Mandala means circle in Sanskrit. It has developed to include the patterns that emanate from the center. They are mathmatically sound and aesthetically pleasing. They are used as a tool in meditation to help train focus and cause one to pause, reveling in the underlying order and beauty.
Mandalas can be drawn, computed, and found in nature. A cross section of a root or stem, a close up of the center of a flower, even the spirals found in shells and universal movements of stars and planets. Like all things holographic, the large is made of minature versions.
The Mandala for Bodhi Yoga is apt. Bodhi means 'awakening' in Sanskrit. The Bodhi mandala resembles a pupil, our first thought for gaining awareness through sight.
Try meditating on it, drawing it, or creating your own. It has actually been shown to increase order in your mind.
Namaste.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sanskrit, the Sacred Language of Sound
Sanskrit means "sanctified". It is the language of yoga. It is revered as a holy language because of its use to bring enlightenment and awareness. It is the classical language of India and the liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. While considered a 'dead' language, it is one of the 22 official languages of India and Nepal. Sanskrit's original use was to discover our Divine Nature and connection to God through sacred sound and speech.
String theory enthusiasts will appreciate the scientific basis behind the language that suggests the idea that sound is made up of vibrations that are the energy of life force.
By calling something by a different name, I am allowed to step away from my prior thought pattern and appreciate it for what it is irregardless of prejudice.
Here are a few interesting translations:
Asana-means pose. Hence the ending of every yoga pose is asana.
Sri-Mr. or Mrs. but it also entails the connotation of beautiful, powerful, desirable. Something I like to remember when I use the terms in English.
Sat-truth
Nam-self or name
OM-One/Unity
And my personal favorite:
Namaste-The divine in me salutes the divine in you.
Namaste.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
String theory enthusiasts will appreciate the scientific basis behind the language that suggests the idea that sound is made up of vibrations that are the energy of life force.
By calling something by a different name, I am allowed to step away from my prior thought pattern and appreciate it for what it is irregardless of prejudice.
Here are a few interesting translations:
Asana-means pose. Hence the ending of every yoga pose is asana.
Sri-Mr. or Mrs. but it also entails the connotation of beautiful, powerful, desirable. Something I like to remember when I use the terms in English.
Sat-truth
Nam-self or name
OM-One/Unity
And my personal favorite:
Namaste-The divine in me salutes the divine in you.
Namaste.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Japa Mala
Japa mala beads are a tool to help train the mind to focus. When the Romans saw them they thought they were called Jap, meaning rose, in Roman. They thought they were a great idea and the rosary beads were introduced back home.
As I've learned, my focus has room for honing. What a great way to focus during a meditation. Repitition is a well known method of integrating something from the conscious realm into the unconscious, so it is done seemingly without thought. I'm seeing a great potential for some second nature enlightenment.
Namaste.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
As I've learned, my focus has room for honing. What a great way to focus during a meditation. Repitition is a well known method of integrating something from the conscious realm into the unconscious, so it is done seemingly without thought. I'm seeing a great potential for some second nature enlightenment.
Namaste.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
Monday, December 26, 2011
Focus
The body never tires before the mind.
Nothing has taught me how long I can focus like an asana pose (savasana especially). While deliberately moving into a landing position is a beautiful part of the balancing dance, it is an eye opener to be in the most stable head stand ever and be falling the next. Where did my mind go? Several places in fact and my body was sure to follow. It was a stark realization for me. Especially because I had my hands interlaced and the loss of balance so absurdly unexpected that I couldn't unlace them before my neck rolled over them. Ouch. It was a valuable lesson. I'd never felt such ease or stability in a pose and my mind checked it off like I was in a Newtonian linear equation and I was onto the next thing. There is beauty, strength, and safety in staying present in the moment. I am thankful for the reminder and the practice of honing my focus. Breathing in any discomfort that beckons me to check out. Exhaling a witness, compassion, and peace. Making space for the discomfort to transform. Making it possible to stay present.
