Category: yoga

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Beware of Transformation

At the end of my seasonal week-long kitchari cleanse, and as is usual for me near the end of a cleanse, I felt a tangible shift in a positive direction.  I did embark on this cleanse earlier in the year than I usually do – late February – for a couple of reasons.  One is that my Spring gets very busy leading others through seasonal cleansing so it would get harder to take more time for myself, and the second is that I had been having some skin issues I’d never had before.  I needed to step back, take care of agni, get my dinacharya back in line, as well as directly asses this imbalance. (And I saw amazing results, by the way, which I will share with you soon.)

One night towards the end of my most recent cleanse, after teaching a yoga class, I experienced a moment of clarity.  It was a rare moment where I was catching transformation in the works.  Simply sitting and watching my students in savasana, which I have done hundreds of times before, I could sense my life was changing.  In that same instant, or immediately afterward, I felt something like fear, something like the expectation of grieving, as though in this transition I was losing something too.

What might I be losing? 

Something felt so right, yet something else inside yells “No!” at the same time, and I simply sit watching over my students, and wait.  Is it the ego feeling that it could be losing some of its influence, that is still shouting no to change?

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What is Dinacharya?

dinaworldpeace“For an intelligent person the whole world is a teacher, hence on should imitate the world after carefully considering their meaning (and effects) of such actions.”

– Astanga Hrdayan, Sutrasthana II

Dinacharya is a set of tools for your sanity.

At least this is my personal experience.

The word means, ‘to get close to the day.’ Ayurveda is touted as a medical system that treats mind, body and spirit by aligning with nature’s rhythms.  That all sounds wonderful, and so many people are drawn to the idea of living with the seasons, and grooving with the rhythms of nature.  But what does that MEAN? And how does one actually do it?

Dinacharya.

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Motion of the Ocean: Practices for the New Moon

// I am on the hunt for perfect periods.  As I wrote about recently, Maya Abdominal Therapy has brought me much healing already.  Now that my periods are becoming much less painful, I am going to try an ancient ayurvedic practice to begin to align them with the new moon.  This practice is known as Uttar Basti.

My cycles have actually been exactly 28 days for the last few months, and my period is aligned directly with the Full Moon.  Many of the teachings I study mention that women traditionally menstruate with the New Moon.  The dark moon being a time natural for introspection and meditation, the turning inward for renewal. Just as the moon does – she begins to grow, to wax, and brighten until the next full moon.  The full moon is ideally a time for ovulation, as the brighter light encourages one to stay up later, and to feel the extroverted and energized full moon vibes.

moon

Uttar basti is an internal vaginal flush using herbal teas.  Yes, kind of like a douche, but with completely natural and very gentle ingredients, and not only done for cleansing, but for this specific purpose of encouraging menstruation.  The herbs have almost nothing to do with it – if balancing a dosha, or disinfecting is necessary, specific blends can be made appropriately.  It’s just the power of the flow, the water almost acting as menstrual blood, flowing with the new moon, signaling to the physiology that this is the right time. (The start of an argument to expunge tampons, and use pads instead…)   According to Maya Tiwari, from whom come the practices I’m sharing below, many women’s monthly symptoms can be relieved when a woman switches her cycle to the new moon, as then her monthly cycle of hormones are aligned with the larger energies of the cosmos.

So, for now, I promise not to write any further (in this post) about vaginas. I’ll also share other yogic and breathing practices that go along with new moon energies.

If you’re interested in this sort of thing – which, if you’ve read this far into this post, you must be – I recommended getting one of these posters which chart the cycles of the moon.  They’re pretty, too.

5 things you can do to ground your energy near the new moon:

  • Lessen the amount of caffeine and sugar intake
  • Schedule in your morning meditation and pranayama
  • Swap out a vigorous yoga class with a restorative class
  • Find a great new soup recipe to make
  • Journal

New Moon Practices from Maya Tiwari

Deep Belly Breathing

Using Ujjayi breath, lying down, sitting up, or even driving your car, practice deep belly breathing.  You might put your hand on your belly, so as you inhale, you actually feel it rise, and as you exhale you allow your belly to soften, and your hand to drop again.  Practicing using your hand has a guide, breathing into it, pushing it away a bit, until the mechanics becomes natural to you.  Deep belly breathing fills us with prana, and literally tells our cells they can relax, and our parasympathetic nervous system switches on (as opposed to sympathetic – fight or flight response.)

