TWO/experiments

Over the past couple of months I've been developing some "rules" or experiments for my classes. I'm beginning to see that these are actually experiements that can be applied to life on and off the yoga mat. I invite you try out these experiments for the next week.

Experiment #1 : Participate Fully

Show up as best you can in every moment. Don't give more than 100% and don't give any less. Notice how you show up in your yoga practice and in your life. Are you the Type A, pitta driven, over-achieving, perfectionist type? Your practice of participating fully might be to ease up, slow down and relax. Or are you the Type B, Kapha relaxed, restistant-to-new-things, I don't like to be challenged type? Then your practice will be to engage more, take your poses to the next level and take some risks.

Experiment #2 : Have fun

Enjoy yourself as best you can. Lighten up. Smile more. Choose more of the things that bring you joy. It doesn't mean that you have to be having fun in every moment of your life. It's an invitation to gather more enjoyment out of the overall experience of your life. Apply this rule especially when you are doing something that you typically don't enjoy. Can you find something within the experience that you can enjoy?

The key here is to experiment. Be curious. Engage in your life in new ways that allow you thrive and experience greater happiness and contentment.

MOUNTAIN/pose

TADASANA : MOUNTAIN POSE

A while back I got a newsy kind of email from my dear friend Tony who, at the time, had been practicing yoga for about a year. In this email he told me about his breakfast, what he was doing later that evening and about his yoga practice that morning. In the middle of this chatty email he writes this brilliant and beautiful description of tadasana. This, my friends, is what mountain pose is all about:

Tadasana

by Anthony Quaglieri, Ph.D

I actually got my yoga practice in today. It was satisfactory and challenging enough. I move from tadasana to standing poses to forward folds, to backbends to shoulder stand, to head stand preparation, to twists, to savasana. I don't over do it. I just do my best in each pose. I'm building a separate tadasana practice. I've added on another minute. I stand in an engaged tadasana for 4 minutes, and by the 3rd minute I am in another land, breathing and holding the pose. I still think it's the hardest pose - being a conduit between the center of the earth and the center of heaven, opening myself as an aligned channel of energy between two points. Engaging each foot completely on the ground in a willing marriage of non-gripping contact. Exerting equal effort in planting down while rising up. Isn't this what we want from life? To be completely engaged with that which nurtures/supports us while fully rising up at the same time, reaching for the sky with our crown chakra? Why shouldn't this be the most effort of all? To be simultaneously engaged with the fully known ground and the unknown vastness of the sky and all it has to offer, and letting the mind just go and the breath be the engine. I think taking tadasana is the best discipline of all. To keep as much engagement and alignment as I can. When one thing goes, I correct it and then another thing goes and I correct it, and then, maybe for a half second, I have everything engaged and aligned, and I know it in an unattached ego way, I just feel intense pleasure. To let my body float in an effort toward greater alignment in the pose, knowing that there is no pose, just the reaching toward it. This is so powerful, the conscious acceptance that there is nothing to get, just effort toward a best practice in a particular moment in time with a clear earnest intention to do my best and see where it takes me. To let go of waiting for the alarm to go off and turn it INSTEAD into 'how much more time do I have to see if I can keep my knees and chest lifted, my shoulders broad and my feet engaged - how much more time do I have to be in this effort to rise up and perhaps have a second of effortlessness, where I just 'be' without wanting to be somewhere else - without waiting for the 4 minute alarm to go off - without having to remind myself to breathe - without caring if I'm doing a good job. What a life lesson is one pose.

THE/way

The Way It Is

There's a thread you follow. It goes among

things that change. But it doesn't change.

People wonder about what you are pursuing.

You have to explain about the thread.

But it is hard for others to see.

While you hold it you can't get lost.

Tragedies happen; people get hurt

or die; and you suffer and get old.

Nothing you do can stop time's unfolding.

You don't ever let go of the thread.

– William Stafford (1914-1993)

DWELL/possibility

This past weekend I took the train to Central Square to pick up some magazines for the Yoga and Art workshop I led at South Boston Yoga. As I stepped out of the station I saw a woman slowly making her way down the sidewalk witha walker. She stepped one foot about 6 inches forward. Then stepped the other foot up to meet it. Then pushed the walker forward. Then stepped one foot about 6 inches forward, stepped the other foot up to meet it and pushed the walker forward. This went on and on. My normal fast pace instantly slowed down. As I passed her I made eye contact with her and she smiled. There was nothing in her gaze or her smile that told me anything other than that she was happy. In fact, her eyes sparkled.

