Yoga Limbs

March 15, 2015July 2, 2015 ~ teganb ~ 2 Comments

An unexpected class cancellation finds me sitting in a pagoda with the sun on my back, birdsong in my ears, and breeze tickling my skin. It has been nearly three weeks since I arrived, and in just a day or so more I will be on my way, as a certified yoga teacher.

The journey has coursed many ups and downs. But we all are nearly there, and having taught our classes and written our tests, the nerves are subsiding and our impending departure feels tangible. The sun feels extra sweet shining down as the wind ripples through the grass fields and shakes the leaves of the orange trees. We have begun to hug each more often, supporting one another through the crunch time and savouring the friendships we have made; it will be no easy task to say goodbye to one another. But even as we all go forth to different lands and adventures, we share a knowledge of the tools we can use to bring yoga to others, with a deeper understanding of the physical and philosophical workings of the practice.

Yoga comprises an eight-limbed path, which is ultimately a path of meditation as a way to reach enlightenment, or to remove the ignorance that causes suffering, allowing us to experience our infinite nature. The path also includes many specific observances to help us on our journey to remembering our True Self, and live good, pure lives along the way.

The first limb consists of restraints, loosely translated from Sanskrit as non-violence; truthfulness; non-stealing; sexual integrity; and non-greed. The second limb focuses on practices to observe, including purity and cleanliness, both physically and mentally; contentment (stemming from bringing awareness to the present moment and finding gratitude for what is); self-discipline; self-study and the study of spiritual texts; and surrender to the Absolute, meaning acceptance of the mystery of life and our lack of control over it, not in resignation, but rather by embracing whatever life has in store for us, trusting in its ultimate positive nature.

The third limb consists of the postures, or asanas, the physical practice and poses that we in western society generally associate with yoga. The postures traditionally made up the smallest part of the yogic path, and the Yoga Sutras—the ancient yogic text in which the eight limbs were first penned—refers mainly to the posture of sitting in meditation. In order to keep the body healthy and allow a person to meditate comfortably without distracting physical pains, postures transformed into series of dynamic poses, although it was only in the last few centuries that the number of poses really increased and diversified. It has been interesting to learn how small a part that asana practice played in the yogic path until relatively recent times, and also how the tradition has evolved and changed to meet the needs of the current day.

The fourth limb of yoga is pranayama: practices to control and extend the breath and the life force energy we access through breath. Breathing exercises and movement with the breath remain key components of physical yoga practice.

The fifth limb is withdrawal of the senses—turning our gaze inward—the first step of meditation. Concentration follows as the sixth limb, which leads to the seventh limb, meditation itself. All previous limbs lead to the eighth and final limb of the yogic path, which is enlightenment, waking up to our true nature as infinite consciousness that encompasses everything and everyone; separation is an illusion, and we discover that “we” are actually the infinite, blissful, creative, capital-O One.

Yoga may be practiced alongside any other spiritual practice, and devotion to some sort of higher power is also considered a yogic practice.

At first when learning this philosophy, it was easy to feel a little overwhelmed, or daunted by some of the traditional or extreme interpretations. However, the eight limbed path as an overarching guide makes quite a lot of sense. It provides tools to keep the body healthy and steady the mind, and lays out basic principles for living a good life.

After years of moderate practice and three weeks of more intensive daily practice, I can attest to the difference that yoga makes in everyday life. The first difference I noticed is the amount of energy I have. I first became aware of the change in Vancouver, getting up tired and underslept on dark cold mornings to attend yoga before work. Every time the alarm went off I began a battle with myself to get out of bed, and I admit that yoga did not always win, but every time it did I felt a world of difference afterwards and throughout the remainder of that day.

Doing so much yoga over the past three weeks has energized me despite many nights of not quite enough sleep, but another subtle difference has also begun to emerge. Perhaps it stems from the peace of moving with the breath and observing without judgement during practice, or perhaps from soaking up some of this philosophy, but whatever it is, I have noticed a bit more space blooming within my mind, from which to notice thoughts and feelings without necessarily reacting. This is the space we are promised by following the yogic path, and having begun to experience it, I have hope that it is indeed the place from which I can live more consciously and make positive changes.

I feel excited to bring this space I am creating within myself out into the world and into my relationships. I know it will take work (even a few conversations with family shows me that old patterns are very strong and it is going to take a lot of awareness to change them!). Still, I can feel just a little more room to breathe, a little more room to observe, a little more room to just be in this present moment. I look forward to experiencing this at play in daily life, and furthermore, to being qualified to teach this practice that not only benefits the body but also energizes us and encourages an inner peace. Many of us in the west come to yoga for physical health, but the well-being we experience runs so much deeper. The postures of yoga can be modified to be accessible to all bodies, and I believe the philosophy can also benefit us no matter what other beliefs we may hold. I am grateful to now know more about both aspects, and it will be an honour to teach others in this practice which gives so much to the body, mind and spirit.

Stamina

March 5, 2015July 1, 2015 ~ teganb ~ 3 Comments

The end of this week draws nearer. Tomorrow morning at 7:30 I will be teaching my first official class. I have written out a sequence on some flash cards, with a number of optional sequences penciled in, given the very good chance I will speed through my planned poses in an anxious whirl, and be left wondering what to say next in order to fill the 75 allotted minutes. Of course, it all has to flow nicely as well, and include all the necessary elements (warm-up, standing postures, backbends, etc) in the right quantities. It feels a bit like baking a cake at this point, and I am worried that if I stir too much or too little the whole thing will flop. Hopefully it is more like making pasta or stir-fry or something, and a little extra dash of this or that will not ruin the overall taste.

