Yoga and Connection

I'm constantly surprised by how the practice of yoga brings about connections that were not previously possible. Connections between people, the connection of a person to their body, our connection to the earth. My wife and I joke at times that when something coincidental happened it was somehow "Yoga". This running joke was present long before either of us had discovered yoga. It was just a thing we said. I believe the practice of Yoga creates connections that were not previously possible, but now they exist, seem as though they have always been present. 

The other day I grew mindful of how the practice of some afternoon Yoga and awareness put me squarely in the moment as I watered some plants out in the garden. As a one time guerrilla gardener, who has since grown far too busy for his own good, this reconnection to a joy, long forgotten, was inspiring. 

When we feel connected to the earth around us, there is no threat, no need for defensive postures of mind or body, the world greets us with abundance and embrace.

OM Drawing

OM

OM.......

This evening I introduced 3 OM's at the closing of my practice. This was recommended to me by my teacher alongside my other Sadhana practices. Having not done them for a while outside of class, my voice came through somewhat reserved and weak. This should improve as I keep up the practice. As I uttered the first, my son walked into the lounge where I happened to be practicing. He slowly wondered in and put on my slippers while I finished my second and third OM.
He is familiar with the sound and has previously copied me after attending a Kirtan. As I finished, I reflected with gratitude on the setting I found myself in and for the ability to practice Yoga and share it with my family.

Warrior Drawing

Santosha and Gratitude

During this morning's practice I was able to reflect on Santosha(contentment) as it relates to gratitude. It seems to me that when grateful for the what we have, the need or desire to acquire more can be diminished. Gratitude in some way seems to be an expression of Satosha. As we evoke or practice gratitude for the things we are provided by the universe, we are saying that what's there for us is enough, is is exactly what we need and that searching for more is not necessary because of this.
Perhaps there is another way of looking at it though. When we are not content with the gifts of the universe or desire still more from it, we are not able to generate or express gratitude, or even notice that those gifts are even present at all. We see life not as a series of gifts from the universe, but as a series of obstacles that need overcoming.

The Practice of Contentment

My teacher asked our class to focus on the Niyama that prescribes Contentment or Santosha. During the last class we were introduced to the Yama of Ahimsa or non-violence. My first thought on hearing this proposal was to consider how the two are linked. Violence in many senses comes from a dissatisfaction or intent to force on another or ourselves what is not natural or right. If we are content in ourselves and accepting of how things are, we are less prone to impatience, forceful or violent behaviour and thoughts.
I believe that I have a lot to learn about this practice. I tend to use discontent a lot in life. It drives change and development and it engages a critical faculty in me that drives certain visions about how the future could be. To some extent it is necessary, however it is a relentless beast that can keep a person striving for more, better, newer, etc.

I will tag further posts on this topic with #santosha to keep track of observations related to it, and try to follow through on the reflections over the coming week.

Off Days

This morning during practice I felt a little off. I could describe it as a kind of off balance that I brought with me into the practice and it seemed to stay with me throughout. It resembles a sleepiness that keeps your mind escaping from the practice. Usually distraction involves more compelling thoughts or issues that take the mind away from the moment, however this seemed to have no object for its focus, but rather it is as though the mind wants to be anywhere but here. I pressed on with my Sadhana however as I write this I am drifting off to sleep.

Why This Blog, Why Now

I started this blog as a way of openly documenting my practice with Yoga. It started as a basic reflection following each practice, however it has grown fairly quickly into a documentary on my Journey with Yoga in practice and in life. 
I have been practicing yoga for 2 1/2 years now and started as a way to manage stress. I quickly realised the further benefits to regular practice, including a connection to my body through movement and asana, confidence, balance, motivation and of course it has brought me alignment with my life's purpose. I hope that by following this blog, people can enjoy the aspects of this journey I chose to share, and be inspired to take up their own spiritual journey.

Sharing Yoga

We had some friends over last night and I would usually not do yoga with others around especially when they are staying in the room I usually use. Thinking ahead this time I did my practice in my Sons room. I thought about the joy of sharing Yoga and as my practice progresses I want to share it more with others. My 3 and 1 1/2 year old already watch and copy some poses when they get the urge to. Increasingly I talk about yoga to others where before I would have left the subject alone. The joy of yoga seems to well up inside and want to be shared and celebrated whenever possible as I grow in awareness. I'd love to know if you find my sharing through this blog interesting, relevant or you may like to post enthusiastically that you are "ambivalent" to its content.

