I hosted a 5-hour yoga retreat at my house today. It was wonderful! I cleared out the living room - pushed the furniture against a wall. My living room is rectangular and my furniture is easy to move, so it all fit quite nicely at one end. The five of us fit quite nicely in the remaining space on the hardwood floor, with the view of Lake Champlain easily visible from the front windows.
We spent the first two hours practicing yoga as we would in a regular class except that is usually only 90 minutes. The extra time allowed us to go deeper and to practice some standing postures, which are designed to facilitate bringing our practice into our daily lives. The first time through, that felt awkward and even painful; but after opening the spine, it felt great.
Our two yoga instructors then taught us to make kitchari, and Ayurvedic dish that looked beautiful, smelled fascinating, and tasted delightful. I wasn't sure when I saw some of the unfamiliar ingredients, some of which I even disliked when I tasted them alone. Put them together, though, and wow! I will try making this on my own...
We followed that cooking class and lunch with a visualization exercise of our digestive system. It was interesting to do that and I found it to be quite useful - as I imagined the whole process of this wonderful food meandering through my body, feeding me all along the way.
Great day!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
meditation
I have been practicing yoga and meditation for a couple of years now and I still consider myself to be a novice - both in practice and knowledge. I have some thoughts, however, on the meditation piece.
Meditation is great! I struggle with the constant chatter of my mind, but I value those times when I can turn it down, then gently push it off to the side. This works best when I try to practice some of the things I learned in Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain - I think because meditation is a right-brain activity. The more I can access the right brain, the more successful I am at turning off the chatter, and the more successful I am at truly meditating.
Sometimes I think that meditation is a lot like prayer. But then, when I pray, my verbal thoughts are primary - I'm asking, telling, thanking, appreciating, instructing, marveling... it's me in constant chatter. I rarely take a deep breath long enough to hear the "still soft voice of God." But, isn't that breath, that listening - turning off my own chatter in prayer time - the same as meditation? Isn't the goal to find that place deep inside that transcends the ego and the daily stuff of life? It is in meditation, and yes, in meditative prayer, that we find ourselves. We try looking externally, we look within the reflective eyes of the ones we love, but it's really internal - to be found in meditation, in the contemplative practices we find in many (all?) ways of being religious - more, in every aspect of transcendence. It isn't just Buddhist, it isn't just Eastern. Jesus taught it, too, and we see it in the writings of great Christian contemplative teachers like Thomas Merton and C.S. Lewis.
Yes, meditation is important to me. And, no, it isn't a betrayal of my Christian roots to find peace in this practice. In fact, it may be just what I need to hear God, as I recognize God to be.
Meditation is great! I struggle with the constant chatter of my mind, but I value those times when I can turn it down, then gently push it off to the side. This works best when I try to practice some of the things I learned in Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain - I think because meditation is a right-brain activity. The more I can access the right brain, the more successful I am at turning off the chatter, and the more successful I am at truly meditating.
Sometimes I think that meditation is a lot like prayer. But then, when I pray, my verbal thoughts are primary - I'm asking, telling, thanking, appreciating, instructing, marveling... it's me in constant chatter. I rarely take a deep breath long enough to hear the "still soft voice of God." But, isn't that breath, that listening - turning off my own chatter in prayer time - the same as meditation? Isn't the goal to find that place deep inside that transcends the ego and the daily stuff of life? It is in meditation, and yes, in meditative prayer, that we find ourselves. We try looking externally, we look within the reflective eyes of the ones we love, but it's really internal - to be found in meditation, in the contemplative practices we find in many (all?) ways of being religious - more, in every aspect of transcendence. It isn't just Buddhist, it isn't just Eastern. Jesus taught it, too, and we see it in the writings of great Christian contemplative teachers like Thomas Merton and C.S. Lewis.
Yes, meditation is important to me. And, no, it isn't a betrayal of my Christian roots to find peace in this practice. In fact, it may be just what I need to hear God, as I recognize God to be.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
More about perception/awareness
I have a cold. A fact - a simple fact. I have a cold. I have chosen not to attach misery to that fact, and have, thus, been quite at peace with it. I am aware of congestion, sore throat, upper respiratory distress. But, those things are... well, just things. They don't make my day, my life, or my being good or bad. I have, in fact, stayed home from work and experienced a great sense of peace in doing so. I have observed my body, aware of the battle between my immune system and the virus. I have practiced yoga, surrendering to the release - body, mind, spirit.
There is one thing I wonder about, though. If I don't attach misery to a cold, does that mean also that I shouldn't attach happiness to hiking on a beautiful day? That seems sort of sad - it would mean living on a stable plane, but one that is rather boring. Perhaps, I can choose when to attach my perspective, then by virtue of that perspective, my feelings. I can choose - isn't that the most powerful thing? Choice?
There is one thing I wonder about, though. If I don't attach misery to a cold, does that mean also that I shouldn't attach happiness to hiking on a beautiful day? That seems sort of sad - it would mean living on a stable plane, but one that is rather boring. Perhaps, I can choose when to attach my perspective, then by virtue of that perspective, my feelings. I can choose - isn't that the most powerful thing? Choice?
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Perception
I just read a wonderful Contemplation Theme by Rama Berch, the founder of Svaroopa Yoga, which I practice. The theme is a lovely articulation of the concept of perception and how it effects our lives.
We don't see things as they really are. Everything we see, every event, is perceived by us through the buffer of our own opinions, judgments, biases, and baggage. Sometimes that helps to make the event, or subject, 'good' and sometimes it makes it 'bad.' In reality, it just is. Without adding our rules, we allow ourselves to perceive in a more peaceful way. I hesitate to say it is a more true way, though that's actually what I almost wrote. It's more peaceful because we let go of the judgments. It is peaceful for us, and peaceful for whoever else is a participant.
In yoga we start and end each session with a guided awareness exercise in which the teacher asks us to bring our awareness to our toes, outside and inside, our feet, our calves, etc. It seems like a guided visualization, but Rama points out that it is a practice of awareness. This really transforms the practice for me. I will follow that awareness more closely in the next yoga class.
Meanwhile, it is important to recognize that where our thoughts go, so goes our energy. When we allow our thoughts (and the heuristics that go with them) to subjugate our awareness, our joy, our life satisfaction follows that thought pattern. We have the ability; indeed, we have the response-ability to re-learn awareness and allow those perceptions that hijack our awareness to drift away on the clouds of a gentle breeze.
We don't see things as they really are. Everything we see, every event, is perceived by us through the buffer of our own opinions, judgments, biases, and baggage. Sometimes that helps to make the event, or subject, 'good' and sometimes it makes it 'bad.' In reality, it just is. Without adding our rules, we allow ourselves to perceive in a more peaceful way. I hesitate to say it is a more true way, though that's actually what I almost wrote. It's more peaceful because we let go of the judgments. It is peaceful for us, and peaceful for whoever else is a participant.
In yoga we start and end each session with a guided awareness exercise in which the teacher asks us to bring our awareness to our toes, outside and inside, our feet, our calves, etc. It seems like a guided visualization, but Rama points out that it is a practice of awareness. This really transforms the practice for me. I will follow that awareness more closely in the next yoga class.
Meanwhile, it is important to recognize that where our thoughts go, so goes our energy. When we allow our thoughts (and the heuristics that go with them) to subjugate our awareness, our joy, our life satisfaction follows that thought pattern. We have the ability; indeed, we have the response-ability to re-learn awareness and allow those perceptions that hijack our awareness to drift away on the clouds of a gentle breeze.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)