The weather has been beautiful for most of this week. Warm enough, in fact, to entice me and one of my new friends to hop in the outdoor pool—a short but very (very!) refreshing dip. A couple of days ago, on the day we passed the halfway mark of this course, the sun beamed down like a midsummer’s day on the BC coast. It was also the only day off from classes we get during this course, and I had a fantastic time; Robin rode the bus to a neighbouring village, where I met him on foot. We spent the day eating and wandering, walking over the hill back to the yoga compound, passing through some lovely old ruins on the way, and enjoying the beginnings of a beautiful sunset spilling out over the hills before he had to leave and catch the last bus home. I sat a while after he left, holding the warmth of the day close to my heart as the air quickly cooled, before settling into the knowledge that there are no more days off and we students are beginning the last and steepest incline before getting through this course.

I woke several times that night, thinking it must be time to get up. Otherwise I slept lightly, lost in restless dreams that I was teaching my class—or trying to—as the head teacher constantly interrupted me to give me feedback. The next morning the hills were covered in mist. The air was quiet and thick, and added to the feeling of being very much back-to-the-grind. Today, however, the mist has been blown away by a rambunctious wind that whips all the laundry drying on the line into a big clump at one end, and makes the doors and windows bang. I hear the temperature will drop this evening. And tomorrow morning, just after the chilly dawn, I will be one of the first students to teach. I am happy enough to get straight to it (and get it over with). We have reached that stage where no more lectures, reading, note-taking or demo watching can make us become better teachers; we will just have to start out as the shaky, fledgling instructors we are, with the aim to just get through as gracefully as we can, because it is the only way. I think we have a painful habit in the west of wanting to be perfect at everything before we do it, which is madness. We often feel embarrassed at not doing something well, even when we have only just started. Why should there be shame in learning something new? If only we could embrace being beginners; there is a kind of magic in that space I think, if only we would allow ourselves to see it—we are creating, we are leaping, we are living.

Hopefully such thoughts will stay with me as I begin my class tomorrow morning… and at the end of it too, when everyone will go round and critique my performance (including the teachers). At this point I feel so tired that I am more worried about my intensely aching shoulders picking tomorrow morning to give out on me. We are certainly building stamina here, of different kinds.

Goodnight and sweet dreams all,
whenever your night may fall.
And good luck with any and all
beginner’s wobbles and falls.

Yoga Teacher Training: Week One

February 28, 2015July 1, 2015 ~ teganb ~ 3 Comments

Six-thirty in the morning and the night is still firmly tucked up against the windows. Behind the glass, behind curtains, on the top floor in a large room with a wooden ceiling and rafters, a group of women get out of bed and dress in silence. We make our beds, we walk wordlessly to the dining hall, where others are also preparing for their practice in silence. A cup of tea, a piece of fruit. Then we slip out of the hall into the brisk morning, our footsteps crunching along the gravel path that leads to a large white dome, which sits like an enormous egg nestled on the hillside.

The stars look alive, breathing softly before dawn, with awing brilliance. I walk along in the cold morning with my face turned upward. They shine so bright, the hills look black against the sky. I find myself thankful for the silence we all maintain until breakfast (three hours later), as with such full days ahead of us, the rest from interacting is a welcome relief. And beneath the starry cathedral above, it feels sacred.

We make ourselves as comfortable as we can in the large dome, stacking cushions and placing blankets beneath knees and ankles, before the bell rings at seven o’clock and we all close our eyes for half an hour of meditation. The sun has risen by the time we open our eyes again, having faced our own minds and bodies as best we could, and after a quick break we begin two hours of yoga practice. Each day has so far had a theme: shoulders, hip openers, foreword folds, backward bends, or twists. Having gone through most body areas and yoga shapes already, we are all wondering what tomorrow morning’s practice will be.

This yoga retreat was once an olive farm (actually it still is, though its primary DSCF3253 purpose has changed) on top of a wide, sweeping hill in southern Spain. Several towns are visible beyond the red and green swathes of crops and fields, and it is about an hour and a half from Sevilla. The view is incredible in every direction.

With three weeks to complete 200 hours of training in order to become certified as yoga teachers, we keep a fairly demanding schedule. After yoga practice, we eat breakfast (usually muesli or oatmeal, fruit, and sometimes eggs from the chickens that live here). Our first (classroom-style) class starts at eleven, until 1:45pm when we eat lunch. Our second class goes from 3:45-6:45pm, and dinner is at seven o’clock. The meals are all vegetarian, many vegan, and it feels fantastic to be eating healthy and to have all meals prepared for us. There would not be time to prepare anything near so delicious or varied as we have had, were we cooking for ourselves. After such a long day, including strenuous practice, yoga philosophy and history, posture alignment, assists and adjustments, and anatomy, we are all exhausted. The evenings go by quickly with homework reading and assignments for the following day, and a bit of socializing—everyone is in the same boat, thank goodness, and even a few days in we provide much support for one another.

I suppose any intensive-style course like this would feel overwhelming, but sometimes it feels like almost too much. At the same time, it has been a relief to just get here and begin digging my hands in, rather than nervously anticipating. Although I do feel sore and achy in the evenings, I am not nearly as wrecked as I thought I would be (yet!), and I have been pleasantly surprised a few times at what I have been able to do, both flexibility and strength increasing under this frequent and vigourous practice regime.

Tonight marks the end of the first week here. Each day has felt like just about double, what with the long hours, the new information, the intense activity… it is taking some getting used to! But two more weeks will probably go by fast enough, so we had better aim to be present—good advice at the best of times, but particularly fitting when so immersed in yoga philosophy.

Well, I survived week one; now I had better get to bed so I have a better chance at surviving tomorrow’s class (there is a rumour floating around that the theme will be cardio).

Namaste.