Lizzie for Free : a yogi's blog
The Free State of LizArchive for asana
Move the body and mind with music (on May 17th)
Nadam, the sanskrit word for deep listening, is described as the super-conscious sound current that manifests all of life. The seed word Nad means to flow, and Nada yoga unites inner and outer sound through flowing vibration. All of matter is made from energy, and sound creates energy. It follows, then, that everything seen, felt and heard has a sound quality.
In a sense, all movement starts with sound vibration, which is why practicing asana to music, particularly certain kinds of music, is so potent. Indian ragas ground and stabilize the body due to their calming nature, but also their rhythmic cycle and tonal quality. Chants invoking the names of the divine are also beneficial in regulating the breath and inviting fluid, meditative movement. This type of chanting can even unblock and open the heart.
Whereas practicing asana to music that helps to support a steady breath or reinforce a class theme is powerful, there is nothing as visceral as practicing asana to live music. The sound waves are electric and melodies are able to penetrate even the most blocked areas of the body.
This Thursday, come practice at Indaba Yoga Studio from 6 to 7:15pm with LIVE MUSIC. Luc Acke will join us from Belgium,playing harmonium and chanting while I lead a Jivamukti open class. Pre-booking may be a good idea as space is limited.
Leading and being led
In life, we’re constantly invited to play in spaces existing at opposing ends of the spectrum. We are caregivers, decision makers and leaders of teams in some capacity, yet at the same time, we have all been looked after by others, have had to surrender to someone else’s choices and ‘go with the flow’. At one time or another, willing or not, we’ve all been led out of darkness.
Who has led you, and when what are the traits that has enabled you to let go of the reigns?
For me, the most inspiring leaders are those that celebrate the opportunities to be led themselves. It marks the sign of great self-confidence to let go and entrust another being with your time, whether it be for a staff meeting, a yoga class, or taking the hand of a young child wanting to lead you to the next activity.
I remember a time years ago when I fell into a position managing a large group, many of whom were older than I and fearful of losing their jobs. It was difficult for me to lead that group, and I’m sure it showed. Every day I woke up pretending; pretending to know where I was ‘leading’ the team, pretending to know how to engage the group and build enthusiasm about learning to work differently, pretending to have answers for my superiors about who and how to downsize. I wasn’t a very good leader, in part because I wasn’t prepared to be led by the group, and because I didn’t take the first step, there was no mutual trust.
As a yoga teacher, sometimes I’m in the role of a leader. During this time I observe people in the class, some of whom have a difficult time letting go and being led. I give vocal instruction to come into an asana, and inevitably certain students decide not to follow my lead, preferring to do the posture a different way, or doing something else altogether. As a yoga student myself, I understand that sometimes injury and life circumstance take us on a detour from the led class. Sometimes, however, we deter from the teacher or the group because the mind overtakes us, reminding us about things like: how our other, favorite yoga teacher teaches the pose, deciding to do it that way; or reminding us that we are professionals at urdhva dhanurasana (wheel pose) so there is no need to go through the process to better align the arms and feet to stabilise the shoulders and hips; or reminding us that we did a perfect headstand last week so there is no problem in tuning the teacher’s instruction out and just jumping up into it. The point is, there are an infinite number of ways to practice and teach yoga. David Life once said, “when you go to a yoga class, throw away anything another teacher may have taught you in the past. For those 90 minutes, give the teacher leading the class your attention and trust, and allow yourself to be led.” This has stuck with me, not just in yoga class, but in life.
We are all dynamically moving between states of leading aspects of our lives and being led in others. When we are able to acknowledge this and let go of the need to dominate or control certain elements, the flow of life is steady and vibrant. People will be more inspiring to follow, and as a result, we are be more aspirational in our own lives.
“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.”
― Oswald Chambers
Vancouver Sundays
Yesterday began pretty early due to the 8 hour time difference and jetlag. By 8:00am I checked myself into a “flow” class at YYoga on Burrand St. There were around 20 others there, and despite the studio being outfitted in a high-end, minimalist style, the yoga mat I had to rent for a 2.95$ fee had *no* grip and they suggested I also rent a nonslip cloth. After replying that I’d rather practice on the floor and give the extra money to a homeless person, they gave me the nonslip cloth for free.
Class was OK. The teacher, while sweet and very excited about her weekend spent with her teacher, omitted several postures on one side, and there were also sequences with repetitive movements only on one side. While no one else seemed to notice, little things like this are big things for our lopsided bodies(!) having said that, I did love the transition from ardha matsyendrasana to parsva bakasana, and compass pose was taught in a very accessible way.
