Thursday 7th September 2006
I got over the biggest hurdle and went to early morning class at the shala today (my last class there was late in June). Normally they’d have mysore class on Thursday, but due to the moon day tomorrow, the ‘Friday led primary’ was put forward to this morning instead. In actuality it turned out not to be led primary, but an investigative class directed at bringing awareness to a particular area of the body. Heavy research material to take into our Mysore practice.
About 10 minutes into the class I realised that what David was focussing on today was directed specifically to me.
It was all about the shoulders, and how to work within the postures so that the shoulder is protected and strengthened. The finer details now escape me as David’s interpretations and instructions are always very subtle. Grasping his ideas can be quite elusive and only twice did I get that ‘aha’ feeling of connecting with what he was trying to convey.
A couple of times he mentioned how often shoulder problems arise because of misuse (referring to Ashtangis I guess), which made me feel like the latest in a long line of sitting ducks. But I was humbled by the thought that David might actually have composed an entire class for my benefit.
And my shoulder did survive. It felt hot and a little achy after the class, but that subsided in time. Overjoyed to be back at the shala again, I signed up for a block of classes. By upping my practice schedule (which isn’t hard as I’m only doing 2 a week now), I guess I risk hastening the shoulder deterioration so I’ll have to monitor it pretty carefully over the next few weeks. Doing four practises per week, I’ll really have to find a way to minimise the shoulder work.
Two practises a week hasn’t been enough. The mornings just aren’t the same. Discipline, devotion, love, frustration, madness, I’ve missed them all. I’ve missed having ‘A Practice’.
True, our spiritual practice is what we do 24 hours a day, but I still believe it’s important to set some time out, away from interactivity with the outer world, to draw nourishment from the bottomless well of our inner life. DAILY.
The physical importance of yoga practice is almost redundant now, even though I still believe a regular physical practice is important. But everyone’s calling is different. We may spend an hour or two on the mat ‘doing yoga’, we may spend 15 minutes on a cushion ‘quietly attentive’; a practice can be a morning chant, a chi kung workout, regular reading of scriptures or whatever. But if you do it daily, you’re giving it prime place in your scheme of things, and saying to the universe that you know there is ‘more’ and you’ll do what it takes until ‘more’ is revealed.
Daily practice renews this affirmation that there is more to our lives than what we see on the surface. Daily practice is our way of slipping down between the cracks and playing in that warm dark other worldly cloud that somehow feels like our real home.
When I lose the momentum of daily practice, I miss it terribly. When discipline wanes, the commitment to spiritual growth feels diluted. Practising daily (or at least very regularly) reaffirms that my life has a deeper layer to it that is sacred beyond all else. To have ‘A Practice’ is to acknowledge the existence of something greater to which our spirit is naturally drawn. We may not understand this reality, or know how to access it, but somehow we know it’s infinitely more real than the shallow one we’ve mistakenly invested in.
To establish and maintain ‘A Practice’ is to transcend our unknowing and our uncertainty, and place ourselves within this nebulous, numinous reality…daily… for as long as it takes.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday 5th September 2006
Headstand
Since this shoulder condition first manifested, I’ve been forced to find a different way to ‘be’ in some of the poses. And by different, I don’t necessarily mean the outer form.
Sirsasana (Headstand) continues to be a revelation. I set up the triangular base of my forearms, walk my feet in and draw the apex of my pelvis up high. I suck the energy up from the pelvic floor (mulabandha) which pulls the solid, heavy earth energy up out of my lower body drawing it upwards and leaving the legs and pelvis light and empty. Walk in on tippy toes, I’m lifting and ascending. Slight pressure down through the forearms to accentuate the upward flow of energy. My pelvis is liquid light, my toes effortlessly leave the floor and my legs float up completely weightless, as if filled with helium.
I find the point of perfect balance between the crown of my head and the tip of my toes, suspended between earth and heaven. My core channel aligns perfectly with gravity, then slips in between the gravitational field to a weightless reality where time is suspended.
There’s absolutely no pressure downwards into the floor through my arms and shoulders now. It feels like my forearms barely touch the floor, it’s like I’m levitating.
And as I hold the pose, this energetic pull through the core channel draws my focus deeper and deeper into the vortex. The outer physical adjustments that oscillate to maintain the precarious balance are only faint whispers in the background. The liquid energy of my core consumes my full attention.