The Peace of Yoga

Having re-energised my practice with the introduction of a Sadhana routine, I had the chance this morning to reconnect with peaceful aspect of yoga and be reminded of the need to balance the energy and dynamics of practice with settling into the body and resting of the breath. Over the course of yesterday and today, I can feel this balance returning not only to my practice but also in my life.

It seems strange that I had forgotten something so fundamental to the practice of yoga and the practice of life. I am grateful that I have such wonderful teachers in my life at the moment, that I can consistently refocus practice and study.

Breath Awareness and Meditation Practice

Today I learned a Sadhana from my teacher Jayananda. I had booked in a meeting with her sometime ago and I was hoping to formalise a routine for myself and my practice. One strong realisation for me today was the degree to which I regularly neglect Pranyama and Meditation at the close of my practice. In some ways I am able to reflect on how this has left me physically and emotionally. It was this breath awareness and settling of the mind that first attracted me to meditation some 12 years ago and it has been the aspect of my practice so neglected of late.

I have been overwhelmed by the energy generation effects of Yoga and in some ways these are very attractive to me, whilst I have not given good attention to slowing back down and being easy again. Observing and experiencing a slowing down of the breath is such a blissful experience, and it balances the energetic and engaged aspects of the mind and body. Its as though the energy present can either be worked up to a frenzy of activity and exploration, or it can gently settle down into the self, and permeate out into the world again.

Quitting Early

During this morning's practice I was prone to quitting early. Within each practice, I remained tempted to end and move on prematurely.

This is perhaps something I am prone to in life also. An impatience creeps in and has me thinking there is something else I should be doing. The thing I'm doing loses its attraction and the thing I imagine grows into a mini vision that I strive for.

It figures, I guess that this is what meditation and the practice of awareness is around for, given the mind's propensity to envelope itself in a desire.

Lost in Practice

You'd could likely hear someone say if you're lost in the practice, you may not be concentrating. I think there's something to be said for losing track somewhat when you are doing your practice. This afternoon I practiced Surya Namaskara and lost count of the rounds. Being late in the day my body was warm and flexible, meaning I can intensify and lengthen the practice a little more than in the morning.
I was able to observe a good flow to the practice and the movements seemed very natural and organic as though the body were meant to move in this fashion. A revisiting of the body's evolved history that has been neglected in our modern, somewhat sedentary life.
Tomorrow I am meeting with my teacher to discuss proper after practice awareness and a routine Asana. I am really looking forward to it.

Settling after Surya Namaskar

This evening I split my practice into two sessions and was able to observe the effects of taking a moment to settle down after a dynamic set of poses like Surya Namaskar.

The practice of Surya Namaskar is well documented to have many health benefits and for my Yoga teachers it is taken seriously as a warmup prior to Asana, Pranyama and Meditation. I read a book documenting the many benefits of the practice which was prescribed as a general wellness tonic that provides the body with a range of benefits in addition to its energising payoff.

This evening I was conscious to ensure that I kept a brief period of time following the practice to settle the body down to a restful and easy state and the close of the practice. This allowed me to observe the pace of the heart slow, the breath ease into a gentle rising and falling, down from the intensity of the practice.

I often skip this crucial phase in the practice and it can leave me overly energised and distracted at the close of practice or make it difficult to settle into the pranyama and meditation.

Settling in to Practice

Keeping the mind and body relaxed relies on us taking time to let the breath return to its natural state regularly. Aside from the regular benefits of our practice, this activity alone ensures that at least once in our day, we change pace to shift out of the fast pace of modern living. The pace and scales of modern life are mind boggling and without slowing down to take stock, we risk this flurry of activity, conflicting commitment and desire overcoming us and prepping us to defend ourselves.

This mornings practice brought my awareness to the need to prepare and settle into the practice by maintaining few minutes of conscious breathing letting the thoughts of the day settle down. What I became aware of this morning was how the mind and the body interact with one another to cause this settling and the way in which the breath guides or is guided by this process.

