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Thursday, 15 October 2020
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Friday, 14 April 2017
Reflections from YogaVahini - April 14, 2017
What are we seeking?
Now that yoga has become extra popular and special, it will be good to revisit the question of why we are doing what we are doing with yoga. As a yoga teacher and practitioner, this is something I have to ask myself everyday so that I don't get swept off my feet with the frenzy of so called "yogic" activities we seem to be consumed with all the time!
What is our goal in yoga?
At the highest level yoga is about being established in our true nature: to understand that we are in essence the imperishable, pure Self. This appears to be a distant dream, even beyond our imagination. So we have to begin with realistic goals that are tangible at some level. It maybe that we want to improve our health and well-being, reduce stress, acquire peace of mind, clarity etc. And these actually come by quite effortlessly, if we practiced regularly. But we could get stuck and complacent with these apparent benefits leading to stagnation and regression. Our yoga journey begins with seeking happiness and wanting to avoid pain and continues or discontinues for a variety of reasons.
A more diligent practitioner is no better off!
In doing my asana practice with great zeal, I could get obsessed and indulgent with my body. In practising meditation, I could get attached to the identity of a "meditator" and build barriers around me, separating the very "special" me from the "ordinary" world! We could get so strongly identified with our "practices", "mantra", "tradition", "Guru", even with the accessories of yoga and what is meant to liberate us actually traps us!
So it is absolutely important for any serious seeker to know if one is on the right track…
Am I moving in the right direction? What are the signposts on the path of yoga?
Patanjali, the author of Yoga Sutra expounds the fundamental principles of right action through the Yama & Niyama. Yamas are boundaries of right action & engagement with the world. Non-violence, honesty, non-stealing, seeking the highest truth, non-grasping are the five Yamas. Niyamas are personal observances that, when practised constantly and consistently, will facilitate the Yamas. Purity of body & mind, contentment, austerity, study & self-reflection and surrendering to the Higher intelligence are the five Niyamas.
Are my feelings, thoughts, actions and responses to the world in alignment to what I am seeking through yoga?
Do you know that when Patanjali has only allocated 3 sutras out of 195 for Asana, he has talked about the Yama, Niyama in 18 sutras! It is not that asana is less important but Yama Niyama are of paramount importance without which there is no yoga! But how conveniently we have magnified the physical aspect beyond proportion and allowed it to eclipse the Yama Niyama!
How do we practice Yama, Niyama? Is it really possible to be established in them? You may ask. Do you know of anybody who is fully established in them? You may want to know.
Yama Niyama are to be practised each day, not something we are expected to do perfectly each time. But this confused illusion of "perfection" and need to be seen as perfect, we suppress, deflect, manipulate and suffer! To make these precepts more palatable, we have conveniently converted them into didactic instructions, intellectual discussions and attractive slogans!
The soft target is always the other! We want to know how to change people who don't practice these precepts. Even before I understand what is ahimsa, I want to be treated with kindness. Even if I just decide to be truthful, I already expect others to be honest and trustworthy towards me. One of my teachers once wrote: "I fully believe in ahimsa, nobody should hurt me".
The desire for pleasure and aversion to pain keeps us stuck!
What is the way out?
Patanjali uses the word Svadhyaya – study of texts as a process of understanding oneself and living our life from that understanding. Without yoga practices coupled with svadhyaya, they can even spell danger not just to the practitioner but to others who have to tolerate and live with the self-obsessed "more evolved beings"!
Svadhyaya is not self-analysis or self-judgement! It is to learn to honestly look into oneself and maintain a non-judgmental awareness of everything that is happening in the moment. Becoming aware of our thoughts, intentions and feelings, listening to ourself when we think and speak, taking responsibility for our actions and inactions. And for this we require the support of a strong sanga – spiritual community.
And we also need to create contexts for this exploration – a laboratory for cultivating the Yama-Niyama. Take time off from our frenzied activity, regularly and periodically. Come home to a quiet space where we are not filling in with mindless activity and chatter. Make this space safe and nourishing for each other.
