Facing our Habits in Yoga Asana

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we will be exploring facing our habits in Yoga asana.

Genius . . . means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an inhabitual way.

                                      – William James

Attention is very much like a searchlight, and it should be mounted in such a way that it can be trained on any subject freely. When we are caught up in some compulsion, this searchlight has become stuck. After many years of being stuck like this, it is hard to believe that the light can turn. We think that the compulsion has become a permanent part of our personality. But gradually, we can learn to work our attention free.

As an experiment, try to work cheerfully at some job you dislike: you are training your attention to go where you want it to go. Whatever you do, give it your best concentration. Another good exercise is learning to drop what you are doing and shift your attention to something else when the situation demands. For example, when you leave your office, leave your work there. Don't let it follow you home and come into the dining room like an untrained dog, barking at your heels.

All this is the spiritual equivalent of kicking exercises in a dance lesson or knee bends in an aerobics class. By practicing these exercises, anybody can learn to direct attention freely.

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to notice how your Yoga asana practice brings to light your habits, likes and dislikes. Challenge yourself when you find you are going on automatic when practicing asana and make your practice more in the moment and more dynamic. Learn how this practice can then be generalized to your life off of the mat.

Blessings,

paul cheek

Rushing Water Yoga

417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607

360.834.5994

www.rushingwateryoga.com

info@rushingwateryoga.com

The Divine Self Within

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we will be exploring the divine Self within.

Try to treat with equal love all the people with whom you have relations. Thus the abyss between "myself" and "yourself" will be filled in, which is the goal of all religious worship.

                                  – Anandamayi Ma

  

Love is a skill, a precious skill that can be learned. There are many other skills that are useful, even necessary, but in the end, nothing less than learning to love will satisfy us.

The saints and mystics of all religions tell us that life has only one overriding purpose: to discover the source of infinite love and then to express this love in daily living. Without love, life is empty; without love, life is meaningless. The only purpose which can satisfy us completely, fulfill all our desires, and then make our life a gift to the whole world, is the gradual realization of the divine Self within, which throws open the gates of love. We cannot dream what depth and breadth of love we are capable of until we make the discovery that this divine spark lives in every creature.

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to make the connection for yourself how your own Yoga practices can help you discover your true reality - this divine Self within.  BKS Iyengar says " “It is through and with your body that you have to reach realization of being a spark of divinity.”

Blessings,

paul cheek

Rushing Water Yoga

417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607

360.834.5994

www.rushingwateryoga.com

info@rushingwateryoga.com

Dharana or Concentration

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we will be exploring sixth limb of Yoga, Dharana or concentration.

Familiar acts are beautiful through love.

                                                            – Percy Bysshe Shelley

By giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to direct attention where we choose. Simple, yet essential to the practice of love! Being one-pointed means we can give the person we are with our complete attention, even if she is contradicting our opinion on tax reform or explaining the peculiarities of French grammar. Once we can do this, boredom disappears from our relationships. People are not boring; we get bored because our attention wanders. When we can give someone our full attention, our attitude says clearly, “You matter to me. You have my respect.”

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to work on directing your attention to one thing at a time. This is practicing Dharana, the sixth limb of Yoga.  Challenge the concept of multi-tasking and work to be present in whatever you do.  In your personal relationships practice listening with full attention and when you wander away from being present, draw yourself back in fully.

Blessings,

paul cheek

Rushing Water Yoga

417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607

360.834.5994

www.rushingwateryoga.com

info@rushingwateryoga.com

Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003

The Second Niyama, Saucha or Purity

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we will be exploring  the second Niyama, Saucha or purity.

As an archer aims the arrow, the wise aim their restless thoughts, hard to aim, hard to restrain.

- The Buddha

Thoughts are things, even though we cannot hold them in our hands or see them with our eyes. This is very different from our usual view. Usually we consider thoughts as immaterial, so we are not aware of how a fleeting thought can affect us. If I throw a beach ball at you, it won't hurt much; in five minutes you will have forgotten about it. But if I say something harsh to you, you will not be able to forget that thought; you will take it home in your mind, have nightmares about it, and wake up oppressed the next morning. We all know from personal experience how a harsh comment from a parent or a friend can rankle in our consciousness for years. This is the immense power of thoughts.

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to apply the second Niyama, Saucha or purity to your thought process.  Saucha is keeping our bodies clean outwardly through bathing, through the foods we eat, the exercises we do, as well as inwardly through the thoughts we think. Think about how angry words and thoughts affect you. What happens to your relationships when you get angry? How do you feel when you get angry? How does your body feel? Our actions as well as our thoughts can pollute not only the world around us but our inner world as well.

Blessings,

paul cheek

Rushing Water Yoga

417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607

360.834.5994

www.rushingwateryoga.com

info@rushingwateryoga.com