25. October 2009 by admin.

I am practicing sense withdrawal today more out of necessity than rigor of discipline toward conscious bliss. You see I have a box of leftover pears and I am dehydrating them.  The house is filled with the smell of cinnamon, lemon and pears -Yummy! If I wasn’t practicing this sage old advice of Pratyahara I would be tempted to gobble down the whole tray or go crazy with my diet  coming off the fast this week.  Let me let other people describe it more aptly.

Pratyahara is the 5th limb of Ashtanga Yoga. It is necessary for the highest level of raja yoga, to perfect dharana (concentration), dyhana (meditation), and Samadhi (absorption into the highest). One of the results of pratyahara is the destruction of desire through the control of the sense.  This improves health as one of the biggest factors of disease, “the mistake of the intellect”. You know you’ve had enough but you have more because it tastes so good.  You know you are tired and should take rest but you want to see more.  When we are free from sense desire we have the freedom to follow our internal knowing.Patanjali, define Pratyahra as “the process of the senses imitating the mind’s withdrawal by withdrawing contact with their respective objects.  He also mentions, from that follows the highest mastery over the senses. 

Bhagavad Gita teaches to “expel outside contacts and put the gaze between the two eye-brows.  The mind must be unattached to the senses, in order to focus.  The sense feed the mind and spur it on, withdrawing them allows the mind to attain one-pointedness.Gherunda said, by such knowledge will all passions like lust etc. be destroyed.  Whenever (chitta) thinking principle wanders away, attracted by various objects of sight, bring it back under the control of self.  When faced with praise or censure, good or bad speech, withdraw your mind form these and place it under the control of the self.  From sweet smells or bad smells or from whatever odor, withdraw your mind a place under control of the self.  From honey-sweet or sour tastes, from bitter or any other by which the mind may be attracted withdraw and place it under control of the self.

An easy way to practice sense withdrawal is using your breath and mind to focus on points within the body as described in the Yoga Journal. Wish me luck I have a case of apples to dry out too!

Going within,

Deby

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23. October 2009 by admin.

Yoga Class at White Lotus Center (6-8 pm) will incorporate live music, dancing, yoga and Kirtan Chanting tonight. Words elude me on the variety of feelings swirling around my head about chanting. If any of you have been in my class to hear me lead the chant “om” then you will know one feeling, as singing isn’t my natural talent.  Don’t have much time to rattle on about this, as I’m on my way to fine tune the chant selection and practice, so again bring you words written by professionals over there at the Yoga Journal:

Human longing for ritual is deep, and in our culture often frustrated,” writes theologian Tom F. Driver in The Magic of Ritual (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991). His simple observation explains the surge of interest in chant and other rediscovered rituals.Certainly, in a society where many believe singing is something done by others and purchased in the form of concert tickets or a CD, our understanding of the aesthetic and ritual dimensions of the human voice has diminished.Although we can’t prove it, chant, or sacred singing, was probably one of the first expressions of human spirituality. Incorporating a chanting ritual into your yoga practice is easy and, for many, the act of chanting facilitates a greater sense of peace than practicing asanas alone.

We are making our final chant selections today to handout at the workshop.  The handout will include their meanings as well as be posted tomorrow.  

Call if you have any questions, see you there,

Deby

907-225-4055

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23. October 2009 by admin.

Of the many benefits of fasting, clear, soft, glowing skin is the ultimate freebie.  It’s our face, smile, eyes that send signals to the world how we are doing  long before we open our mouth.  So important in our culture its confirmed by the gazillion dollar cosmetic industry and the amount of time spent digitally altering magazine covers. Yet despite these wonderful and obvious benefits, I find myself bargaining with what I’m willing to do on the cleanse. For example, I’m supposed to be drinking 6 servings of fruit and 5 servings of veggie juice, with additives like psyllium and bentonite clay, drink 5 oz. of Aloe juice, yet I’ve negotiated a deal with my alter self and have whittled it down to 4 fruit, 4 veggie and 3 oz of Aloe, so much for discipline despite how much better I’m feeling and looking.

Oh the struggle with the inner voice, is beauty only skin deep?  Here is a quick reference on what the ancient yogi’s practice to develop deep inner glow and mastery of ego, as discovered in recent Yoga Journal newsletters:

Yoga comes out of an oral tradition in which the teaching was transmitted directly from teacher to student. The Indian sage Patanjali has been credited with the collation of this oral tradition into his classic work, the Yoga Sutra, a 2,000-year-old treatise on yogic philosophy. A collection of 195 statements, the Sutra provides a kind of philosophical guidebook for dealing with the challenges of being human. Giving guidance on how to gain mastery over the mind and emotions and advice on spiritual growth, the Yoga Sutra provides the framework upon which all yoga practiced today is based. “Sutra,” literally meaning “thread,” has also been translated as “aphorism,” a tersely phrased statement of truth. Another definition of “sutra” is “the condensation of the greatest amount of knowledge into the most concise description possible.” Keeping these meanings in the mind, we might think of the art and science of yoga as a kind of magnificent tapestry that is woven together by the threads of universal truths.

