The cultivation of sensitivity.......

Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,

This week in class we are considering the cultivation of sensitivity. 

Just as a flower gives out its fragrance to whomsoever approaches or uses it, so love from within us radiates towards everybody and manifests as spontaneous service.

- Swami Ramdas

Many of us find it difficult to be compassionate towards other people for the simple reason that most of our sensitivity is directed towards ourselves. The less we dwell on ourselves, the more our sensitivity will open out to the needs and feelings of others.

Every time you hurt someone and then grieve inside because of it, you are attending a valuable seminar on sensitivity. It is a seminar at the deepest and most personal level, the experiential, and it is infinitely more effective than anything we can attend for college credit. The credit comes to us directly, when we change our behavior and don't hurt people again. "Everybody's feelings can be hurt," we realize, "just like my own. I have to take others' feelings into consideration in what I do."

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

The homework is to use the training ground of your Yoga practices to develop external sensitivity - a sensitivity that is directed towards others.  In order to practice Yoga asana safely we have to develop sensitivity in our practice.  We have to learn to be present and aware and use these qualities to inform our practice.  Learn how the sensitivity you bring to your asana practice translates 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

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

Saucha.........a commitment to purity internally and externally.

Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,

This week in class we are considering the second Niyama, Saucha.  Saucha is a commitment to purity internally and externally. 

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 a commitment to purity internally and externally.  How do you practice Saucha?  Think about your own rituals for self-purification. What steps do you currently take to cleanse your physical being? Do you have a daily ritual to cleanse your mind and emotions? Consider how purification of your physical, mental, and emotional being can affect your Yoga practice and your daily life?

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

Ahimsa and Asteya..........

Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,

This week in class we are considering the first and third Yamas: Ahimsa and Asteya.

Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.

- Michelangelo

Mogul art, one of the great periods of artistic achievement in India, often is in miniature. The artist concentrated on very small areas, on little things, and worked with tenderness and precision. Only somebody who understands art will be able to see all the love and labor that has gone into it. Family living is like Mogul art, worked in miniature. The canvas is so small, and the skill required is so great, that most of us really do not appreciate the vast potentialities of family life.

Today we hear a great deal about the family becoming obsolete. Let us hope this is just the fantasy of those who do not understand the value of the family. To me, the family is like a free university, where we can get our finest education in living for others. Family does not just mean Papa, Mama, Junior, and Janie, but all the members, including grandparents, uncles and aunts and country cousins. The family can include dear friends and those who participate closely in all our endeavors.

We begin by being tender and unselfish and putting up with innumerable discomforts for the sake of adding to the joy of our family. Then, gradually, we extend our love to include our friends, our community, our country, and our world.

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

The homework is to look at how you define your family relationships and the quality of those relationships.  Evaluate how you are applying the yamas Ahimsa (love, non-harming) and Asteya (non-stealing, selflessness) to your relationships.  Consider how this way of being can be generalized across the board in all areas.

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 fifth Yama, Aparigraha.......

Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,

This week in class we are considering the fifth Yama, Aparigraha.

Love does not insist on its own way;

            it is not irritable or resentful;

                        it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.

- I Corinthians

In My Fair Lady, Rex Harrison sings in exasperation: "Why can't a woman be more like a man? . . . Why can't a woman be like me?"

It did not surprise me to learn that this was a very popular song. In every emotional relationship, even if we don't put it into words, each of us has a rigid set of expectations which requires the other person to act and think in a particular way. Interestingly enough, it is not that person's way; it is our own.

When he or she acts differently, we get surprised and feel irritated or disappointed. If we could see behind the scenes, in the mind, this sort of encounter would make a good comedy. Here I am, relating not to you but to my idea of you, and I get irritated because you insist on acting your own way instead!

It is really no more than stimulus and response. If you behave the way I expect, I'll be kind. If you behave otherwise, I'll act otherwise too: rude, or irritated, or disappointed, or depressed, depending on my personality, but always something in reaction to you. It means, simply, that none of us has much freedom; our behavior is dependent on what other people say and do. To live without self-centered expectations is the secret of freedom in personal relationships.