Namaste.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
Nothing has taught me how long I can focus like an asana pose (savasana especially). While deliberately moving into a landing position is a beautiful part of the balancing dance, it is an eye opener to be in the most stable head stand ever and be falling the next. Where did my mind go? Several places in fact and my body was sure to follow. It was a stark realization for me. Especially because I had my hands interlaced and the loss of balance so absurdly unexpected that I couldn't unlace them before my neck rolled over them. Ouch. It was a valuable lesson. I'd never felt such ease or stability in a pose and my mind checked it off like I was in a Newtonian linear equation and I was onto the next thing. There is beauty, strength, and safety in staying present in the moment. I am thankful for the reminder and the practice of honing my focus. Breathing in any discomfort that beckons me to check out. Exhaling a witness, compassion, and peace. Making space for the discomfort to transform. Making it possible to stay present.
Namaste.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Peace on Earth, Good will to men
I got to sing "I heard the bells" today. One excerpt reads, "A voice, a chime, a chant sublime, of peace on earth, good will to men!"
It struck me how yogic that was. It was the very thing that was the most woo woo to me about yoga. The chanting voices, the chimes, the Om's, the very things that thrill me to no end now.
Yoga started out as chanting. Breath control followed shortly after as they realized the better the breath, the better their songs sounded.
I thought about chanting that statement...Peace on earth, good will to men. Has a beautiful feel to it. The repetition ensures the words are remembered in the song and I love singing it with others.
I get to be bathed in beautiful song every week at church. My yoga studio is far away, but when I do get to attend, the chanting and the chimes are truly sublime.
Namaste.
www.gobodhiyoga.com
It struck me how yogic that was. It was the very thing that was the most woo woo to me about yoga. The chanting voices, the chimes, the Om's, the very things that thrill me to no end now.
Yoga started out as chanting. Breath control followed shortly after as they realized the better the breath, the better their songs sounded.
I thought about chanting that statement...Peace on earth, good will to men. Has a beautiful feel to it. The repetition ensures the words are remembered in the song and I love singing it with others.
I get to be bathed in beautiful song every week at church. My yoga studio is far away, but when I do get to attend, the chanting and the chimes are truly sublime.
Namaste.
www.gobodhiyoga.com
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Working Hard vs. Working Smart
Working hard was always an admirable thing to me, until I got in my own way. Frustration, worry, over-analyzing stress, anger, injury are all things that came to me from "working hard" and since that didn't get me the results I wanted, I would work 'harder'...
Kind of hard to 'push' my way through balancing, delicate, relaxing asana poses. One of my favorite things about Bodhi Yoga is the encouragement they gave me to fall. The most important thing about a pose is falling, so do it first and get extravagent about it. By doing what you fear most, you are free from the worry of what you don't want and so are free to experience what you want most in the pose--balance, relaxation, a new center of gravity.
I think this is summed up well by James 1:6 "..ask in faith, nothing wavering.." and vs. 8 "a double minded man is unstable in all his ways" If worried about doubts or fears, your mind is as distracted as it is in a pose when you worry about falling or not 'suceeeding'.
This was all precipitated beautifully in my anatomy studies. The section is entitled "working hard vs. working smart" from the 4th edition of Trail Guide to the Body by Andrew Beil. He says,
"Often in the excitement of trying to locate something (whether it be a muscle or a set of keys), you search so earnestly that your mental and physical awareness begins to dimminish. Frustration arises, your breath stalls and your hands ultimately become insensitive. You begin to work hard. Instead of working hard, you can work smart."
He goes on to articulate that working smart entails relaxing, calmly reading aloud (praying), instead of pushing-invite the tissues into your hand that you are trying to locate, allowing yourself to get lost and make a wrong turn ("upbraideth not" -James 1:5) and being patient with your learning process.
I was stunned at how aptly this applied to everything: my receiving answers to prayers, learning to meditate, learning a yoga pose and learning the dance of balance (not a stillness), any learning really-parenting, singing, doing...
Here's to working smart and enjoying the learning.
Namaste.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
Kind of hard to 'push' my way through balancing, delicate, relaxing asana poses. One of my favorite things about Bodhi Yoga is the encouragement they gave me to fall. The most important thing about a pose is falling, so do it first and get extravagent about it. By doing what you fear most, you are free from the worry of what you don't want and so are free to experience what you want most in the pose--balance, relaxation, a new center of gravity.
I think this is summed up well by James 1:6 "..ask in faith, nothing wavering.." and vs. 8 "a double minded man is unstable in all his ways" If worried about doubts or fears, your mind is as distracted as it is in a pose when you worry about falling or not 'suceeeding'.