Shitali Breathing (AKA Shitakari)

‘Shita’ means cold.  This breath is best for those who may experience loose stools, or a lot of heat or tensions and frustration before or during their cycles. (Didn’t say vagina…oops.)  If you can make a little tube with your tongue, you’ll inhale through the mouth, and then placing the cool tip of the tongue on the roof of your mouth, exhale out the nose.  Continue for about 10 or 12 times. Then rest, and repeat if you like. *If you can not make a tube with your tongue, gently press the tip of your tongue behind the front teeth, and sip the air in through your teeth – then again, place the cool tip of the tongue on the roof of your mouth, and then exhale through the nostrils.

“Pranayama is a simple and effective way to extend the duration and improve the quality of your life.” – Maya Tiwari, Women’s Power to Heal, pp 257.)

Savasana

The king of the asanas, savasana means ‘corpse pose.’  It is a practice of surrender, great to do before bed/in bed, or during the mid-afternoon when energy naturally wanes.  And of course, during the new moon!  You can lie on your back, on a yoga mat or rug, either flat or if you need or want some support, using a pillow under your knees and or neck.  Palms face up, feet fall wide and relaxed.  Close your eyes, and breath naturally.  Feel supported by the floor, the mat.  Maya Tiwari recommends a visualization, which is optional (and maybe nice if your mind needs something to focus on):

“…visualize your breath as a translucent stream of white light that flows from your heart and radiates to the farthest reaches of your body.  Allow this moonlit breath to flood your entire being.  Feel it in the tips of your fingers and toes, in the crown of your head, in each of your vertebrae, behind your eyelids and in your throat.  Rest your mind in the serenity of the breath.” (Women’s, pp 262.)

—

It’s natural to ask, “these practices seem so gentle, how can they be doing anything?”  In my experience, these practices switch on subtle energies or forces that lie dormant, that our intellect may not be aware of.  When we begin to do the practices that resonate with us for some reason, that we can access that place beyond the intellect.  We do so much, it’s important to take time to be, to assimilate all that doing, so we spend less time feeling overwhelmed and stressed.  This is not a common mindset in our culture, but I find that when we’re given permission to do these things (or not do) we’re more than ready to let go.

If you have trouble knowing what’s right for you, how you can feel better, how you can take the first step to living the life you want to live, spending regular time in silence can allow space for the answers to arise.  Practices like these mentioned above allow us to start moving junk out of the way (incessant thinking) and allow access to the intellect, and beyond, making space for messages from the soul.

Love, Adena

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The Good Life Handbook: Samadhi Pada Sutra 7

// Asking Questions

Part of my intention when I work with Ayurveda and Yoga is to transmit the information in straightforward and immediately useful way for my student or client.   One of the best ways I can do this is to improve my own daily practices, and to continue to embody the knowledge as much as I am able to in this lifetime.  A teachers’ presence can sometimes conduct more than their words can.  Though my experiential knowledge is very very little, I still try to do my best to present it thoughtfully and represent the teachings I have not yet embodied (most of them) authentically.

I was having a discussion with my husband the other day about practical yoga.  He enjoys the books about great masters, mostly translated directly from their biography’s or treatises on yoga practice – books transcribed directly from Babaji Nagaraj, or Lahiri Mahasaya, or other sages and rishis.  These books mostly talk of very large ideas, or personal experiences of these beings, and expound on very advanced stages of meditation and samadhi.  My husband loves this – and these stages are his ultimate goal, whether in this life or the next 3000, and he’s ready to start now.  I was asking him, ‘where can we study the preliminary steps to this stuff?  It seems to far-reaching for me to imagine enlightenment in this lifetime.’

hennaedit

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think most of us are in a similar boat.  I, for one, think I am not fearless enough to be ready for enlightenment right now...

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Guilty of being the Devil’s advocate, I realized my question was a bit ignorant: I’ve been practicing and teaching yoga for years, and I teach Ayurveda.  What did I think what I was doing every day – simple meditations and postures, caring about what I put in my body – was all about?  You’ve go to begin where you are, and if enlightenment can take thousands of lifetimes, inching forward in one is practical progress.

