The Opposite of Yoga

16 Saturday Apr 2011

Posted by in On Teaching Yoga, Today's Lesson

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I saw the opposite of yoga today. Right here on the streets of River City, a.k.a. Petaluma CA.

At the funky, quaint municipality’s annual “Butter and Eggs” Parade, a beloved event chockfull of small town charm, marching bands, “Cutest little chick” award, fire trucks–you know the sweet scene. (My own hometown, Sonoma, has its version on the Fourth of July.)

You gotta love it when anybody and every group who wants to pass away a spring Saturday representing their business, hobby, or heritage can do just that. And when a near mega-company like Camelback, based in Petaluma, gives back some time, effort, love, and BPA Free water bottle giveways to their local community.

Being a yoga teacher who teaches in a couple of local, women-owned yoga studios, I was happy to see a couple of Petaluma’s yoga studios in the B&E Parade. Being a yoga teacher who has committed to her lineage’s ethnics of not disdaining any other yoga “brand,” I don’t editorialize the teachings of others. Even if I have another, very different world view about the practice and its deeper meanings.

So what did it take this fine, Mayberry wholesome day to stop me in my well-intentioned tracks at the sight of one of the happy representatives moving along Kentucky Street, downtown Petaluma? In the middle of kids in cow costumes, cotton candy scented air, and all the sunshine one can imagine, what did my guileless eyes behold to make me utter the ungodly mantra, &%#$^*)?

Here it is, folks:

“Yoga Hell.”

What the ahimsa?

Begging pardon, but I have to step on my Nag Champa soapbox and say,

#1. Yoga is Heaven, not hell.

#2. The desire to be hot as hell for hot as hell’s sake alone is not yoga. Yes, Tapas is important. Another promise I have made to my own tradition is to include Tapas, or a little inner “heat” to every class I teach. But to emblazon the words “Yoga Hell” above the doors to the store?

I honestly rubbed my eyes in disbelief. And got out my camera. And made another little promise to my own way of being a yoga teacher in this world:

I will never, ever, knowingly intend to evoke any sort or allotment of hell in any of my classes.

And if that is what you are looking for in “yoga,” you won’t find it with me.

Unless your idea of hell is being steady, mindful, and balanced.

Swaha!

Want to Truly Experience Yoga?

14 Thursday Apr 2011

Posted by in It's Not About the Asana, Today's Lesson

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You need do little more than follow the Three Little Ways of Being in this video.

Very simple.

No headstands. No as-many-Chatarangas-as-you-can-crank-out.

And your toes could not care less if you can touch them.

Just…notice them.

I offer you in these few short minutes, and exquisitely simple words,

The Way of Yoga.

(By the way, this is super homework for my yoga classes!)

The Baseball Sutras: 1:1

21 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by in The Baseball Sutras, Uncategorized

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Yoga Sutra 1:1

Now, therefore, complete instructions regarding yoga. Patanjali

Baseball Sutra 1:1

Now, therefore, complete instructions regarding the Bhagavad Gita in baseball. Barbrahma

In his commentary on Yoga Sutra 1:1 (Four Chapters on Freedom), Swami Satyananda Saraswati notes “Those instructions on yoga which follow will become intelligible, fruitful and also palatable to those whose hearts are pure and whose minds are at rest, otherwise not.”  He traces the roots of the Sanskrit, Atha yoganusasanam, to the word shasan, which means…a ruling. What is baseball if not rulings?

And so we come to Baseball Sutra 1:1. It may be perfectly illustrated in the approach of Cy Young winner, San Francisco Giant ace (he of Justin Bieber scale magnetism), Tim Lincecum. In the March 11, 2011 New York Times blog post , “Little Big Man,” author Jonathan Mahler writes:

Most of all, Lincecum had to come to terms with the fact that every pitcher struggles. All he could do was to try to relax and find his way through it. “It’s about accepting it,” he says. “That’s hard to tell people, just because they’re like, ‘What the hell? He’s accepting that he sucks?’ No, it’s like, ‘I can’t do anything about the past. I’m going to get better from here, stop trying to reinvent myself, trust my stuff and move on.’ ”

Or, in the words of no less than Lord Krishna himself in the Gita (4:22, Eknath Easwaran translater),

They live in freedom who have gone beyond the dualities of life. Competing with no one, they are alike in success and failure and content with whatever comes to them. They are free, without selfish attachments; their minds are fixed in knowledge.

Such is my advise, Tim Arjuna. Perhaps not complete instructions, but easily contained within your words.

