"You should be experimenting"

Today, we started a discussion of the Yoga Sutras (this is a great book by I.K. Taimni - very clear and helpful commentary):

I like what it says about yoga being a living and practical science:

“Yoga has always been a living Science in the East and it has had an unbroken succession of living experts who continually verify by their own experiments and experiences the basic truths of this Science… It is only when a Science is divorced completely from its practical application that it tends to lose itself in a morass of words which have lost their meaning and relation with the actual facts.”

Several times in the past week Richard Freeman has mentioned the importance of experimentation, play, and avoiding orthodoxy (Ashtangis have a tendency towards orthodoxy!):

"You should be experimenting. If you are too orthodox, you can’t experiment... Play in the pose."

The game of yoga

We did a lot of work on adjustments today (much easier for me to grasp than our discussion of the Sankhya Karika dualistic philosophy, hah).

My favorite was the “sacral boot” (easy for the adjuster to do, and feels great for the adjustee):

During our lunch break a few of us went to a field for Acroyoga – WOW! A whole new way of moving, feeling, thinking… I LOVED it.

While we were playing, a guy came up to us and told us about "Synergy” where they bring Acroyoga to communities that don’t have access to/can’t afford yoga. He said it works as a great community-building activity. I LOVE this idea! How about bringing THAT to high schools in Philly?! 

And finally, wisdom from Richard today on the “game” of yoga:

“Yoga is a game. You think ‘If I can just grab my toe, then I will be happy.’ So you work and work and finally grab your toe. But you’re still not happy. Then you think, “Ok, if I can get my elbow to my toe, then I’ll be happy.’ You work for 10 years and finally bring your elbow to your toe... but you're still not happy. (Your armpit to your toe, your ear to toe, etc… still not happy). Yoga simplifies the way our minds work. It reveals the emptiness. We see the games our minds play.”

Practicing all the time

Sunday night. The end of a wonderful weekend exploring Boulder, hiking, doing homework, drinking coffee, and practicing (all the time).

I love this idea of the Chautauqua (where we hiked the flatirons):

"A Chautauqua is an organized gathering intended to introduce people to great ideas, new ideas and issues of public interest. It often involves speeches, music and other types of performances, as well as discussions and classes. Chautauquas were prominent in towns across the United States at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Now, only three Chautauquas remain, including the one in Boulder." 

And few thoughts from Richard that I were on my mind during the hike:

“Mindfulness is the metaphorical giving of space for whatever is arising.”

“If you don’t know what to do when you meditate, sit down and listen.”

“The mind is like the sky -- it is a space that accommodates. Birds, lightening fill the sky...  and it is made beautiful by these theatrics happening in it.” 

Function better in society

Today someone asked Richard how we are to balance a job/work with this yoga/mindfulness practice.

Richard’s response was that yoga should not turn us into spaced-out hippies! “This practice should make us function better in society. You become grounded. You don’t space out.”

And importantly, we need teachers to help keep us grounded. When students would go to Guruji and say things like, “Oooh Guruji, I feel the kundalini energy rising through my throat chakra blah blah blah,” Guruji would respond: “Go get me 6 pounds of carrots and a bucket of water.” Or if a student said, “Ooh Guruji, every time I close my eyes I see light,” Guruji would say, “Don’t worry, it will go away.” Hah!

The point: Our yoga practice should increase our groundedness, increase our humility, and improve the functioning of our mind for living in this world.

He ended today’s session with: “In addition to your homework, practice continuously. All day and all night. Whatever you are doing, practice. Practice mindfulness.”

The dark side of yoga

After each morning asana practice, we do chanting and philosophy. I really love the philosophy discussions and I’m trying so hard to love the chanting.