After class I met up with Michelle Phillips from lululemon athletica and we covered a large part of the city by foot before settling in a funky little cafe in Gastown for lunch. I love Michelle. She’s wonderful, both in engaging in conversation about the brand’s history and how the products come to be, where in the world they are produced (better question is where are they not produced with the Lycra coming from Belfast and metallics from the middle east…) and also in receiving feedback. We talked extensively about where we would each like to be in five to ten years time, a conversation I found hugely helpful as its something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately both personally and professionally.
We finished off our day at the lululemon lab, a microcosm of how the label got started; designers working on ideas right along sides the showroom in an open space, perfect for customer input and dialogue.
Today will start at the lululemon headquarters with a yoga class, then a run, then breakfast followed by a little tour. After that, more yoga and circuit training, followed by a bus ride to Whistler where we will arrive around 4pm.
I suspect (and secretly hope) that I will snore rather heavily on the bus!
Taking Flight
It’s hard to believe that in only one more day I will be on the plane to Vancouver, home to amazing air quality, incredible Asian food…and the groove pant. Lululemon athletica has invited me and other yogis from around the world to get down doggy on the yoga mat for a few days and explore Whistler and have a look under the company’s proverbial hood. I’m so delighted to have been asked to take a peek.
The schedule appears to be rather Full On, but all of the sessions look interesting, interactive, and many of them involve sweating. Yippee! Of the physical activities, I halve to admit the prospect of snowshoeing on Tuesday is sounding preeetttty goood right now. I’m also looking forward to hearing the CEOs thoughts on where the company is going, production in China and any possibilities for expanding their line into organic fibers (yes please!). But mainly, I’m eager to meet and get to know others who are passionate about yoga. A change of scene is always such a nice time to shift perspective on the world and allow a little magic in.
I’ll be in Vancouver part of Saturday and Sunday and can’t wait to check out one or two yoga studios, catch up with some friends and explore being on my own in a city I’ve always loved without my sidekick. Monday will be packed with a yoga class followed by a run, a visit to the Vancouver Support Centre and a circuit training class before bussing it up to Whistler. And then the real fun begins.
Stay tuned for thoughts, images and ideas from the road, until then, let it rain! The past few days have been earth quenching and so needed. Keep the ‘brellas out and wellies on!
Jivamukti focus of the month, May 2012:Renaissance
Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya navani grhnati naro parani
tatha sharirani vihaya jirnany anyani samyati navani dehi
Just as a man, having cast off old garments, puts on other, new ones,
even so does the embodied one, having cast off old bodies, take on other, new ones.
-The Bhagavad Gita, Chap. 2, verse 22
We are born again in each breath that we take and every step we make. The idea of being reborn, or born-again, signifies a rebirth or revival. For the yogi, the breath indicates that life exists, and each new breath is a new living moment. The choice we have is to consciously partake of the construction of our reality or to remain the victim of fate (really unconsciousness). The one who strives to be reborn consciously into life is the jivanmukta. When our life is consciously re-vivified, it has been reconnected to its source and nourishment. When we trade in a love-less life for a love-created life, we are reborn. Our sense of purpose and our core values are re-ignited. Re-incarnation is another word that refers to this continuous process-lifetime after lifetime.
In the Yoga Sutra, Master Patanjali tells us that the substrate of existence contains all possible characteristics whether latent, active or future. Through yoga practices, we can gain access to this substrate of existence and bring forth our greatest vision. When we create variation in causes, they become changes in the results. Yoga practices get to the root causes for unhappiness. When we create change on a causal level-for example, the purification of intention or the removal of fear or ignorance-the results of those changes will be felt automatically in our lives. Knowledge of past, present and future is the result of samyama-perfect balance, perfect equilibrium of mind-on the three kinds of transformation that lead to enlightenment (nirodha, samadhi and ekagrata-parinama; see PYS Chap. III, sutras 9, 11, 12, 16). By observing past impressions (samskaras), knowledge of previous incarnations is obtained (PYS III.18). Samskaras are evident in the difficulties we encounter in yoga practices from unconscious breathing and movement to a fragmented mind. Knowledge of your own death may be obtained through samyama on the two types of karma-active and latent-in shavasana. The goal for the yogi is to be freed from the cycle of rebirth and samsara, the coming and going. It is only through understanding how the cycle of rebirth continues that we can overcome it. This goal is achieved through the disassociation from the movements of chittam (the mind stuff).
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
And all the King’s horses,
And all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Religare, the Latin root of the English word “religion,” like the Sanskrit wordhatha, means “to bind up,” and the traditional task of religion and yoga has been to bind up the pieces that have broken away from the ecstatic Oneness of Being-to heal the separation and be reborn whole and complete.
-David Life
Focus of the Month Teaching Tips
Renaissance (May, 2012)
…started writing a book on Renaissance individuals, but discovered in the end
that there are no individuals.
-Renaissance Self-fashioning, Stephan Greenblatt
Some of the writing of the Italian Renaissance may be interesting especially in relationship to the city state as a reflection of the individual-collecting the parts together to make a whole.