This was all precipitated beautifully in my anatomy studies. The section is entitled "working hard vs. working smart" from the 4th edition of Trail Guide to the Body by Andrew Beil. He says,
"Often in the excitement of trying to locate something (whether it be a muscle or a set of keys), you search so earnestly that your mental and physical awareness begins to dimminish. Frustration arises, your breath stalls and your hands ultimately become insensitive. You begin to work hard. Instead of working hard, you can work smart."
He goes on to articulate that working smart entails relaxing, calmly reading aloud (praying), instead of pushing-invite the tissues into your hand that you are trying to locate, allowing yourself to get lost and make a wrong turn ("upbraideth not" -James 1:5) and being patient with your learning process.
I was stunned at how aptly this applied to everything: my receiving answers to prayers, learning to meditate, learning a yoga pose and learning the dance of balance (not a stillness), any learning really-parenting, singing, doing...
Here's to working smart and enjoying the learning.
Namaste.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
Friday, December 9, 2011
Levers, pulleys and rotators...Oh My!
Our bodies are so amazing!!! I was in total awe while studying the anatomy of the upper back and shoulder today. Truly an object lesson for how we are all integrated into one great whole micro to macrocosmically. The orchestration that occurs with a simple movement is astounding. I saw the beauty I felt when a pose is adjusted to the correct anatomically supportive and synergistic position. I am humbled to have such an incredible gift, machine, tool...to be ME!
www.gobodhiyoga.com
www.gobodhiyoga.com
I've only just begun...
Now that I have completed my official class trainings, it seems expected that my training is finished. My class was a beautiful spring board to launch my exploration into the wide and vast universe that is our body, mind, and soul. I marvel at all our bodies can do, at the connection of the body and spirit, and the immense power when they are integrally and peacefully united.
My training will be considered technically and certifiably "finished" when I have taught 35 hours, studied anatomy for 20 hours, practiced on my own mat for 20 hours, helped with a workshop for 10 hours, and studied yoga philosophy and ethics for 10 hours. Never have I had such a delightful assignment of homework.
I can say in the realm of closure, that my personal yoga has reached the level of insight, bliss, and fluidity that I knew was possible and wanted to achieve from taking this course.
Thank you Bodhi Yoga!
www.gobodhiyoga.com
My training will be considered technically and certifiably "finished" when I have taught 35 hours, studied anatomy for 20 hours, practiced on my own mat for 20 hours, helped with a workshop for 10 hours, and studied yoga philosophy and ethics for 10 hours. Never have I had such a delightful assignment of homework.
I can say in the realm of closure, that my personal yoga has reached the level of insight, bliss, and fluidity that I knew was possible and wanted to achieve from taking this course.
Thank you Bodhi Yoga!
www.gobodhiyoga.com
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
My Feeties
One of many reasons I love yoga is the awareness it has brought to me IN my feet. Studying anatomy reveals every nerve that goes through our organs ends in our feet. Yoga has freed my little piggies to develop their own place and awareness. Not just surfacing for an occasional painting or beyond heavenly foot rub, but they are feeding me information about my body, my surrounding, and my interaction with it.
Balancing poses are the most exciting to me because my wobblings in the beginning were so great and the awareness it brings to me is endorphin worthy.
I'm having a difficult time binding my precious feeties into their wraps and bindings. And they don't seem to want to go in either, they really like their new prized position and function.
Hello toe socks and toe shoes!
www.gobodhiyoga.com
Balancing poses are the most exciting to me because my wobblings in the beginning were so great and the awareness it brings to me is endorphin worthy.
I'm having a difficult time binding my precious feeties into their wraps and bindings. And they don't seem to want to go in either, they really like their new prized position and function.
Hello toe socks and toe shoes!
www.gobodhiyoga.com
Monday, November 7, 2011
Exhale is the beginning
"Take a deep breathe"...I always began my deep breaths with an inhale. They never were that satisfying. I didn't understand what all the refreshment was about, so I'd take another one, but it wasn't until that deep breathe included the exhale that any improvement was felt. When I did my first pranayama (breathwork) practice and realized the breath began with the exhale, I was startled. It was against every grain in my system to let my precious air out first. Why did I need to do that? It was uncomfortable, but doable.
Wow, was that first inhale sweet, two lungs full of oxygenated air. Quite the contrast from just breathing at the top of my lungs, keeping stale air in the bottom "just in case", never going to the edge or depths of my capacity.
