Afraid to Dance

Last night I went to see the Mamaku Project play in the Central City. Sitting in the erected marquee "tent", I was spellbound by the smooth, exotic, tribal, and downright lusty sound of the brilliant female singer and the musicians that accompanied her. An unusual but harmonious and perfect grouping of brass instruments, various percussion, and one very mischievious accordion!
Not usually shy when it comes to a boogie, I was surprised to find myself reluctant to get up and dance...

The marquee had been set up for "seated" viewing. Banquettes rimmed the outside walls and in the center circle, right in front of the stage, the entire wooden dance floor was covered over by table and chairs. Sitting, sipping sauvignon, and simply watching the soulful music was clearly expected. However, the music presented a real problem as it powerfully compelled you to MOVE YOUR BODY!

Yet, as I sat in my seat tapping my feet, moving my legs, and swinging my shoulders, some part of me felt embarrassed to have such a primal response to the sound. Near the end of the set, when body finally beat out mind, I went up to the front of the room and joined the group of renegade dancers. I wished I had been brave enough to be there all night.

Why was I so embarrassed at showing a clear, physical, and passionate response to the music? I looked around at all the people sitting and watching the vibrant display and wondered if they were feeling the same internal struggle...And where does it come from--this strong and frequent restraint of our basic body "being-ness"? Why did I want to curb or hide this desire to move that emerged from a deep, instinctive, and ancient place inside?

I made an internal resolution to never again, when music and sound compels, pass up on the opportunity to dance. To be proud to move my body to the same beat of the earth, the stars, the heart.

Reread a line from Mary Oliver before bed...."You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves..."

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver

Like water to a duck?

Recently one of my students commented that Kiwis survive winter in Christchurch because of a healthy amount of hardy stoicism. A few hours later, I was sitting at YaYa with a fellow US expat who groaned as she exclaimed, "I wish I were a duck". Hmmmm...there IS a connection here!

During the past week of unrelenting rain and frigid temperatures, my friend had envied the ability of Christchurch bird life to frolic, eat, swim, and go about their daily business while seemingly unfazed by the heavy weather. There's a famous phrase I'm recalling..."Like water off a duck's back"? That night I looked up the definition of stoicism, finding "indifference to pleasure and pain". Reading that I wondered... does being "stoic" imply an inability to experience the difference between the two or that a choice is made to view both from the same/equal perspective? Perhaps two sides of the same coin?

Sensing positive material here, the Sanskrit word MAITRI floated out of my mental yoga glossary. Often translated as "friendliness", Pema Chodron (an American Buddhist nun and one of my favorite spiritual writers) describes MAITRI as, "complete acceptance of ourselves [and the environment around us]...a simple direct relationship with the way things actually are." The cultivation of MAITRI or friendliness is key staying present to where we actually are, in each particular moment.

Our culture has a very low tolerance for discomfort. We turn on, switch off, and tune out with any number of technological aids to avoid pain, cold, boredom, vulnerability, and loneliness. On the yoga mat, practicing MAITRI involves learning how to stay with physical sensation and stay within the free movement of breath as we skillfully play our edge. We have the option to blast past our capacity, shrink from possibility, OR explore the area where our past experience meets a new horizon. When we cultivate an attitude of "friendliness" toward our body, our thoughts, and our environment, nothing that emerges is the enemy. We practice remaining open and receptive to whatever the moment brings.

Pema writes that the practice of MAITRI is "coming back to the immediacy of experience...By simply STAYING, we relax more and more into the open dimension of our being." Off our yoga mat, we practice "staying" when we can remain open and soft at our center even while the world around is shifting and changing--workplace chaos, screaming children, difficult relationships, and yes--even the enduring rain and bone chilling cold of July in Christchurch.

While the water may not so easily "run off our backs", we CAN practice accessing the same quality of acceptance, receptivity, AND endurance of the moment as our friendly local ducks. No matter what the weather or life throws at us!

