blog: the yoga blog

a trainee’s thoughts on meditation, pt. 1

The Advanced Teacher Trainees and I have been talking a lot about what meditation is over the past couple of months, and I’m sharing on this site their recent writings on the matter. AM writes:

I have heard people explain that the mind is like a lake and that the fluctuations of the mind are the ripples that flutter across the surface, implying that a level of awareness and stillness of the mind will bring the lake into such peace and calm that the surface of the lake is flat and tranquil so it appears to be a mirror.

In thinking about meditation and asana, I’ve come to realize that the lake metaphor described above, for me, is an over simplification of fluctuations of the mind.  This metaphor implies that that the water and the land underneath the surface of the water are still.  But realistically, the earth (as are our physical bodies) is always moving and changing.  For the earth, which is the foundation of the lake, to come into stillness means it must come into relative harmony with the forces of nature.  To bring this from a lake metaphor to the context of yogic practice in today’s reality, I believe that the fluctuations of the mind of the average person come from a more fundamental, internal source.  Much as natural disasters such as tsunami are caused by movement deep within the earth and whose source are miles away from the resulting waves, so are the originating sources that cause fluctuations of the mind.  For many of us, the quest to seek a still mind is as much about bringing awareness to, observing, and working to bring harmony to these fundamental imbalances.  In relation to the physical body, the connection is clear, as tightness and imbalance may be more readily identifiable.

Meditation is an ancient practice that, like asana, has different histories, schools of thought and techniques.  I searched “types of meditation” on the internet and found meditation through virtually any means:  dance, sex, martial arts, chanting, breathing, walking, stillness, concentration, and prayer, to name a few.  As the types of meditation vary, so do the definitions.  The Princeton Dictionary describes meditation as continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature.  I’ve often heard people say they meditate “on” something.  I find this interesting, as when I sit in meditation, I do not have a particular subject matter or concept in mind.  In my experience, meditating “on” a specific concept increases my mind’s restlessness.  However, in Satchidananda’s commentary of the Yoga Sutras, he also translates “The practice of concentration on a single subject [of the use of one technique] is the best way to prevent the obstacles and their accompaniments.”  In regards to what that subject may be, Satchidananda comments “Anything can take you to your goal, because you are not concentrating on the object for the sake of the object but for the sake of your goal.”

Wikipedia states that meditation as oftentimes part of a religious tradition.  Meditation is yet another aspect of yoga that may seem to many as religion.  Much like religious prayer, meditation is surrounded by ritual – the posture, the state of mind, the mudras that may resemble hands together in prayer, the incense or candles, the chanting, etc.

While some see meditation as related to religion, others categorize it quite differently.  Many websites online consider meditation as a medical treatment that falls under the holistic or alternative therapies umbrella.

And finally, Krishnamurti defies all of these definitions with his description of meditation.  “Man, in order to escape his conflicts, has invented many forms of meditation. These have been based on desire, will, and the urge for achievement, and imply conflict and a struggle to arrive. This conscious, deliberate striving is always within the limits of a conditioned mind, and in this there is no freedom. All effort to meditate is the denial of meditation. Meditation is the ending of thought. It is only then that there is a different dimension which is beyond time… When you learn about yourself, watch yourself, watch the way you walk, how you eat, what you say, the gossip, the hate, the jealousy - if you are aware of all that in yourself, without any choice, that is part of meditation.”

practice is the goal

Last week I was working with a new client. She’s 52, and she’s been practicing yoga for a long time. It shows in her attention to the detail of the poses, and, as important, in her ability to find meditation and stillness in her daily life.

As we discussed what it takes to revive a stalled yoga practice, she said, you know, I need this work with you to get restarted for 2010, but I’m so grateful that I actually do know how to quiet my mind. She went on to say:

I wasn’t sure I ever believed that you could just turn your mind off, but then, after practicing for these years, I’ve figured out that, yes, you can. It just takes practice.

She stated this fact so simply, without any drama, discomfort or complaint. She said it better than any teacher I’ve ever had, in fact: You can still your mind without any real issue — you just have to keep at it. It isn’t a drive-through experience, and it cannot happen while you are moving, unless you have figured out how to meditate while you are actually still, sitting, for a little while. Then you can be anywhere — walking, in conversation or relationship with someone, in a fast-paced vinyasa class — and you can observe whatever is happening at that moment and be still in your heart with it.