I began to appreciate it more after Richard explained what it means when we say “Shanti shanti shanti” (these come at the end of many chants). Shanti is translated as “Peace” and we say it three times because each shanti represents one of the 3 causes of suffering:

1. Suffering from the self (our bodies and minds): Itching, headache, muscle aches, pain, being too hot/ too cold, tired.
2. Suffering from other beings: Spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, mother/father, sister/brother, children, animals (i.e. mosquitos), germs, traffic.
3. “Divine suffering” (meaning both things that we inherit in our genes and things in nature that are beyond our control): Deep tendencies such as pride, lust, greed, desire for power. Large weather patterns and catastrophes such as draught, wind, tornados, earthquakes. 

Ok, suffering I can identify with! This explanation made me much more engaged in the whole chanting practice.

Then we began a discussion of The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (written between 1350-1550 AD - “hot off the press” as far as scriptures go):

The purpose of this book is to teach the technology of Hatha yoga and to avoid the mistakes.

The mistakes are very common. Richard talked about the “dark side” of yoga – when people use the practice of yoga in order to gain something material.

The example he gave was a person is living a life of “normal mediocrity” who then begins practicing Ashtanga yoga. He gets really healthy and starts to feel strong. Then he walks down the street feeling strong, feeling superior, feeling powerful, and “knocking people over” just because they are not strong and they don’t do Ashtanga. This person then gets authorized to teach. His ego inflates and he makes the mistakes teenage boys make (like getting romantically entangled with students). He feels too powerful to follow yamas and niyamas (the ethical and moral disciplines), and things subtly begin to fall apart. Yoga takes a “sinister” turn without him even being aware of it.

And this is why you need a guru/teacher. The practice of yoga can cause a dangerous inflation of the ego, which actually ends up increasing our own suffering.

Designed to be difficult

We started the day again by slowly going through the first few standing postures. Richard joked: “My goal is to make yoga so boring, that sitting meditation becomes exciting.”

And gosh, sitting meditation is definitely something I need to work on. We had our first session at the Boulder Shambhala Center today. 

The whole point is to become more mindful of our thoughts. Unfortunately, my thoughts today were dominated by: This is uncomfortable. My left leg is completely numb. These might be the worst pins and needles I've ever had. I can't wiggle my toes. Please ring the bell soon. I think I might be having a panic attack. Why can't I just sit still. Do people seriously do this for days at a time...

Ughhhh!! I hope I get better at this!

Richard explained that this practice is designed to get us out of our habits and routines. It is designed to be difficult. It is the foundation for doing all other yoga correctly. And yes, it is humiliating! He said:

“Yoga is the most embarrassing thing. It is the unfolding of your mental process. It is embarrassing because we see we have an infinitely big ego that is unlimitedly stupid.”

A good foundation

“Forget asana, all of our bodies fall apart anyway. Pranayama is where it’s at!”

~Richard Freeman today

This is my first time meeting Richard in person – wow! I was struck by how grounded, funny, knowledgeable, articulate, humble, self-deprecating, and patient he is.

41 students packed into the shala here - literally mat to mat. A surprising number flew in from other countries (Sweden, Japan, England, Russia, Croatia, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Egypt)… amazing!

We each got a notebook with the syllabus/readings, plus these five books:

The day started with a two-hour asana practice but we only made it to the second standing pose – there is an incredible amount to say about the tiniest movements! Then we had chanting and philosophy talk.

We are starting slowly and laying the foundations because as Richard says, “A good foundation will give you a sense of humor to your own folly” (and folly is inevitable because ego always eventually gets in the way).

We have A LOT of reading to do. Tonight’s assignment includes:

• Kena Upanisad (this is what Pattabhi Jois would tell people to read if they asked him what Ashtanga yoga is about)
• Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, Ch 4, 5th Brahmana
• Ch 1 and 2 of The Bhagavad Gita
• Introductory essay to The Principle Upanisads (this is 140 pages, hah) 

So excited to finally be reading these, but these texts are HARD and I’m struggling through slowly. Thinking about some things Richard said today:

“Those who don’t understand understand. Those who understand don’t understand.”

“Practice all day. All day every day, all night every night."

“The questioning mind is the open mind. Only beginning students come up with answers.”

“Intelligence is questioning.”

“Keep the mind open, focus the mind through questioning. That is yoga.”