As I continued on to my friend's house I had tears running down my face thinking about the effort that it must require for this woman to simply leave her home and walk down the street. It is beyond what I'm actually able to comprehend given the ease at which I've always been in my body. What I do understand, however, is that beyond the limits of what we think brings us happiness is another way of being that allows for limitless joy. And that is the practice of being present with whatever our current experience is and learning to love what is. The Buddhist believe that all suffering comes from when we resist the truth of our reality.

Begin to notice thoughts that begin with "I wish" or "if only." They are flags that tell us that we haven't accepted the reality of what is true. Instead, when you have those thoughts replace them with "I will" or "I am." These words hold space for what is true in this moment while recognizing that change and growth are an inevitable and necessary part on this path towards wholeness.

What truth are you resisting in your life? What's one thing you can do to start to accept it?

HOME/practice

A very dear friend of mine came to me a few months ago and asked me to help him find some yoga postures and stretches that would help him find more flexibility and comfort in him body. I met with him just a few times and set up a simple 20 minute routine for him to practice. He fell in love with the sequence of postures so much that he practiced daily. The last time we met for a yoga session he asked me to just simply witness him in his practice and to give any feed back on how he might make adjustments. It was an extraordinary experience for me to just simply witness him because what I saw was how he took the postures I gave him and he made them his own. He integrated them into his body and allowed them to unfold into a unique expression of who he is.

A few days ago I received this email from him. It made me cry knowing that this extraordinary practice of Yoga has helped him to find greater comfort and joy in his body:

Roger, you know, I haven’t been to my gym in two months, or longer, not since I’ve been doing yoga every day. Dave and I went over today on our snow day. I started off on this cross-trainer I always do; I can never really get the cross-trainer all the way to the end of the stride (it’s like a cross-country skiing kind of stride)—I can if I really push myself, but it always feels like too wide a stretch for my hips, so I usually stay kind of in the middle.

Well today I got on the machine and WHAM I went all the way to the end of the range of motion so hard that it sounded like I broke the machine; people were staring at me. I thought, ‘there’s something wrong with this machine; it’s too floppy,’ and switched to another cross trainer of the same model. The same thing happened. I switched to the third machine and then I realized there was nothing wrong with the machines. The range of motion was the same it had always been and so was the resistance. What changed, dramatically, were my hips. My hips used to be so tight I couldn’t really move all the way to the end of the range of motion without straining, and now they’re so much looser that unless I pull it back, I go all the way off the edge of the machine.

It’s just miraculous how daily yoga (and I mean a little daily yoga—20 minutes...) changes the body over time!

VITAL/ity

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening

that is translated into action,

and because there is only one of you in all time,

this expression is unique.

If you block it,

it will never exist through any other medium

and be lost.

The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is;

nor how valuable it is;

nor how it compares with other expressions.

It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly,

to keep the channel open.

You do not have to believe in yourself or your work.

You have to keep open and aware directly

to the urges that motivate you.

Keep the channel open.

No artist is pleased.

There is no satisfaction whatever at any time.

There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction;

a blessed unrest that keeps us marching

and makes us more alive than the others.

Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille

CREATE/art

Since my New Year's Day Personal Retreat I have been creating more art and doing more things to inspire me live a more creative and fulfulling life. There have been several things that have helped me move forward.

1. Create an intention. What do you want to inspire in your life? What makes you thive? What are you trying to cultivate? Write these questions down and then write stream of consciousness whatever comes to your mind. Take what you have written and try to pull out the essence in a few words or a phrase.

My intention this year is summed up like this "Create more art. Make more love." I have a larger explaination in my journal about what that actually means. When I see those words it reminds me of my intention.

2. Put your intention some where you can see daily. Tack it to a mirror or the fridge, hang it on the wall, put it on your dashboard. Put it anywhere you are likely to see it often.

The above picture I created in my journal. I printed it out and put it on my altar. I have it on my facebook page. And now I'm passing it along to you. "Create more art" has become my mantra.