Of course the sutras that address the transcendence of time (all the siddhis) allow us to incorporate our particular birth into the context of a larger coming and going. Emphasis of vinyasa would provide the platform for the witness consciousness in asana practice, and in life itself.
The key to this skill is to witness yoga practice and your life as process- notobject. We can tend to view ourselves as a fixed and vulnerable object that all the monsters of the universe try to destroy rather than as a flowing confluence of cosmic energies that flow around and through time and space. As well, the asanas and other practices can become “things we do” rather than tools for enlightenment. As we flow through all the forms of an asana practice with an unchanging breath we can witness the shifting of shapes at the same time with the continuity of spirit.
As a person’s desire is, so is their destiny. For as their desire is, so is their will; and as their will is, so is their deed; and as their deed is, so is their reward, whether good or bad. A person acts according to the desires to which they cling. After death they go to the next world bearing in their mind the subtle impressions of their deeds; and, after reaping there the harvest of his deeds, they return again to this world of action. Those who have desires continue subject to rebirth.
-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
-Bible, John, 3:5-6,14
It is said that the thought we have on our mind at the moment of death will propel us into the next birth. The key to an evolutionary transition is consciousness in the moment of transition and fixing of the mind and being on the single-pointed goal of perfection. Using mantra during meditation can help to train the mind to the ekagraha- single pointed focus.
For most of us, death is the trouble, not rebirth. In breath-work the emphasis on exhale (Kapalabhati) and exhale retention (Bahya Kumhhaka) prepare us for the last breath we take. Purifying thoughts when we experience the absence of breath prepares us to make a conscious transition to a new body. But also, attention should be called to the first in-breath after retention, experiencing it as new, original, unlike anything you have experienced before. In fact, our attention upon each new breath as a rebirth, is both a revelation and a tool for realizing the passage of the life force from moment to moment. When we can welcome the newness of each breath with wonder rather than guardedness and fear, we can overcome the fear of death of the body. When we accept change as the rule, rather than the exception, we welcome change and exercise our ability to manifest change. The ability to manifest change is called siddhi.
Savasana has obvious benefits. It is a small death and rebirth, and preparation for the actual death of the body and rebirth to the next life. The worst thing that a person can experience is death as confusion and panic. This leads to unconscious transition and unfortunate rebirth. (See Prof. R. Thurman’s translation of Tibetan Book of the Dead.) Practicing our physical death and rebirth each day of our lives helps us to place an authentic value on a life lived, and fearlessness in the face of new possibilities of a new day.
lululemon trunk show and FREE class at Indaba
Come for a free yoga class at Indaba Yoga Studio on April 28th from 2-3pm, and stay for some retail therapy! lululemon athletica will be hosting a trunk sale after the class. For more information, contact Indaba Yoga Studio or Aoife Kane from lululemon athletica. Hope to see you on the mat!
When do you practice?
Over the years, I’ve found my practice time shifting dramatically. Before I was a mum, I liked to practice first thing in the morning. Then for a while I found late afternoon a convenient time. Once I found my teachers in London, when I had the luxury, I adjusted my schedule to ensure I could get to their classes, which meant practicing at different time on different days. Now I’m on a self- practice surge, meaning I find the time around my other scheduled appointments, allowing me to spend more uninterrupted time at home with my son. When is your favorite time to practice? If the answer isn’t provided in the poll, leave a comment instead!
Slowing Down
When I made the decision to change careers 6 years ago, I had a very different perspective on the world. At that moment in my life any job seemed that it would be less stressful than the one I was in, and I looked around me and was envious of those appearing not to be stressed. I was especially intrigued with those teaching yoga, imagining it impossible to be stressed in that type of job situation. I remember lying in bed in Amsterdam one Sunday afternoon looking out my enormous windows at the cyan sky watching the little white puffy clouds go by, thinking, if only this moment could last forever. A moment where I didn’t need to do anything; a moment where I wasn’t all consumed by my Very Busy Brain thinking fearfully about my Very Important Job.
Years later, as a yoga teacher, I know too many yoga teachers and therapists who are stressed, becoming increasingly busy with the small stuff: scheduling appointments, classes, workshops, retreats….consumed by the running of the business rather than creating space to slow down and lead by example. I should know, I have been one of them.
Only by injury and illness have I learned that space is necessary in the continuing path to wellness and evolution of the mindfulness practice of yoga. It seems to be a fine balancing act for all between work, play, a disciplined practice of asana and meditation, and time for family, which often doesn’t fit into any of these categories but is no less important.
The rhythm of life is one like the ebb and flow of the tide: constantly changing, consistent in its inconsistency, sometimes rough but flowing, other times calm to a point of intertia. We are all born to surf, going for it when a big wave comes yet doing our best to remain calm and fluid, not to get blown off the board when the wave is too great or to get sucked down when there is no dynamism at all.
