Chase Fear

It’s not just in the big moments revelation takes place. It’s between the big planned moments. It’s not the hectic day at work, late nights out with friends, or sitting through a movie on a first date. Revelatory epiphanies, the burning bushes – if you will, are equally likely to be living in the in-between moments. Every thing that lives in the in between holds a lesson.

Between being surrounded by others, and being alone in silence, what character takes up that space?

Seriously.

?

With that answer in mind, the rest of life unfolds.

if Yoga is a metaphor for life, and the body is the vessel for yoga… the body is a metaphor for universal life.

For instance, the moment between feeling right-side up and having the world unexpectedly turned upside-down, what transpires? Because, really, how many curve balls does life offer? Isn’t life itself a curveball? Life as a human; did anyone have time to prepare for that one?

So everything is the same in that it is part of the experience of the laws of this reality, whatever that “reality” may mean.

The instant between standing on two feet and standing on two hands, the catalyst for disorder, disorientation, how does the mind change? If the body serves as a metaphor, what is the reaction of the system as whole? Mind? Body? Gravity?!

An undefined beauty lives here. A true potential to see what doesn’t have a name, it cannot be defined.

Literally speaking, this asana has no name. It simply reveals the lesson, should the student be listening. So “good” and “bad” don’t apply. It’s truth.

Revelation in an inbetween moment.

The Law of Attraction

Mirroring Scorpions with Yancy Schwartz in NYC

What we seek, we are actively attracting. In people, in energy, in joy, pain, everything. This is why we’re so powerful; we are the architect of nearly every aspect of our life.

What and whom we surround ourselves with is who we are: A yogi will attract other yogis by the habit of attending yoga classes. Even the details reflect our intentions in others; :What style of yoga do I want? Do I need a studio with a shower after a 6am class because I’m heading to work? Is the studio close to my home in the suburbs?” So I meet other people of similar circumstances and wants. An addict will attract other addicts by the same law. Really, we like proof that we’re right. When we find someone who shares our views, we keep them around to confirm the belief system that gives us grounding.

“All the world’s atoms
are really mirrors,
drowned in your essence
like drops in the sea.

Like waves that roll over,
crashing in emptiness,

they deny themselves –

they offer your proof.”

—Walah Daghistani

 

The Power of Habit

Ever try to fight a habit?

Maybe create a new one?

When we fight habits, we create stress. Habits are formed of experience past that served us once, so fighting our habits means fighting our experience and denying our response. (Even the “bad” habits served us the first time they were utilized as a coping mechanism.) If I’m fighting my habits, I’m fighting and denying a part of my past. Fighting the past causes trauma in the present. So the desire to leave a habit because it’s “bad” or “negative” defines this past experience of the self as “bad” and “negative”. To be at peace, all parts of the self are integrated. Even the shadowy parts.

This is where we’ve been. Now, where do we go…

Essentially what we’re doing in this case is fighting for peace. What a lovey contradiction. Peace doesn’t come from carrying a gun to one’s own head. A habit is a powerful defense mechanism, why should it be under fire? (Meaning if I’m trying to stop biting my nails, and I find myself itching to bite, I can’t put a bullet to the thought, watch it die, and call it peace.) Auto-criticism causes stress. It’s almost laughable that In times of stress, the mind resorts to auto-pilot – habits! The very things we’re trying to fight. Welcome to the habit loop. It sounds something like this:

“I’m stressed about not biting my nails, so I’m thinking about biting my nails, and therefore eventually I will act on the one thing I am thinking about.”

The inclination towards habit is simply a momentary experience of the self. Should this piece be out of line from the purest Self, simply observe the inclination. With observation alone, it will pass. We choose to not follow the inclination by allowing the impulse to creep up in any way it likes. Then it will pass. No need to criticize it, because this is acting on the habit and giving it power. With power, the habit will realize it’s fullest potential. Watch it pass, and it has taken no energy from your peace and has no energy from which to grow.

Follow a new practice. This is the key to freedom.

I am what I practice; what I’m working on developing further. I am my ideal self within development.

Yoga Sweets

We Are What We Repeatedly Do

I am constantly living the opportunity to change my life. Change perspective. Chase what is impossible.

This morning in a Lululemon Community Yoga Class, a woman came in to the studio and began expressing discomfort toward the heat. She was unaware that she had signed up for a “Power Yoga” class. She quickly decided to set up by the door in case she needed to make a break for it mid-class.
The non-expecting yogini continued to grieve the temperature as she positioned her three blocks around her mat. In the hope of offering some peace to the challenge, I offered her this: “Leave if you have to, but give yourself the support of optimism before it even starts.” With nearly zero delay, she perked up and exclaimed, “You’re right!” And just like that, she was ready for the best class of her life.
This yogini didn’t leave the room once during those 75minutes. I am still in complete admiration of her; She traveled far beyond her comfort zone in the way that teachers beg so many of us to do. So when I came home… I decided it is time to expand.

I stepped on the mat to press past one more layer of that which does not serve me, and immediately understood it was time to seek the press into handstand. I followed trust deep into my core, guided my shoulders forward in optimism, and lifted my base potential. By rearranging my approach, by redefining my opportunity at hand, I was weightless (okay so… my arms will tell you I weighed a lot in that moment).

All I hope to suggest is that the body is a metaphor. The practice is a study, a tool to lead to a life more fulfilled. Seek inspiration and receive it just the same. What we choose to receive, we become. What we become, we offer to others.

Exhaustion is who you’ve been. Who are you going to be?

A look into Kapotasana…

If we choose to view Asana as a metaphor for every other limb of yoga, we may find that a backbend is a turning inward; a self reflection lead by the observer into the nature of the observer. Kapotasana is a deep backbend where the spine literally curls into itslef, creating a complete circle of body. For this reason, Kapotasana, or “King Pigeon”, can stir up emotions from within the practitioner. What’s maybe even more interesting is the reaction that such a pose elicits from those who do not practice Yoga.

Those who haven’t chosen the practice can feel uncomfortable with the process’s aesthetics. “Oh man I think I’d break myself if I even TRIED to do that!” “That’s just sick.” “The body isn’t meant to do that!” And yet it does. When a posture is avoided in the practice, and when the practice is avoided in life, there’s a mentality at play. There’s something deep within the ego that’s making an excuse as to why the reaction to such a stimulus is, “No. (I can’t, and I won’t, and thank God you can’t make me.)” And thankfully they’re right; no one can be made to do anything. No teacher can make a student enter a posture or make a student seek a sensation. No one can do something for us without our effortful consent. 

So it’s up to me. It’s up to you. If at the end of class, you don’t feel like trying anymore, do it for the person next to you.

 

May 2013

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Cerca December 2013

Becoming Disoriented

free to fall

It may be an opinion, but handstand seems to be a big deal in the yoga world. Like if you unlock handstand, maybe you’re“good” at yoga or something…

This is why I think handstands are a revelation…

Handstand allows me first to be okay with being disoriented. Upon beginning handstand practice, I didn’t know how to hold myself up, which was unsettling. Feeling incompetent, I was experiencing instability in a new dimension. In a yoga class, I can put my body in warrior poses and feel successful. Handstand isn’t as straight forward (at first).

If I’m okay working in a place where I’m disoriented, I am trusting I will find my own true center: my core in balance. Also, by falling (a lot), my perceived failure won’t distract me from becoming oriented. Falling doesn’t affect me any differently than balancing; it just is. I can continue exploring in both situations.

In my life, sometimes the direction my studies/work/relationship/ is taking is entirely foreign. Sometimes the explanations around me don’t compute or translate in my life or my body, but I can show up willing to be lost, and at the same time willing to be found.