Back from India

My yoga teacher came back from India and this was her first class in 2 months. Still the rough, no bull-shit attitude she has always had which can be motivating and at times annoying. In class we practiced what I have been practicing mostly on my own: Adho Mukha Svasana, headstand, Utthita Trikonasana, Shoulderstand, etc. Just when you think you have a grasp on things, a teacher is there to always throw you off balance and realize that you dont know it all. Sure, I've made LONG strides in the last two months, but somehow I feel like I'm starting all over again. That's how it goes, I suppose. At times I have to say that I feel like I should quit, but then I say to myself that I need this focus and practice in my life, for I've spent it too long idle.

On another note: I never realized why my my right neck strains and hurts when I am in Utthita Trikonasana on the right side going down verses my left side??? We praciticed camel pose Usanasana (?) and I was told that my thighs move forward too much.

Sirasana

Finally did a headstand that I was proud of. Not much swaying, remained a good balance. Not too much strain, noticed to not put so much muscle into it. A friend said to me that it was a very difficult pose because you had to let go. No wonder headstand is the most difficult asana for me...I just can't let go.

Triceps are Finally Working

I'm trying to start practicing 6 days a week, but its hard since I work so far away and don't always get a chance to stop by home to practice. I managed it this week. I'm always practicing Adho Mukha Savasana, once with a bolster to learn how to open up the shoulders (needing this in my headstand), a belt for my double jointed arms (needing this in my handstands), and then a third time without any props. The bolster is also great to get my hands and feet working by pushing them both off the floor at the same time. I have to say that this is my favorite asana. I can really concentration and various parts of the body without being inverted, sitting, or standing. My headstand, Salamba Sirasana, is still lacking. I'm obviously tight in my right shoulder due to a knot there. I still find it a hard time to balance and am unsure where on top of the head the weight should lay on. My handstands are getting alot better. I'm not as afraid as I used to be on kicking up. Now I work on turning the triceps out and letting my hyperextensive elbows hit the belt (worked on in Adho Mukha Savasana). Utthita Trikonasana is getting better since Natasha showed be how to work on my hyperextended legs; an angled block under the calf. This makes it a MUCH better pose. Salamba Sarvangasanas are really getting ALOT better. I can really do a decent Halasana which ables me to place the lower body accordingly hence, I'm able to stay up alot longer. I don't freak out, get bored, or sweaty while up know. I can stay in the pose for 5-6 mintues. Worked mostly on arms in this practice. Still can't wrap my head around learning the Sanskrit names of the poses.

Back to Basics

Alright, I feel like going back to the beginning of The Tree of Yoga, (Note: I used "tree" in the blog title because of my nickname though I just now realized that "tree" is also in the title of the book I'll be writing about. How ironic.) Mr. Iyengar explains that Yoga is the union of the body with the mind and of the mind with the soul.

Yoga helps clean the soul. The body is lazy, the mind is vibrant, and the soul is luminous. While practicing asanas, the body develops into being just as vibrant as the mind. Together the two vibrant entities are guided to the soul. Science of the mind is called raja-yoga. Science of intelligence is jnana-yoga. Science of dut is karma-yoga. Science of will is hatha-yoga.

The word Hatha is translated to 'Ha' which means sun, the sun of your body which is your soul, and 'tha' which means moon, which is your consciousness. The energy of the sun never fades, whereas the moon fades every month and again from fading comes to fullness. The sun in all of us never fades, whereas the mind of or consciousness, which draws its energy from the soul, has fluctuations, modulation, moods, ups, downs, like the phases of the moon; it is like quicksilver, and as quicksilver cannot be caught by the hand, so we cannot easily cath hold of the mind. Yet when consciousness and the body are brought into union with one another, the energy of consciousness becomes still, and when the energy of consciousness is still, consciousness too is still, and the soul pervades the entire body.

Yoga is stilling of the mind and of the breath. The mind can go in many directions in a split second; movement fast and varied. But the breath cannot go in many directions at once. It has only one path: inhalation and exhalation. It can pause for a moment, but cannot multiply like the mind.

Controlling the breath and observing its rhythm brings the consciousness to stillness.