When I first started in my yoga teacher training program, I purchased a copy of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.  This is one of the most important texts of the science of yoga.  It’s the practices of yoga written down by the sage Patanjali in sutras, basically couplets, or little nuggets of yoga knowledge to work with and expound upon in life, outlining the path to samadhi.  It is from Patanjali’s yoga sutras that we get the tenants of Ashtanga yoga – the 8 limbed path: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi.

Truthfully, I had never really gone past studying the first few sutras: ‘the practice of yoga begins now,’ and ‘yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.’  Of course, I had read through the others, but never concentrated on their implementation.  But after this ‘discussion’ with my husband, I realized that it was time for me to go back to the basics.  Sometimes we blaze through books and knowledge and experiences so fast, we’re just ready for the next without digesting our experiences.  I am guilty of this here – a whole body of practical information on how to apply yoga in my life right now, and since I had had it on my bookshelf for years, I had diminished it’s significance, sadly.

And Coming back to What I Know

Perhaps now I am just finally worthy and ready to come back to the information.  So much of yoga is subtle – we do these practicing thinking we can go on living our lives the same way as before, but once you open the Pandora’s box of introspection, even if it’s just through a little yoga asana or meditation, you naturally start to discover the interconnectedness of everything.  The subtleties begin to sneak up on you.

In one of my meditations, I asked a question to my teachers an guides: which of the yoga sutras would be best for me to study at this time?  I felt I saw and 1, and then a 7 come from the intellect.  Knowing no matter the number I had received, I knew whatever I opened to in the sutras would be an appropriate to work with – that’s sort of how it goes. So afterward, I opened the Sutras to book one, Samadhi Pada, and sutra #7:

“The sources of right knowledge are direct perception, inference and scriptural testimony.” 

(From the translation by Sri Swami Satchidananda)

For the first time in my life I feel like some of my direct experiences with yoga and Ayurveda might be of value to others.  It is true for writers to ‘write what you know,’ and I’ve always taught what I know – or at least taught what I am myself practicing if it’s relevant to whom might students are at the moment.  The more I teach, and the words come through me, the more I ‘know’ and the easier the knowledge can be transmitted.

Direct perception can be what you have truly gleaned for yourself from your life experiences, or for me, it is often the knowledge that I have received from teachers or ‘scriptural testimony’ that I’ve put to the test and experienced in my own body. Before I even knew what yoga or ayurveda was, I knew that drinking iced drinks made my stomach upset, and that if I had a stuffy nose, lying down on one side would clear the top nostril so I could breathe better.  It’s nice to have a context or ‘reason’ for those things now, but it’s not actually necessary.  Now, it’s another topic (or sutra) to talk about why we still do things we know will give us a result we do not want…humans. 🙂

I think direct experience is the root of why there are so many different styles of yoga practices, in the West and the East, now, because it’s natural to want to teach what works for you.  This is not a bad thing, but I think it’s important for students to be aware of – knowing that the teachings should have a true a solid source – whether that’s ancient texts you can always come back to, or a divine source you can cultivate connection with.

In regards to scriptural testimony, I am blessed to have great teachers, and translations of ancient works – just past teachers and teachings in the lineage – to use a a corner stone for my practices in yoga and ayurveda.  These bodies of knowledge are fed by present day practitioners, but the truth at the heart of them does not change, especially because there are these grounds to come back to.  Though ancient, humanity is still in need of this stuff, as there has been a revival.  And personally, if these teachings hadn’t resonated with something deep inside me, then I would not have felt like they was worth diving in to at all – and here I am weaving them into my life.  I like what Sri Swami Satchidananda says in this translation, “Truth can be presented only through some form or vehicle…it may appear in different ways to suit the individual or the trend of the age….but the truth can never be changed, because truth is always the same.” (pp. 13)

Inference is a bit more tricky – this implies that we already have a body of experience, form which we can use the knowledge we have already attained to infer further knowledge.  The famous example is that if you have had direct experience of fire, you know it causes smoke.  So when you see smoke, you can infer that there is fire somewhere.  This is the kind of information Ayurveda uses to diagnose imbalances.  Perhaps this is sort of the bridge between scriptural testimony and direct experience.  What we directly experience, we can then infer others may experience if they do similar practices.

We all want the goosd life, and the handbooks are out there.  Here’s to practicing.

Love, Adena