Yoga teaches that the heart is the true mind. I believe that my client was talking about being at peace when she talked about “turning off” her mind. This was a powerful teaching for me, and I am grateful to share it here.

I wish you a still and peaceful 2010, filled with practice and gratitude.

why-i-can’t-asana

I hear students in class often talk about how they “can’t do” an asana. It just occurred to me that if the student has a goal for improving her practice through doing more complicated poses, the question is not “why can’t I do that?” It’s rather “where can’t I do that?”

Your whole reality will change if you start looking at your body as an instrument that you play in class, versus a thing that holds you tethered to the physical, mental, and emotional patterns you know. This small step — of detaching just enough from the body to see its behavior more objectively — represents a quantum leap in healing the body, mind, and spirit through yoga.

One-Pose-at-a-Time Continues

Join us for the second session of the One-Pose-at-a-Time, now through February 14. Whether you’re seeking refinement of a difficult posture, or simply looking to get a new perspective on a familiar asana, this series can help you deepen your practice. It’s also a chance to take a class with some of boundless’ newest teachers

This Week’s Pose: Prasarita Padottanasana

As a new yogi, Prasarita Padottanasana, didn’t seem like much of a pose to me. It felt more like a gym class stretch, or a preparation for other asanas. Perhaps this was because the shape is reminiscent of calisthenics. Padottanasana reveals its secrets slowly, in finding the difference between bending forward and bending down, in learning to ground the feet in the outer and inner edges, and in bending from the hips rather than from the waist.

This Week’s Pose: Virabhadrasana II

Linked by it’s name to Virabhadrasana I, Warrior two is a similarly fierce pose. I often think of this pose as a fencer’s lunge. In Virabhadrasana II, the practitioner extends his or her reach as far forward as possible, while keeping the back foot strongly grounded. If this pose indeed has roots in martial arts you could see why– the pose allows for a quick jab of the extended arm, and the possibility of retreat or further advancement. Come join boundless this Sunday for an exploration of Virabadrasana II.

Virabhadrasana II by Emily Sloat Shaw

This Week’s Pose: Virabhadrasana I

Virabhdrasana I is no half-hearted posture. It is like a warrior stilled mid-stride. It is captured movement. The front leg lunges forward while the back leg reaches back and grounds the pose. Likewise, the hips both contain the movement of the thighs, and connect the solid legs to an expansive chest and arms.

Virabhadrasana I by Emily Sloat Shaw

What is grounding?

For our purposes, grounding is an overall or localized experience of the thinking mind rendered lighter. In other words, the thoughts that fuel our day in general or any experience, specifically, become less “heavy” and overwhelming because the body has energetically plugged into the ground. Like a plug into a socket, a person becomes instantly aware of the relaxation response associated with living in relationship to gravity when she “grounds.” Grounding, in other words, is the baseline psycho-emotional experience of awareness. As thinking recedes, awareness rises, anything rising is coming up from below. In this case, the rising is awareness from the support of the earth.

Students of energy must practice feeling this actual, embodied experience in order to lay the groundwork (there’s no better word) for the release of dormant, acute, or recurring emotions associated with thoughts and stories that have too long dominated their consciousness. Without grounding work, the release of emotions cannot work. Emotions will move in second chakra (i.e., emotional/movement) work, but if they do not know the way out of the body, they will then circulate, confused, and continue causing as much pain and dis-ease (if not more) as when they lived in their unreleased state.

-excerpted from Kim Weeks’s notes for the Hands-On Energy Seminar.

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

Relationships and Satya: Why We Lie to Our Spouses

Have you ever noticed that wedding vows don’t include a promise to always tell the truth? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal explains why—it turns out that even the best relationships are littered with white lies. In fact, the article suggests that lies about small things are healthy for relationships.

My instinct is to say “BS!” I hate catching my spouse in white lies and do my best to practice satya (truth). But, truth be told, I’m not one to back down from bending the truth in order to avoid a pointless, nonproductive argument. My white lies typically involve rounding down instead of rounding up when asked about the cost of a new purchase…and if the new purchase isn’t noticed, why bother to disclose it at all?

When I lie it’s because I determine that the issue is something small that need not cause suffering for my spouse (does that qualify as ahimsa?). Reading through the confessions in the WSJ article is entertaining and a bit comforting, but also unsettling. Where is the line between white lie and deal breaker, and are we all just playing with fire?