3. Water regularly and watch it grow. Whatever your intention is make a point of bringing it more into your consciousness and into your life. Read books and articles about it. Watch videos (youtube and TED are great resources for short, digestible videos that inspire). Write about it. Talk about your intentions with your friends, your family, your co-workers.

I have my colored pencils, markers, paints and brushes, and my journal on my desk readily available. I've made an intention to put something in my art journal everyday. Today was one of those days where I felt completely uninspired. I opened up my journal and I drew a straight line across the page with a black marker. I sat there and just looked at it. Then I drew another line. and then another. and before I knew it I was using different colors and moving beyond straight lines. All in all i spent 10 minutes. The art itself wasn't anything to write home about, but the satisfaction I got from sticking to my intention lightened my mood and set my mind right. Well, as right as my mind can get!!

4. Get support. Tell your best friend or someone you trust what you are cultivating in your life. Ask them to help you by reminding you of your intention. Ask them to ask you about your progress. Talk to them about your successes your challenges, your joys and sorrow.

I have two very close friends who are huge sources of inspiration for me and they hold my intention for me when I slip away from it. And all of you help me hold to my intention. Every week I sit down to write this newsletter, which is an artful and satisfying process for me. It allows me to be creative and it helps me to feel connected to you.

I found this great passage on the tinybuddha.com website:

"We have to open our hearts to other people knowing they may not open up in return; give what we can when we can knowing it may not always be reciprocated; go after our dreams knowing sometimes we may fail; and through all the uncertainty, nurture a love for ourselves that doesn't depend on our conditions. We have to create from love if we want to create something we'll love."

Remember that making significant change requires practice. You will sometimes succeed and sometimes fail. Keep moving towards you intention regardless.

BEAUTIFUL/people

During my last trip to New York I stayed at a friend’s apartment in Chelsea. This sign hung above the gate as you exited the courtyard and entered the streets of New York City.

DRAW/mouse

In preparation for my New Year's Day Personal Retreat I took myself to the local art store in Cambridge. I spent a couple of hours walking the aisles. I looked at and touched just about everything in that place. I doodled with the pens, peeked inside tins and imagined all the things I could create. I only had a small budget so I had to choose carefully. Part of my intention for this year is to step out of the box as an artist and to eliminate some self-limiting beliefs around my own creativity. Most of us have those thoughts that lurk in the shadows of our mind especially when it comes to self-expression. It's the thoughts that begin with "I am not," or "I could never." You know, the basic "I suck at..." kind of thoughts. Just simply looking at the art supplies the voices started to squeak and whine.

On New Year's Day I got all of my art supplies out and sat down to artfully record my intentions for 2011 in my brand new journal. I Immediately felt over-whelmed. The voices started. The blank page stared at me like a gremlin. Then I looked up at my altar and saw a quote I had tacked up a month ago: Repond non-habitually to what’s in front of you. Then I remembered something that changed the way I create art.

Years ago I worked at a day care. I was in charge of a dozen 3 - 5 year olds. Can you imagine? I could tell you many crazy stories. One day I was sitting with two boys and we were coloring with crayons. (The other 10 were running around screaming and doing what 3 - 5 years old do best: romp!)

The one boy, Jordon, asked me if I would draw him a mouse. It went something like this:

"Roger, will draw me a mouse," Jordon asked.

"I can't draw a mouse," I thought to myself, but I didn't want to admit it to him so I said, "You draw me a mouse."

"No, you draw me a mouse," Jordon replied.

It went on and on for a few rounds before the other boy spoke up, "I can draw a mouse!"

We both looked at him.

He grabbed his crayon and scribbled a few wild and irregular circles and lines. "See!," he pointed proudly.

"See, there's a mouse," Jordon responded satisfied.

Now let me tell you that not by any stretch of the imagination was that a mouse, but there wasn't any doubt in my mind or in Jordon's mind that what was on the paper was a mouse.

----------

I walked out of the art store with:

~1 tin of 24 colored pencils

~a Winsor Newton watercolor starters kit

~12 colored sharpies

~2 fine tipped black pens

~2 watercolor paint brushes

~8.5 x 11 spiral bound art journal

~2 small containers of micro-fine art glitter