Why we Practice Yoga?

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering why we practice Yoga.

The body is mortal, but the person dwelling in the body is immortal and immeasurable.                                                                       

                                                            - Bhagavad Gita

When I say that this body is not me, I am not making an intellectual statement. It is an experiential statement. If you were to ask me, "Who is this body?" I would make an awful pun: "This is my buddy. I give him good food and good exercise, and I look after him very well, but he is not me."

My body has always been my faithful buddy, through many trials, and during many difficult times; and I let him know how much I appreciate his faithful service. We have an understanding: I take very good care of him, and he looks up to me as the boss. As Saint Francis used to say, "This body is Brother Donkey. I feed him, I wash him, but I am going to ride on him." Whenever we use drugs, or smoke, or drink, or even overeat, the donkey is riding on us. Francis challenges us: "Don't you want to get that donkey off your back and ride on it?"

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

The homework is to revisit why you practice Yoga considering how the eight limbs and other philosophical concepts provide you with the framework for “getting the donkey off of your back”.

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 Sadhakas,

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

Got no checkbooks, got no banks,

Still I'd like to express my thanks;

I've got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.

                                                                      

                                                            - Irving Berlin

Even people with money, power, prestige, and everything they have been seeking in their careers can have emotional problems. No amount of money and prestige can prevent profound dissatisfaction and boredom, as well as psychosomatic disorders and drug addiction for millions of people. To me, this is proof that money and power are not our need, that the human being cannot be satisfied by them.

It is natural to feel that a little status or recognition would not be unwelcome in addition to earning a good livelihood, yet all the world's great religions teach us that getting something out of life, whether it is money or recognition or power or prestige, is not our real need. Giving to life is our real need.

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

The homework is to review the fifth Yama - Aparigraha. BKS Iyengar writes that, “Parigraha means hoarding or collecting.  To be free from hoarding is Aparigraha.  By the observance of Aparigraha, the yogini makes her life as simple as possible and trains her mind not to feel the loss or lack of anything.  Aparigraha means not only non-possession and non-acceptance of gifts, but also freedom from rigidity of thought.”  Consider Mr. Iyengar’s deeper understanding of Aparigraha as it relates to our thoughts. How could letting go of rigid thoughts and opinions lead you to seek the real source of happiness?  How would discovering the “real” source of happiness help us contribute more to the lives of others?

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

Baggage or Samskaras

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering baggage or Samskaras.

The grace of God is a wind which is always blowing.

                                                                      

                                                            - Sri Ramakrishna

All that you and I have to do is to put up our sails and let the wind of grace carry us across the sea of life to the other shore. But most of us are firmly stuck on this shore. Our sail is torn and our boat is overloaded with excess baggage: our likes and dislikes, our habits and opinions, all the resentments and hostilities which we have acquired.

But just as it is we, ourselves, who have acquired this baggage, it is we who can gradually learn to toss it overboard. The wind is blowing, but we have to make our boat seaworthy. We can patch up our sail, and unfurl it to catch the wind that will carry us to the other shore.

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

The homework is to learn the Yogic philosophical concept of Samsara or Samskara. A Samsara is like baggage. Through selfless action we can start to lessen our baggage and not become attached to the action or to the fruits of the action. “Action done in selflessness is nourishing. You nourish yourself and you nourish the other person….Whatever you do, do it without self. Do it with selflessness.”1

1 Excerpts from Time to be Holy – Swami Sivananda Radha

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

Aourishment, Pratyahara and Dharana

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering nourishment, Pratyahara and Dharana.

The control of the palate is a valuable aid for the control of the mind.

                                                                      

                                                            - Mahatma Gandhi

I first became interested in improving my diet under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi, who used to include articles on diet and health in his weekly newspaper along with all the latest political news. I had been brought up on traditional South Indian cuisine. I had enjoyed it all thoroughly, but I had never asked what the purpose of food is. At Gandhi's prompting, I started asking this kind of question and concluded to my great surprise that food is meant to nourish the body.

I started changing. I began to eat foods that wouldn't have appealed to me in earlier days. Now asparagus tastes better than chocolate torte.

The palate is the ideal starting point for getting some mastery over your senses. You have three, four, maybe more opportunities a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any number of between-meal snacks. No need to talk of fasting or strange diets. Just resolve to move away from foods that don't benefit your health and begin choosing foods that do.

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

The homework is to cultivate the practice of Pratyahara - the refinement or the withdrawal of the senses and combine this practice with Dharana - one pointed concentration to help guide us in directing our attention in meaningful ways in relation to our nourishment choices. See if your nourishment patterns can be refined through challenging your automatic ways of consuming. Consider making meal time more of a sacred event.

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

Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 1:12

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 1:12.

The restriction of these fluctuations is achieved through practice and dispassion.

            -Yoga Sutra 1:12

One of the most frequently studied principles of yoga’s sacred texts is the concept of letting go - also called detachment or surrender.