What else was stale in my life? What was I afraid to purge so I could take a breath full of useful air into my container? Clothes I never wear hanging around until I could get something else, routines that served me one day not fitting in the opportunities of the next, fears dictating I inhale FIRST rather than cleanse and then be awake to observe the true effects of the breathe. Each phase of the breath important, each phase in its turn. Why does thinking about starting with one phase rather than another go against my grain? New awareness to the most fundamentally nourshing aspect of my life is gained by noting this uncomfort. I can let go before I gather. I can make space before the filling arrives. I can develop faith before the proof. I can let go of fears so there is a place for trust.
"Take a deep exhale"...a deep rib squeezing exhale.
Namaste.
www.gobodhiyoga.com
Wow, was that first inhale sweet, two lungs full of oxygenated air. Quite the contrast from just breathing at the top of my lungs, keeping stale air in the bottom "just in case", never going to the edge or depths of my capacity.
What else was stale in my life? What was I afraid to purge so I could take a breath full of useful air into my container? Clothes I never wear hanging around until I could get something else, routines that served me one day not fitting in the opportunities of the next, fears dictating I inhale FIRST rather than cleanse and then be awake to observe the true effects of the breathe. Each phase of the breath important, each phase in its turn. Why does thinking about starting with one phase rather than another go against my grain? New awareness to the most fundamentally nourshing aspect of my life is gained by noting this uncomfort. I can let go before I gather. I can make space before the filling arrives. I can develop faith before the proof. I can let go of fears so there is a place for trust.
"Take a deep exhale"...a deep rib squeezing exhale.
Namaste.
www.gobodhiyoga.com
Saturday, August 27, 2011
My Well Founded
I started yoga as a last resort. I'd been bed ridden for 8 months and no other option of exercise was feasible for my epstein-barr riddled body. I 'luckily' found a 20 min. yoga program on fit TV that used a gentle vinyasa flow or a continual movement of yoga as I don't think I would have ever tried the type that just held the poses (asanas) for minutes at a time. It had good music and soothing, changeable backdrops that held my interest. I began with kneeling, going into child's pose and a cat rolling. My body lasted 5 minutes before my inflamed spleen and liver couldn't handle the movement anymore. I laid down. I had more energy than I'd had for the previous 8 months. I felt better.
I tried it again the next day. 5 minutes more.
I noticed a pattern that the days I did a simple 5 minutes felt better than the days I did none. What was it about this movement that made my body sing?
I began a quest to find out why and to make it through an entire 20 minute session (complete with 1 minute savasana--in which my mind wandered vigorously).
I tried stretching with music.
I tried books with new stretches.
There was something to this breathing. I couldn't keep it up without my TV yoga script to keep my breath in line with the movements. I wasn't "disciplined" enough I thought. Truly, I'd never breathed fully for years and had once again begun.
My journey led me to Syl Carson and her Bodhi Yoga. By this time, 18 months later, I was over the chronic fatigue and could do the 90 min. yoga DVDs she produced. Her yoga felt so good and the way she approached her yoga enabled me to explore unknown realms in my body and express grace I didn't know existed. Any onlooker might just see me in a back bend or the almost mark of the splits, but I was really flying.
Now I'm about to attend my second session of Bodhi Yoga's Teacher Training 5 month course. I am finding the answers I knew existed. I've recently attached my own personal pair of wings.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
I tried it again the next day. 5 minutes more.
I noticed a pattern that the days I did a simple 5 minutes felt better than the days I did none. What was it about this movement that made my body sing?
I began a quest to find out why and to make it through an entire 20 minute session (complete with 1 minute savasana--in which my mind wandered vigorously).
I tried stretching with music.
I tried books with new stretches.
There was something to this breathing. I couldn't keep it up without my TV yoga script to keep my breath in line with the movements. I wasn't "disciplined" enough I thought. Truly, I'd never breathed fully for years and had once again begun.
My journey led me to Syl Carson and her Bodhi Yoga. By this time, 18 months later, I was over the chronic fatigue and could do the 90 min. yoga DVDs she produced. Her yoga felt so good and the way she approached her yoga enabled me to explore unknown realms in my body and express grace I didn't know existed. Any onlooker might just see me in a back bend or the almost mark of the splits, but I was really flying.
Now I'm about to attend my second session of Bodhi Yoga's Teacher Training 5 month course. I am finding the answers I knew existed. I've recently attached my own personal pair of wings.
http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/
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