in chaturanga appears weightless, contained front to back and lengthened head to toes, simultaneously.

Join Kristen this Sunday October 11, for an exploration chaturanga dandasana, one of the most challenging asanas in the yoga canon.

ooh i’m so tired!

This is one of the things I hear during the Fall a lot. More so than Winter, even though during those colder months there is less light to go around.

This makes me think of yoga. I can say without a doubt that at 37, I feel younger and more alive than I did at 23 — then I was busy working on Wall Street, running to the gym, and then running home to go out, or to go home and hang out in front of the TV. I felt exhausted all the time, and even training for a marathon didn’t seem to help.

Over time, I’ve learned that my body needs certain shapes, and certain relaxation tools, to keep it running smoothly, energetically, and happily. These shapes and relaxation tools come directly from yoga: They have aligned my skeleton, muscles, and nervous system (i.e., how I think and feel) in such a way that I conserve energy when it feels good and makes sense, and I expend it when it feels good and makes sense.

Running a small business at 9 months pregnant, I still work as many hours as I ever clocked at JPMorgan or Merrill Lynch, but the difference is that my skeleton and nervous system aren’t working as hard to hold me up, move me from place to place, and let go as they settle me down to sleep at night. Even 40 lbs heavier than I was in January, the only thing bothering me occasionally are my knees, and that’s because they are still adjusting to the weight they are temporarily bearing from above.

During the Fall, when it becomes obvious that your body is going into hibernation, it’s a very good idea to stick with a yoga practice in order to observe how your body is holding you up. Learn how to conserve energy, learn how it moves through your body — be interested in where you are efficient and where you aren’t, and explore your body from there. These are essential “wellness” tools for any body wanting to feel more alive, and less encumbered.

Free-Form Yoga and Jazz This Saturday

[Yoga and jazz] seek always to make spontaneous and real the exploration of these structures through lack of structure. -Kim Weeks

This Saturday, V Street (between 13th and 14th) is being renamed Langston Hughes Way by the District. In honor of this renaming, The Greater U Street Historic Foundation is throwing a block party!
 
From 12 pm to 4 pm, there will be live jazz, a moonbounce for kids, food, and fun for everyone. A few of us from Boundless are showing up from 2:30 pm to 4 pm to do free-form, self-led yoga in an open field (the one right behind the Busboys building), where jazz will be playing, kids will be moonbouncing, and people will be generally hanging out and having a good time. There’s nothing else! Just an opportunity to show up, do some spontaneous yoga practice to the sounds of great live music—on or off your mat.
 
So come on out and bring a friend. Look for people in Boundless t-shirts doing yoga. You can follow if you want, or just do your own thing. This is an opportunity to get totally into the groove and into your own body. Just as the jazz musicians will be demonstrating the beauty of jazz (think notes, scales, tones), we’ll be demonstrating how beautiful asana can be done (think bones, muscles, organs). See the connection?
 
Take care, and we hope to see you Saturday!