I teach yoga so people will walk up the stairs faster. When you take time to practice asana, your body starts to connect everything together in a better, more intuitive way. What was once a body trapped in a rigid, habitual posture lengthens out to a free, open being.
As things get unstuck on the outside, so too within. You learn that anything is possible, and take time to rekindle the artist's voice within. You may start to set goals and achieve dreams you'd put away long ago. The pull of those dreams (or my telekinetic push from behind) will have you bounding up the stairs like you did when you were a kid, excited to explore the next opportunity.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Why I love yoga #1
Yoga makes me flexible. Bendy. Gumby. I never thought I'd be able to fall into a full split at any time of the day, get my leg behind my head, or wear my feet as a hat. Through constant practice, I did, and I can.
It wasn't just physical practice; it was retraining my mind to believe that I could relax my body into this shape, or engage my muscles to create that one. You have to see it, believe it, then you be it.
That's the real gift. Understanding that yoga can make you flexible in the body and the mind is great. Knowing how to set a goal, work toward it, and achieve it or not, that's world-changing.
It wasn't just physical practice; it was retraining my mind to believe that I could relax my body into this shape, or engage my muscles to create that one. You have to see it, believe it, then you be it.
That's the real gift. Understanding that yoga can make you flexible in the body and the mind is great. Knowing how to set a goal, work toward it, and achieve it or not, that's world-changing.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Choose your Rituals
Per usual on Wednesday afternoons, I was cleaning and restocking in the back room of one of the stores where I work. I To make me feel like I'm doing something meaningful, working my mind as well as body, I was scanning through a backlog of articles on NPR Science to find something interesting to listen to. "What Makes Rituals Special" with Shankar Vedantam popped out at me.
Listening to the program break down the definition of a ritual (a ceremony with a series of actions performed in a prescribed order), and list common rituals that many people in Western society have made me realize- I'm a ritual-making-machine. Those funny things you do because you were taught "this is how you do this"? Rituals. The way you prepare your coffee/tea/mixed drink? Rituals. Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder? It's just a person getting stuck in their own ritual, like a computer program caught in an infinite loop.
There's no clear answer why rituals are so special for us, but there is scientific evidence to show they are powerful. When we perform a specific series of events and expect a certain outcome, the mind is primed to look for examples of that outcome. If "having a good start to your day" means: waking up at a certain time, washing, eating breakfast, and having a cup of stimulant, any day you don't do those things, your mind won't be watching for the "good" things throughout the day. It missed its ritual.
This is the purpose of yoga class. You learn to explore how your inner space is organized by exploring how your outer space is organized. The teacher shows you a series of specific movements that are linked together to strengthen and open up your body for an advanced pose, and by the end of class you've got it. Or at least you have a better picture in your mind, or series of steps you can practice to better realize the pose in the future. Each time you practice, you come closer to the "perfect form" you've created in your head.
Why should we create and practice rituals? Rituals are your yoga practice. They are daily mindfulness. For me, performing an action in the same way over and over stills my mind so I can think clearly. I know that by engaging my core muscles and finding the straightest spine in this moment, I'm building a pattern that my mind will follow for the rest of my life. Like a flowchart. We perform actions in every moment. Why not take the time to choose your rituals and create your life?
Read the articles that inspired the entry:
(http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-rituals-work)
(http://n.pr/145glDz)
Listening to the program break down the definition of a ritual (a ceremony with a series of actions performed in a prescribed order), and list common rituals that many people in Western society have made me realize- I'm a ritual-making-machine. Those funny things you do because you were taught "this is how you do this"? Rituals. The way you prepare your coffee/tea/mixed drink? Rituals. Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder? It's just a person getting stuck in their own ritual, like a computer program caught in an infinite loop.
There's no clear answer why rituals are so special for us, but there is scientific evidence to show they are powerful. When we perform a specific series of events and expect a certain outcome, the mind is primed to look for examples of that outcome. If "having a good start to your day" means: waking up at a certain time, washing, eating breakfast, and having a cup of stimulant, any day you don't do those things, your mind won't be watching for the "good" things throughout the day. It missed its ritual.
This is the purpose of yoga class. You learn to explore how your inner space is organized by exploring how your outer space is organized. The teacher shows you a series of specific movements that are linked together to strengthen and open up your body for an advanced pose, and by the end of class you've got it. Or at least you have a better picture in your mind, or series of steps you can practice to better realize the pose in the future. Each time you practice, you come closer to the "perfect form" you've created in your head.
Why should we create and practice rituals? Rituals are your yoga practice. They are daily mindfulness. For me, performing an action in the same way over and over stills my mind so I can think clearly. I know that by engaging my core muscles and finding the straightest spine in this moment, I'm building a pattern that my mind will follow for the rest of my life. Like a flowchart. We perform actions in every moment. Why not take the time to choose your rituals and create your life?
Read the articles that inspired the entry:
(http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-rituals-work)
(http://n.pr/145glDz)
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