As you unhook from a thought or agenda item that has been fraying you for most of the day you can feel the tightness of your muscles release. Similarly as the breath gets deeper and longer the body too responds by sinking gently into the ground and dropping the defensive stance that comes about if our day is left to its own device without consciousness.

I like how this writer has put it at the end of this article on the subject of preparing to practice.

Observing Yoga

During this mornings practice I noticed that whilst there were several times when I drifted off into a lack of attention, I was able to bring myself back gently with a refocussing back on the body and its presence with the movements. This was helped by a conscious trick of imagining that I was describing my practice in the same way as I would be describing it by writing it down for you. This seemed to bring my attention back to the practice but also maintain a distance from it that seemed to keep my mind at the right spot.
I introduced some additional postures. My yoga class has returned from term break and I hadn't realised how much I had missed it. My teacher is planning a event in the future which will consist of a series of 108 Surya Namaskars completed as a group to raise money for a charity. I am not sure whether she has put to much thought into how the event will be structured or promoted but it seemed interesting and I would like to be involved in some way. I may even offer to assist with the planning and promotion of it.
My teacher has introduced a new format to the class which was very enjoyable and there is a confidence about the class that it very good. There also seems to be an intentional focus on additional material in the form of briefly introduced topics. This week it is Ahimsa or the practice of non-violence.

Yoga spot

This was a nice spot to do some Yoga this morning

“Ruled by human logic

We sometimes confine ourselves 

To one plane of the universe”

Shira Small - Wayfaring

A Week of Increased Practice

This evening I had good practice and was able to reflect on how I have maintained round about 8-10 Surya Namaskars daily for a few days now and how I have incorporated a fairly full practice twice a day for that period. It has been good to know that I can implement it and sustain it in some way even if I was not able to be fully at it from day one of the challenge.

Another practice I have adopted this week is more conscious journalling of my after practice awareness. I am looking forward to learning more about the structure of after practice awareness reflections and incorporating this into my ongoing practice.

Yoga Journalling - Calming the Mind

The past few weeks I have challenged myself to doing 10 Surya Namaskars per day. I have split them into 5 am and 5 pm but I think the effect is similar. The first week I gave up my regular practice to focus on this and I soon felt that this was not ideal and was not gaining the full effect of practicing. I returned to a standard pattern and made sure to include the 5 in the morning with other asana and 5 in the evening. Most days I have done this. Today  my observation was on the calming effects of practicing and it has got me to thinking how important a session at key times of the day could be very helpful for me. This weekend I have really needed to relax and let go of work and having a quiet and undisturbed Yoga session in the afternoon really rested my thoughts. I have also started to think about how my practice develops and how I am getting to not function very well at all if I stop doing Yoga daily.

Lunch with the Neighbours

Last weekend we came home from a visit with family in Melbourne to find a note tucked into the front door from our neighbours inviting us over for lunch next weekend. We called the number they had left and found out they were the ones in the house on the opposite valley hidden behind some trees. We could tell from a distance that they had a grove of Olive trees, a horse and a large newly constructed greenhouse. On the Saturday we nervously drove up their road and were welcomed by a great big golden retriever, called Phoebe who guided us up to the house where some of the guests were gathered in the middle of introductions between each other. Our neighbours are a couple with a young daughter who seem to have moved out to this acreage some 5 years ago for many of the same reasons we have made the move. They value the natural setting, quiet, community and abundance of the country lifestyle. We sat down to lunch with some friends of our hosts who had travelled up for the day. One old Italian man had brought a plate full of home made salami and prosciutto as well as a large glass jar of home-brewed red wine. After lunch we were shown to the glasshouse, which evidently was the pride of our host and hostess and contained an array of hydroponically grown vegetables and fruit. The system he uses is Autopot, which is almost zero maintenance gravity fed growing.  Great big melons, pumpkins, and tomatoes hung from overhead. We helped ourselves to a bag of food before walking through the orchard, where we filled another bag of fresh fruit off the trees. After more wine and some delicious cheesecake we said our goodbyes and returned to our home on the opposite hill fascinated by our experience. It had been 6 months since we moved to the farm and for the first time we felt like we were home here in this small community.