In this sacred space:
Can we bring to this circle our experiences and insights from practice, our gifts as well as our struggles? Where we practice equity and self-disclosure without the fear of judgment and rejection.
Can we listen with compassion and learn to reflect for each other what we maybe blind to? Where our sharing helps to break illusions of being more or less evolved and gives hope and inspiration.
This of course, has to be actively supported by our daily practice. Right practice of asana is meant to reduce Rajas and improve our tolerance. Pranayama reduces the heaviness of Tamas, sensory and mental indulgence. Meditative practices help in sharpening the mind to stay with our enquiry. Such a mind can observe the inner and outer realities without much distortion. Such a mind is aware of feeling, intentions, thoughts, actions and reactions and assumes active responsibility. Only such a mind can practice Yama – Niyama and inspire others too!
Even if it is painful, it is important to stay with the Yama-Niyama practice. We slowly learn to re-calibrate our aspirations and expectations.
We see more and more that it is not about having the right answers but staying with important questions.
It is not so much about "doing the right thing" but enquiring into our compulsions for unwholesome actions.
We slowly begin to understand what the Yama-Niyamas mean and this very understanding helps us to refine our thoughts intentions and actions.
Together we can work towards a more wholesome life that is reflected in all our thoughts, actions and responses to life situations.
Such active, practising communities are the need of the hour.
As a collective, when we shift our focus from result to quality of actions, from purpose to meaning, yoga comes alive… and a better world is born.
love,
Saras.
Friday, 4 November 2016
Śraddhā: The Secret Ingredient - Part 3
[From a talk Saraswathi Vasudevan gave at Hyderabad. Part 3 of 3. Thanks to Suchitra Shenoy for transcribing it thoroughly.
Originally published in full on Suchitra Shenoy's page. ]
Q & A
What are the number of asanas?
…This whole idea of exploring many asanas…Yes, you need to take care of the body. But if we begin to identify with the body then that becomes an end by itself. You cannot get out of it. So when people come and ask, “How many asanas can you teach?” We say, “we will teach what is appropriate for you.” It is not a super-market where you pick and choose. We think if we can do so many asanas then that means I am fit and healthy. But doing too much of asanas can also cause problems.
On an average out of 50-60 postures, we pull about 10 or so to do per day…In our texts out of the 195 sutras only 3 pertain to asanas. So it is important to distinguish between yoga and asanas. Yoga is the large umbrella under which asanas reside.
How to cultivate shraddha?
Study, practice, reflect.
Studying the scriptures, the sutras.
My own practice will help me stay healthy so I can have a clear mind so that I can understand myself better. And that will show me the way.
Reflection, in a community. Because what I can’t see, you can show me. We can be mirrors for each other. That’s why community is such an important part of spiritual growth. Listening is a powerful medium of awakening the shraddha. We need to accept that we have our weak moments. A community is very important. One that is consciously coming together to move forward on this path (not just to have fun). Can we come together to do something meaningful?
Everyday we should do a bit of all three.
On yoga vs. running or walking
Yoga works all your muscles and systems. Other than swimming and wrestling all other forms exercise specific parts. So running is good for your heart and lower body. But what about your spine? Your neck? Your shoulders?
Yoga itself will show you the goal. Yoga will guide me and show me how to get there. 20 minutes to stay healthy and then work with a teacher. You need to do different kinds of asanas. Suryanamaskars alone is not a sarvangasaddhana (full body exercise).
If you are at the gym or running or playing a competitive sport, your blood is going to the extremities. Your sense organs have to on alert. You are in stress mode. So you can run or perform. In yoga asana practice there is circulation all through. Your internal organs are getting more blood. You can’t compare one with the other. That may give some benefits but you can’t substitute.
How did you create a community? What were the challenges?
Initially I really wanted to create a community and worked towards it. At some point I realized that I am not doing anything. If something is happening through grace then I just have to step out of the way, not get in the way. So can I deepen my practice and support the group, so that what will happen, will happen? I need to do it consciously -- to step back.
When we have a space for self-disclosure, and that space is held with compassion and a non-judgmental attitude, then the community can grow. We need to create such spaces. They don’t happen by default. We need to create a context to share. We should be able to listen and offer support. To be who we are. That gives us strength and purpose.