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

The homework is to look at your relationships with a new perspective - a perspective that includes an awareness of when you are being self-centered.  Observe if you can catch yourself when you want things to go your own way and watch what happens.  The fifth Yama can be applied here: Aparigraha which means in part freedom from rigidity of thought, training our minds not to feel the loss or lack of anything and/or greedlessness. 

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 senses and Dharana and Pratyahara.......

Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,

This week in class we are considering the senses and Dharana and Pratyahara.

The senses have been conditioned by attraction to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant: we should not be ruled by them; they are obstacles on our path.

- Bhagavad Gita

We are conditioned to like some things and to dislike others. There is not necessarily any logic to it - it is often just a matter of habit.

Take food, for example. We like what we learn to like. In Kerala we have a particular kind of mango that is eaten green, when it is acutely sour. There is nothing inherently pleasant about this sensation; in fact, a detached observer would call it painful. But everybody likes it; everybody eats it; so you learn to like it too. And in the end, you cannot do without it.

Beneath all likes and dislikes is a basic compulsion of the mind to pass judgment on everything: "I like this, I don't like that." When this compulsion is rigid, it is rigid everywhere - with food, with philosophies, and especially with other people.

So, when we free ourselves from a compulsive liking for sour green mangos - or chocolate cake or red chilis - the whole likes-and-dislikes compulsion is weakened. As a result, all our other likes and dislikes will have a looser hold on us, giving us greater freedom, which will affect even our personal relationships for the better.

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

The homework is to consider the fifth and sixth limbs of Yoga Pratyahara – refinement and/or withdrawal of the senses and Dharana – concentration as a way to help you observe your likes and dislikes.  As you observe see if you can challenge some of your habits - even if they are related to something that is considered good.  See for yourself if challenging some of your habits leads to greater freedom.

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

Patience

Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,

This week in class we are considering patience.

Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Poets like to write about love, popular singers like to glorify love, but nobody bothers to sing the praises of patience. I once heard of a man who prayed to God, "Give me patience, O Lord, and give it to me now!" That man was not born with a patient nature. Most of us aren't - but we can develop it through practice.

You will find opportunities every day if you look for them. In a situation where there is a lot of friction, where people differ from you and aren't shy about letting you know it, don't run away. Move closer to them. You may have to grit your teeth; you may have to bite your lip to keep from giving vent to a harsh retort. And then, of course, you need to smile too, which doesn't come easily with your lip between your teeth. It is a demanding art to do this gracefully. But it is an art that can be learned.

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

The homework is to work on developing a practice for patience and love.  Start by cultivating patience and love for yourself.  Be gentle and loving with yourself.  Forgive yourself when you stray.  Use positive affirmations and remind yourself that tomorrow you will be more patient, more loving and more forgiving.  Extend this practice to all beings.    

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 

Self-will and Kriya Yoga....

Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,

This week in class we are considering self-will and Kriya Yoga.

Love makes everything that is heavy light.

-Thomas a Kempis

It is love that teaches us our real stature and reveals the heroism we never thought we possessed. The renunciation that might be well-nigh impossible in a vacuum can be blessedly simple when someone we love stands to gain. Turning down a second glass of wine might take some doing in ordinary circumstances, for example; but when you're in the company of an impressionable teenager, you'll gladly set it aside.

Suppose you're tempted to add to your collection of antique fire screens: hard to resist, maybe, if your aim is solely to reduce your own acquisitiveness. But if the money you save can be spent on a tent for family camping trips, it can be a breeze. You feel so good inside! A knack for quiet self-sacrifice is the very life and soul of friendship. Reducing self-will needn't be a joyless deprivation - it can be so many little acts of love, performed over and over throughout the day.

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

The homework is to explore what it means to “reduce self-will”.  Consider that reducing self-will is a practice; like asana, meditation, or prayer.  In The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Sadhana (practice) is defined as Tapas (burning desire), Svadhyaya (self-study) and Isvara Pranidhana (devotion to God) or together as Kriya Yoga.  Sadhana is practice to reach a goal in spite of obstacles.  Develop a practice to help you reduce your self-will.

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