Now, dear boy, on with your karma. The path of action is better than renunciation. Play ball.

Addendum: This is a continuation of a post I wrote during the 2009 World Series, from Helena, Montana. May the baseball commissioner be with me in this becoming a fully formed treatise on How Baseball is Like Yoga.

03 Thursday Feb 2011

Posted by in Sri Sayings

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‎Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.

-Swami Sivananda      

 

And, I would like to add, a very fun thing to do!

Pranic Footprint: Taking Responsibility for the Energy You Generate

31 Monday Jan 2011

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Part II

In the Tantric tradition of yoga, we understand that energy follows thought. Thought matters. That that you think, you unleash. It matters what kind of energy you send out into the world. A projection of energy can happen with a mere thought.

Step mindfully. Just as it is harmful to leave behind a carbon footprint, and we can typically lessen that load in the course of our day-to-day world, the quality of prana you leave behind can be harmful. Negative energy set forth by ill thoughts, unkind words, and wrong action has its imprint. Sticks, stones, and words can hurt.

Recall a time you stepped into a room and immediately felt unwelcome, sensed a certain repulsive force. One unseen, but surely felt. That’s negative pranic energy left behind by a negative thought, word, or action, likely unwittingly by the generating party. Think: Bad Vibes. Getting the icky idea?

Conversely, we can choose to leave a positive pranic footprint. You know how you feel better just being in the presence of some people? Even in passing on the sidewalk? We sense a calm, an open space, a feeling that all is well. A kind glance, word, smile–can work magic on those around you. People you don’t even know, or see. This energy also lingers, its footprint beautiful. It is of a quality that leaves the world a better place.

So, think, speak, and do mindfully, dear readers. The energy you save will fill your, and perhaps the world’s reserves of happiness.

State of Union Address: What’s Your Pranic Footprint?

26 Wednesday Jan 2011

Posted by in It's Not About the Asana

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For my 2011 State of Union Address (i.e., State of Yoga), I’d like to bring attention to Pranic Footprint. President Obama made mention of greening up our energy in his State of the Union address. But what about our pranic energy? Do we stop to consider the impact our own energy has on our environment?

If you’re not clear where I’m headed with this, think about the last time you were in a room with one or more hyper people, or on the freeway with other drivers very determined to move ahead. Maybe you’ve witnessed someone enter a room seeping negativity, or know someone who drains your energy to the point you cannot bare to be around them. Their energetic drain depletes you long after you’ve parted company. Know the icky, uncomfortable, Get me outta here feeling?

This is what I mean by pranic footprint. Just like a carbon footprint, the energy we bring to a thought, action, word, situation, or even a room has its effects. The energy we bring lingers. In some cases this imprint has a half-life of many lives. In a time when we are more aware, and cautious of, the impact of our material consumption and expenditures, what if we all become equally mindful of where–and how–we put our energy?

to be continued…

Beginning Hatha Yoga Series in Sonoma

10 Monday Jan 2011

Posted by in Yoga

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Yoga  Basics Lessons

Parkpoint, Sonoma

October 27-November 17, 5:45-6:45 p.m.

If you’ve been practicing yoga for awhile, I know you still remember the incomparable feelings and memories of your very first steps into the practice. This is what happens when we discover yoga.

But for those who have not yet stepped onto the amazing piece of real estate known as a “yoga mat,” the thought of walking into a classroom where everybody seems to know the names of the poses at the very least, or to be able to arrange their bodies into (seemingly) impossible poses, can be intimidating. It can even be intimidating to admit it is intimidating!

As an established practitioner and teacher of yoga, my first words to those newbies is, “You are so lucky!“I remember my first exposure to yoga, and it is one of the most extraordinary, blissful, and valuable occurrences of my life. Of my life! And I am fortunate to have had a colorful and full life, rich in all flavor of experience.

If you haven’t yet had the courage to step into a yoga class, and you are in Sonoma, This is Your Chance to Change the Rest of Your Life!  I’ll be teaching Yoga Basics at Parkpoint Health Club in Sonoma. It is open to both members and non-members, and is a very affordable price.

As a friend said to me many years ago when I was pondering this new adventure (but a little intimidated),

“Think of it as the beginning of a vacation that will last the rest of your life.”

Big promise, I know. But. I promise!

P.S., One of the “side effects” of yoga is increased courage and self-esteem!

Call Parkpoint for details. 707-996-3111. And. I hope to see you there, you lucky newbie yogi!

Barbra

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