Why is detachment so difficult to understand?  Perhaps the problem lies in confusing being detached with being uninterested.  Actually, they are opposites.  If you are uninterested, you withdraw, you turn your back on life, which, in a way, denies the difficulty of life.  To be detached is to stand in the middle of the marketplace, with all its confusion and noise, and to remain present to yourself and to all that is.

Detachment beckons you to cultivate the willingness to surrender as you go along, right here and now, but not because you despair or are uninterested.  On the contrary, detachment requires total engagement.  When you allow yourself to see things as they really are, then -  and only then – can you love yourself and others without hidden expectations.  Detachment is the greatest act of love.

The next time you feel yourself caught in the grip of attachment, such as wanting something to turn out a certain way, take time out – right then and there –to notice what is happening in your body.  How does your belly feel?  Has your breathing changed?  Is your jaw tight?  Your forehead drawn?  Notice your bodily sensations.  These are the manifestations of your attachment.

Practice Suggestions.

If you notice that you have a strong desire to be right, try not venturing an opinion the next time someone else expresses one.

If you are in a situation in which you notice your attachment to the outcome of a problem, offer your help and then step back; this will free others to do the same.

When the occasion arises, go along with what your partner or friend wants.  Let her pick the restaurant or movie.  Or, if you always rely on her lead, you pick.

Mantras for Daily Living.

-Detachment is the greatest act of love.

-I am willing to engage life.

-This moment is the perfect moment to let go.

Excerpts from “Living your Yoga, Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life”, by Judith Lasater.

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

Dhyana or Meditation - the 7th of the 8 Limbs of Yoga

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering dhyana or meditation - the 7th of the 8 limbs of Yoga.

This life of separateness may be compared to a dream, a phantasm, a bubble, a shadow, a drop of dew, a flash of lightning.

                                                                      - The Buddha

Time runs out so soon! In our teens and twenties, even our thirties, we have ample margin to play with the toys life has to offer. But we should find out soon how fleeting they are, for the tides of time can ebb away before we know it.

As we grow older and our family and friends begin to pass away, we see how relentlessly time is pursuing all of us. There is no time to quarrel, no time to feel resentful or estranged. There is no time to waste on the pursuit of selfish pleasures that are over almost before they begin.

All-devouring time follows us always, closer than our shadow. As long as I live only for myself, as a little fragment apart from the whole, I cannot escape being a victim of time. It is good to bear in mind how evanescent life is so that we do not postpone the practice of meditation.

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

The homework is to consider why it is said that meditation removes stress and brings stability of mind and emotions. In the context of the Yoga Sutras definition of dhyana (meditation)*, dhyana is only possible when stress is already removed and the mind is still. Consider how your asana practice can bring you closer to this elimination of stress and stillness of mind.

* III.2 tatra pratyaya ekatanata dhyanam

A steady, continuous flow of attention directed towards the same point or region is meditation.

Dhyana is described simply as meditation. However, unlike the act of meditation that we typically understand, Dhyana comes as a result of our efforts. Instead of coming to the mat to meditate, we come to the mat to focus our attention – on asana, on our breath. Dhyana is achieved when we are completely absorbed in that upon which we have focused our attention.

Dhyana is described in Hindu scriptures as pouring oil from one pot to another. The stream of oil does not bubble or break. It is a continuous steam. In dhyana time and space stand still. Unaware of the external world, your attention is focused without distraction. Your mind is steady and open. The awareness of your physical body falls away.

A quote from BKS Iyengar, “True meditation leads us to wisdom (jnana) and understanding (prajna), and this specifically helps in understanding that we are more than our ego.”

References: Light on the Yoga Sutras, BKS Iyenger 

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

Being Present and Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 1:2

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering the definition of being present and Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 1:2.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

                                                        - The Buddha

When the mind is at rest, we are lifted out of time into the eternal present. The body, of course, is still subject to the passage of time. But in a sense, the flickering of the mind is our internal clock. When the mind does not flicker, what is there to measure change? It's as if time simply comes to a stop for us, as we live completely in the present moment. Past and future, after all, exist only in the mind. When the mind is at rest, there is no past or future. We cannot be resentful, we cannot be guilt-ridden, we cannot build future hopes and desires; no energy flows to past or future at all.

Past and future are both contained in every present moment. Whatever we are today is the result of what we have thought, spoken, and done in all the present moments before now - just as what we shall be tomorrow is the result of what we think, say, and do today. The responsibility for both present and future is in our own hands. If we live right today, then tomorrow has to be right.

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

The homework is to consider PYS 1:2* which states the goal of Yoga, "The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga" (The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Sri Swami Satichidananda). BKS Iyengar writes that the "Restraint of the movements of thought brings about stillness (dharana), which leads to silence (dhyana) with awareness." Is BKS Iyengar's quote a definition of being present? In light of the reading consider for yourself what your definition of being present is.

*1:2 yogah cittavrtti nirodhah

References: Light on the Yoga Sutras, BKS Iyenger  and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Sri Swami Satichidananda

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