On individual practice
In the Krishnamacharya tradition it is not the same practice for everybody. We take into consideration who is this person, what is it that they need, what is it that they can do, what is their flexibility, what is their strength, what is their lifestyle, what is their health condition, what is their state of mind? We go into a thorough assessment of everything and we offer something that is appropriate for that individual which over a period of time is progressively changed.
It is changed to suit their changing needs. We are constantly changing – our minds, bodies, our life-context… So your practice should change.
And it is always one-on-one. For each person -- what can I offer?
When can I start yoga for my child?
The ideal age, Krishnamacharya has said, is when a child can say, “I am hungry, give me food.” Is that 4? 5?
Don’t give children rigourous practice. Expose them to yoga. Let them be there when you are doing it. It does not matter if they crawl under or over you. They will imitate you. If you have not fed it at that young age, and then if you try and get a teenager into a yoga class… :)
The seed has to be sown early. Parents have to practice. [lots of laughter]. We find yoga works when the parents practice. Taking kids to yoga class once a week is not enough. There needs to be a home environment. And even if they stop doing, they will come back to it.
We have a group in Chennai for children with special needs. We insist that parents and siblings have to come to it [as well]. The whole family practises together. Whether the children are getting anything out of it, parents are getting a lot…
What is a good time to start yoga?
Today.
Every day is a new beginning. Abhyasa means ‘today I have to start’. Tomorrow, again I have to start.
What was it like to learn from Desikachar?
From the beginning to the end of class he would throw questions. We would have to find the answers.
He would say, “Ok, come and do paschimutanasana.” The person has to do it. He would ask us, “How would you do it? how would you prepare her to do it?” Each one of us has to answer. Sometimes he would say, “No” or just be quiet. If I think another posture will work, I need to teach that person. In one week we would learn so much. Because if you have to teach it, you have to go home and practise.
Everything was through questioning. For someone doing bhujangasana, he would say, “See can you see how he is tilting his head?” I couldn’t see it. So I would keep looking and looking and looking.
Questioning was mostly his style of teaching. If he is happy there will be a little smile. Otherwise go back, read, observe, ask someone to do a posture. There was a lot of compassion. Because we were so scared. Only the foreigners would ask questions :) So he treated us with a lot of compassion.
He always knew what you wanted in the moment. Like sometimes I would be very depressed and would just go sit in front of him and cry. He would say, “I will chant for you.” He’d choose a long passage and chant for 40 minutes. By then I would have calmed down. I’d say, “Thank you, sir” and come away. He would have said nothing J No discussion, no questioning, just unconditional love and offering.
(Of course there were also times of seeing the other side of the teacher :) )
He always motivated us to do the best we could be.
Do you only get unwell people or do healthy people come as well?
We get people who think they are healthy :)
The problem is not in the body. Most of the time the problem is in the mind. What the mind is thinking… everything will come in the way. So you come with a knee pain, but actually all the time you are angry and frustrated, not able to rest…
Yoga therapy is all about creating a harmony between the body and the mind. We really believe that the body has the potential to heal if the right conditions are created. We look at diet, lifestyle, appropriate asana practice with breathing. The breathing reduces the pain. Then the person feels more empowered that he can deal with it. The empowerment comes in the mind.
So what is health? It is not purely at the physical level, right? It is a balance, a harmony. Can I be in touch with reality at a level where I am not shaken by what is happening around me so quickly. That level of strength is what I think yoga can give. Yoga will never promise that you will never fall sick… If you stay long enough [with yoga], it helps strengthen the mind to deal with the realities of life better.
How do you work on listening?
We do a lot of work where we get into groups of three where one is sharing, one is listening, one is observing. So we build it consciously.
But listening is also something that comes naturally when your mind is quiet. So if I can do a good pranayama practice and I sit down to listen, I listen even better.
When you see the value of that listening, when I can listen without holding onto my thoughts or my judgments, just that act of listening, can be so healing to the person who is sharing and to me, who is listening. When you see that power, you want to do it better.