I can only do this pose when I’m fully in touch with and in control of the subtle energies of the practice now. Otherwise I don’t even attempt it. Any compression in the right shoulder joint is excruciating and to be avoided at all costs. But when Headstand reveals it’s mystical gift, its truly, truly divine. And that's yoga.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
I got over the biggest hurdle and went to early morning class at the shala today (my last class there was late in June). Normally they’d have mysore class on Thursday, but due to the moon day tomorrow, the ‘Friday led primary’ was put forward to this morning instead. In actuality it turned out not to be led primary, but an investigative class directed at bringing awareness to a particular area of the body. Heavy research material to take into our Mysore practice.
About 10 minutes into the class I realised that what David was focussing on today was directed specifically to me.
It was all about the shoulders, and how to work within the postures so that the shoulder is protected and strengthened. The finer details now escape me as David’s interpretations and instructions are always very subtle. Grasping his ideas can be quite elusive and only twice did I get that ‘aha’ feeling of connecting with what he was trying to convey.
A couple of times he mentioned how often shoulder problems arise because of misuse (referring to Ashtangis I guess), which made me feel like the latest in a long line of sitting ducks. But I was humbled by the thought that David might actually have composed an entire class for my benefit.
And my shoulder did survive. It felt hot and a little achy after the class, but that subsided in time. Overjoyed to be back at the shala again, I signed up for a block of classes. By upping my practice schedule (which isn’t hard as I’m only doing 2 a week now), I guess I risk hastening the shoulder deterioration so I’ll have to monitor it pretty carefully over the next few weeks. Doing four practises per week, I’ll really have to find a way to minimise the shoulder work.
Two practises a week hasn’t been enough. The mornings just aren’t the same. Discipline, devotion, love, frustration, madness, I’ve missed them all. I’ve missed having ‘A Practice’.
True, our spiritual practice is what we do 24 hours a day, but I still believe it’s important to set some time out, away from interactivity with the outer world, to draw nourishment from the bottomless well of our inner life. DAILY.
The physical importance of yoga practice is almost redundant now, even though I still believe a regular physical practice is important. But everyone’s calling is different. We may spend an hour or two on the mat ‘doing yoga’, we may spend 15 minutes on a cushion ‘quietly attentive’; a practice can be a morning chant, a chi kung workout, regular reading of scriptures or whatever. But if you do it daily, you’re giving it prime place in your scheme of things, and saying to the universe that you know there is ‘more’ and you’ll do what it takes until ‘more’ is revealed.
Daily practice renews this affirmation that there is more to our lives than what we see on the surface. Daily practice is our way of slipping down between the cracks and playing in that warm dark other worldly cloud that somehow feels like our real home.
When I lose the momentum of daily practice, I miss it terribly. When discipline wanes, the commitment to spiritual growth feels diluted. Practising daily (or at least very regularly) reaffirms that my life has a deeper layer to it that is sacred beyond all else. To have ‘A Practice’ is to acknowledge the existence of something greater to which our spirit is naturally drawn. We may not understand this reality, or know how to access it, but somehow we know it’s infinitely more real than the shallow one we’ve mistakenly invested in.
To establish and maintain ‘A Practice’ is to transcend our unknowing and our uncertainty, and place ourselves within this nebulous, numinous reality…daily… for as long as it takes.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday 5th September 2006
Headstand
Since this shoulder condition first manifested, I’ve been forced to find a different way to ‘be’ in some of the poses. And by different, I don’t necessarily mean the outer form.
Sirsasana (Headstand) continues to be a revelation. I set up the triangular base of my forearms, walk my feet in and draw the apex of my pelvis up high. I suck the energy up from the pelvic floor (mulabandha) which pulls the solid, heavy earth energy up out of my lower body drawing it upwards and leaving the legs and pelvis light and empty. Walk in on tippy toes, I’m lifting and ascending. Slight pressure down through the forearms to accentuate the upward flow of energy. My pelvis is liquid light, my toes effortlessly leave the floor and my legs float up completely weightless, as if filled with helium.
I find the point of perfect balance between the crown of my head and the tip of my toes, suspended between earth and heaven. My core channel aligns perfectly with gravity, then slips in between the gravitational field to a weightless reality where time is suspended.
There’s absolutely no pressure downwards into the floor through my arms and shoulders now. It feels like my forearms barely touch the floor, it’s like I’m levitating.
And as I hold the pose, this energetic pull through the core channel draws my focus deeper and deeper into the vortex. The outer physical adjustments that oscillate to maintain the precarious balance are only faint whispers in the background. The liquid energy of my core consumes my full attention.
I can only do this pose when I’m fully in touch with and in control of the subtle energies of the practice now. Otherwise I don’t even attempt it. Any compression in the right shoulder joint is excruciating and to be avoided at all costs. But when Headstand reveals it’s mystical gift, its truly, truly divine. And that's yoga.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