Eight limbs of yoga

yama

the root of the tree. comprises five principles of ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (freedom from avarice), brahmacharya (control of sensual pleasure), and aparigraha (freedom from covetousness and possession beyond one's needs). observance of yama disciplines the five organs of actions: arms, legs, mouth, generation, and excretion. organs of action control the organs of perception of the mind

niyama

the trunk of yoga. comprises to the principles of saucha (cleanliness), santosa (contentment), tapas (ardour), svadhyaya (self-study, and Isvara-pranidhana (self-surrender).
control the organs of perception: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin

asana

the branches which symbolize the various postures which bring the physical and physiological function of the body into harmony with the psychological pattern of yogic discipline.

pranayama

from the branches grow the leaves whose interaction with the air supplies energy to the whole tree. science of breath in which the respiratory and circulatory systems are brought into a harmonious state.

pratyahara

the bark, protection of the tree. mastery of asanas and pranayama helps the practitioner to detach the mind from the contact of the body, and this leads to automatically towards concentration and meditation. inward journey of the senses from the skin towards the core of the being.

dharana

the sap of the tree, the juice which carries energy on the inward journey. concentration, focusing the attention on the core of the being.

dhyana

blooming flowers. where the observer and the observed are one attained in meditation.

samadhi

fruit of the flower. essence of the tree is fruit, essence of the practice of yoga is in the freedom, pose, peace, and beatitude of samadhi, where the body, the mind and the soul are united and merge with the Universal Spirit.

*These are notes taken directly from "The Tree of Yoga."

Iyengar Yoga, My dear friends! - Pratyahara

Ah! At last my pretty little fingers can do what they do best: type! Not write! I have been meaning on writing my experiences, knowledge, thoughts, recollections, etc on my Iyengar yoga journey. Just today I was on a hunt for a notebook for my writings. I've even started a myspace account but didn't follow through at that since it did not feel right. I really need to write these thoughts down since I mostly forget and dont fully understand or digest important points and information on well, just about anything in life. If I write, I will remember, a key thing in being totally visual, and I can always look back and recollect my ideas and notes. I think of this blog as a notebook as well as a companion in this very long voyage. Instead of starting in the past, which I may at some point and that all depends on how I feel and what I feel about writing, I will start presently...

There is so much to talk, write, explain. For now I will talk of my readings and notes on this mornings chapters on Mr. B.K.S. Iyengar's "The Tree of Yoga," Shamabhala Classics. This chapter is called: "The Bark."

Iyengar calls "pratyahara" as the "bark" of the yoga, the yoga tree. [Ill go back later on.] Pratyahara is the withdrawal of the senses. You attain this when you are thoroughly and totally absorbed in your presentation of the asana, forgetting neither the flesh nor the senses. Therefore, the mind is completely silent and everything works in unison and from the very skin is drawn towards the soul.

Iyengar asks why we Westerns seperate the mind and the intellectual body. The mind gathers information whereas the intelligence has the power to discriminate right from wrong, and to reason clearly. Key point being that there is the fluctuating mind and the still and stabilised mind.

We all mostly live by memory and since memory triggers the mind and the mind is triggered by memory, we go for past experiences only. That is where pratyahara plays a key role in yoga, you have to make sure that memory gives the right response, not something impulsive that wasnt rightfully thought through.

Living primarily in memory is constantly searching for those experiences of enjoyments, regardless of your intelligence (remember the power to discriminate right from wrong, and to reason clearly) therefore basing facts on something already experience not something completely felt and understood in the moment. This is repetitive and is no longer able to excite the mind.

The act of going against the current of memory and mind is pratyahara. When the intelligence takes place, thoughts, instincts, and actions are weighed and energy is stored and used when necessary without depending on the boring and dull memory. New and fresh impressions are experienced. The consciousness is awakened instead of taking the back seat and letting memory ride all the way.

When the consciousness is cleansed from the clutches of thought-waves, it becomes highly sensitive, stainless, pure and absolute as the seer.

I don't really understand this next point, even Krishnamurti would talk many times of this: From then on, the consciousness realises that the preceiver, the instrument of perception, and the object to be perceived are the same and the mind can reflect without refraction or distortion.

Patanjali, from whos Yoga Sutras which yoga is based on, says that at this stage that the mind which is freed from memories, becomes ever alert, ever fresh, and ever wise.


What I learned from my previous practice:

At practice N showed me that in my handstand my left arm/shoulder is alot more flexiable than the right. The right is tight, probably because of the knot in my shoulder. This felt like a revelation. I never knew how much I had to pull on my right tricep in order to be straight and not lean on any side. This is the same for my downward facing dog, Adhu Mukha Svanasana. This must also be because my arms are double jointed and my elbows can bend farther than normal; my elbows are doing all the work so that my triceps can slack.

Shoulderstand, Sarvangasana, is getting alot better. I have been practicing that asana so long without blankets or any props that I really struggled with it. Thank god for Iyengar yoga. The last few times I managed to stay up quite a long time (6 minutes or so) without boredom, sweating, and struggle. I really have to free myself from fear, fear of falling. I could used some help in opening the chest. I guess that's next time.