Ida Rolf, the founder of the Rolfing technique, referred to this as adaptability and dynamic balance, two of the five principles of Rolfing. Adaptability meaning how flexible, how malleable we are in our bodies and in the circumstances of environment to change and morph to new conditions. Dynamic balance is in keeping with the yin/yang symbol–unifying opposites to create a balance physically, emotionally and mentally.
While Ive never actually managed to surf successfully,since I have been working on slowing down, making time each week to assess if I have enough time for work, play, practice and family, I have found a lot more time for everything. I feel more energised, and less defeated and frustrated at my lack of sense of accomplishment at the end of each day. Thank you, space! Here’s to slowing down for long enough to identify what your needs are and how to feel nurtured and whole.
When Joining Separates
At one point or another, we have all joined a bank, a company, a political party or a book club. Lets face it, subscribing to an organisation is almost a necessity in today’s world in order to function. While I’ve never been an much of a ‘joiner’, I have affiliated myself with groups and schools in the past and still do to some extent today. I love connecting to people who share passions, and savour opportunities to bring people together to make new connections, but in truth, there is something about an organization that leaves me feeling a little funny inside. Perhaps it’s the wearing of a label (though we all do wear various ‘tags’), the superficial fencing in of certain people versus other, the exclusivity, or the various forms of side agenda that may be more or less present depending on the organization. And then there are the politics. One of my dear friends and graduate professors once told me, “only hang out with, only work with people that celebrate you, that bring out your best and make you want to be even better.” If there was an organization that bottled that without all the additives, I’m pretty sure we’d all want to sign up.
Yoga, the state of ‘yoking’ or ‘union’, is the confluence of two things; when two things merge into one. This can happen when the small, individual self merges with the understanding of the universal, collective consciousness; when day becomes night, when the in breath becomes the outbreath, when the state of living transitions into the state of dying. Sometimes, when people seek a connection to others, they ‘join’. There are many things to join: gyms, book clubs, a yoga method or studio, a religion, you name it. But in the most traditional, purest sense of yoga, it’s not something you can ‘join’, rather, it’s something magical you can experience. Present day yoga, however, involving methods, expensive teacher trainings, dogma and heavily marketed yoga studios (not to mention yoga teachers ‘branding’ themselves) creates the potential for division when the original intention implicit in the word was union.
At a pinnacle time in my life, I remember being a philosophy student searching for meaning in the world. I enthusiastically studied the eastern religions, eager to discuss the similarities and differences, the things that resonated for me and the things that didn’t. Without knowing any better, I was “shopping” around for purpose. One day, my professor looked at me and said, “Lizzie, a religion doesn’t have to be something you adhere to or join. You can apply the principles of any religion to your own life and create something meaningful in your life that is all your own- your set of beliefs.” An idea so simple, yet so profound, as been what has shaped my ideas of the world, organised religions, and my yoga practice.
Yoga methods, school, teachers and studios are important and useful in providing insights about one’s individual path to experience yoga. However, if the student doesn’t know to ask questions, or isn’t aware not to take everything at face value, we may be in jeopardy in becoming isolated and separate in a world of others seeking comfort in their insecurity and ignorance by sticking together under a label. This unstable state of being forms cliques and supports ideas that one style, teacher, place, clothing is better than another. It is avidya at is finest hour. The aspirant in this state is a wonderful disciple, but separated from a much richer, more authentic path of union. Inquisition, the right to hold beliefs that are different from the group even while being a member, having a mind and a voice to speak out and up about ones own beliefs are such an important part of self expansion, creativity, and ultimate joy and freedom. Find the place where all these aspects of yourself can be celebrated and augmented, and never be afraid to go against the grain to question what is being taught and to try something new.
Caveat: I am a certified Jivamukti yoga teacher, a method that melds several types of yoga together on a backdrop of asana practice. I am proud of this lineage, I believe my teachers from this method to be two of the world’s talented, creative and generous teachers who have devised one the most thorough, well-balanced yoga teacher training programs available in the world today. However, I don’t subscribe to the idea of a ‘tribe’ within any one yoga school of yoga, nor do I consider myself a member of a specific yoga group. In fact, much of the desire to write a post such as this has been propelled by what I’ve witnessed within the constructs of organised yoga. As in any school of yoga, not all Jivamukti teachers are good, honest or compassionate teachers, and I don’t stand behind everything my teachers have ever said or done in the interest of yoga. They are human beings, and don’t profess themselves to be ‘gurus’. While I have been so blessed to find a handful of gracious, honest and down to earth teachers, the most valuable aspect of my yoga path has been enriched outside the doors of any one studio by the teachings of many, yoga teachers and non-teachers alike.