Most yogis feel freer when they look inward and choose poses that are healing and nurturing—even if that means doing something different than what they originally thought they’d do. This insight is spelled out in the eight limbs of classical ashtanga yoga, which ultimately lead to samadhi, or freedom.

The first limb is yama, a group of five qualities that can be summed up as “self-restraint” or “control.” Among other things, the yamas teach us about ahimsa (nonviolence) and satya (truthfulness). So when you apply nonviolence and truthfulness to your practice—avoiding poses that don’t feel right or that might cause injury—you eventually reach a place of freedom.

Namaste,

Deby

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19. October 2009 by admin.

Have I mentioned lately just how excited I am to be part of this cleanse with everyone?

Hate to admit I was a little draggy this morning, and well my stomach was so active I thought that was Where the Wild Things Are and it wasn’t until I went to Yoga tonight that it changed. Being empty allowed me to move into poses more freely, comfortably which created a renewed energy wasn’t sure I could have after not eating. Plus, not to mention the added bonus of socializing with fellow cleansers.  Enough said, I’m a big fan of Yoga, think it’s critical to everything, so I am holding back trying to get too preachy, but let me say, if you’re serious about the cleanse, don’t miss out on this vital element. This fast can be stressful!

Seane Corn teaches, “We detoxify so that we can show up more fully in the world and reach our highest potential”   We know that Yoga classes will provide abdominal compression, decompression, and twists, powerful breathing exercises and techniques to work in conjunction with the physical practices all to aid in the release of toxic emotional and mental patterns. Whew. But did you consider that yoga cleanses our system by helping us relax and meditate? Like chemical pollutants, stress is a toxin that can most definitely damage our physical, emotional and mental well being. Stress interrupts how we function from day-to-day and can even destroy any detox diet plan that we may have developed considering that compulsive eating can also be caused by too much stress.

And lets not forget about all the emotions whirring around looking to be harnessed. Like young Max you don’t really have to sail away to discover what Yoga is really all about, its Freedom. You may stumble upon a personal transformation with just a little shift in your practice to access the incredibly creative, powerful and fluid energy and maybe surrender to this energy, that is living your life.

See you in class,

Deby

L-O-V-E it’s a mystery, where you’ll find me, where you will find all is LOVE. 

Soundtrack Where the Wild Things Are

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16. October 2009 by admin.

Even without science, the health benefits of singing and chanting are well known.  These healing qualities occur through its influence on the health of the Vegas nerve thought to be the most important nerve in the human body. The Vegas nerve runs through the neck and services many major organs in the body such as the heart, intestines, intestinal track, back muscles, and also the lungs. By engaging in song or through chant you can imagine the stimulation on the Vegas nerve and the rippling effects to your major organs.  Often considered the first step in preparing your body for meditation, chanting focuses on an easy to remember phrase and melody and is repeated over and over.  The repetition sets the stage for quieting the mind and when the mind is less active the body calms. Additionally, the pumping of the diaphragm massages the internal organs, and the lengthened exhalation with its effective exchange of oxygen, changes the physiology in the body sending signals to the brain “all is well”.

Chanting provides a limited amount of mind activity allowing the mind to focus on a particular thought vs. singing which can require the mind to remember quite a few lyrics in order to complete a song.   According to the French Doctor Alfred A. Tomatis, (who has pioneered research in the neurophysiologic effects of Chant on the minds and bodies of listeners) there are two kinds of sound: Discharge Sounds and Charged Sounds. Discharge sounds are those which make the listener feel fatigued or drained. And charged sounds are those which give the listener energy, life and health.

Kitzie Stern has organized an amazingly beautiful selection of music, including the Kirtan Elevator Speech  to play from her site. Quite honestly, I have downloaded all of her podcasts through iTunes and haven’t been able to listen to any other music.  Kirtan, as Kitzie explains, is a very different kind of music.  Based on ancient chants, it has the ability to quiet the mind if listened to with intention.  Everyone experiences kirtan differently, and it doesn’t have to be a religious experience.  You can think of it as a sing-along.  A kirtan concert is not your typical concert either.  Everyone sits on the floor, although chairs are usually available.  The performers are accessible, in fact there’s not much of a distinction between performers & audience.  The wallah (leader) sings the mantra, and the audience sings it back.  A single chant can go on for up to forty minutes.  As you sing with each other you experience a deep connection with the musicians, the other audience members and yourself.  And when the music stops, your mind is quiet.

Deby

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