Here comes the Sun!

After our weeklong bout of dreary, drippy and dismal weather, it is no surprise that the theme of my classes this week is INSPIRATION. As the sun begins to peek its way back into the sky, I find that my spirits and energy are magically renewed!

As an editor in a former life, I am captivated by words. Words are ripe with meaning and carry a special sort of energy, called matrika shakti in yoga. Language lends us beautiful, rich texture by which to make sense of experience.

The word INSPIRATION comes from the Latin root "spirare" which means "to breathe". "Spirare" is also the source of our English word SPIRIT. "IN-spirare" means "to breathe IN" or to "infuse by breathing". Therefore, "Inspire" is another word for "inhale", "inspiration" for "inhalation". Every time we draw breath, we "inspire" our physical form. What happens when you inhale fully? I notice my heart lifts, my shoulders roll back, my spine lengthens. My inner body is bright.

"Inspiration" is also an experience or state of being. Please PAUSE and think of something or someone that is inspiring your life right now. How does this thing or person make you feel on the inside? What happens when you see a beautiful, resplendent sunrise? Or watch someone close to you succeed in school, work, sports? What happens to YOUR body in the presence of or remembrance of inspiration...? Heart lifts, shoulders open, spine lengthens, inner body bright!

At a recent training with John Friend, he described the body as an instrument, like a flute. Each asana, each posture or form that we take, is another way to place the fingers, another way to direct the sound. Every posture makes music but each has its own particular note.

On our mats, we "inspire" the body with breath and, as our external form shifts and changes, this "inspiration" infuses each posture and the inner body with lift and life. When we sit to begin our practice, we can pause and remember all the things, people, and moments in our life that inspire us and lift our hearts. We all have dark days but even when the skies are gray, we can REMEMBER that the sun will eventually shine again.

[Please click on comments below to find links about my favorite posture of INSPIRATION, Vasisthasana!]

Warm winter yoga

We are holding two yoga nights at YaYa House of Tea this month--July 15th & July 29th. Yoga begins at 5:30pm and we follow the practice with warm cups of YaYa's homemade chai and fresh chapati breads. The night is the perfect winter soother and a lovely way to start the week!

What I've grown to love about these evenings is the strong sense of community that emerges. In the afterglow of yoga and in the cozy ambiance of the teahouse, I have met many wonderful people and have so enjoyed the great conversations taking place between local Christchurch people who have just met. Though we often come from different age groups and backgrounds, we practice together, we talk together and then often, at another class or on the street, we will meet again. Connection is made and remembered. In Anusara Yoga, a strong emphasis is placed on the gathering and sustaining of kula--a Sanskrit word meaning "the community of the heart".

Though the weather continues to grow colder, the monthly gatherings at YaYa and our regular weekly classes continue to warm my soul! I love being part of the beautiful kula growing in Christchurch. So well stated by the wonderful Sufi poet Rumi:

"There IS a community of the spirit. Join it, and feel the delight of walking in the noisy street and BEING the noise..."

Let Your Instrument be an Expression of Your Gift

This past week I saw Paul Urbana Jones play guitar and sing the blues at Fat Eddie's in SOL square. As I watched his performance, I was blown away by his honest and tender lyrics, the raw passion of his voice, and the zeal of his guitar. His entire body participated in the creation of his music--the tap of a toe, his fingers racing on the strings, a wild shake of his head, even the small movements of his eyes...

There was no way to tell where the guitar ended and his body began. Everything was part of the same expression. I thought to myself, WOW... THIS guy should be teaching yoga!

Paul's full body, full being expression is exactly what we aspire to on our yoga mats. Anusara Yoga comes from a Tantric yoga philosophy that operates on the premise of intrinsic goodness. What this means is that we believe that this embodied life is a GOOD and a BEAUTIFUL thing. On the mat, we can remember that each breath and every posture is an opportunity to delightfully dance with a bigger Energy, participate more fully in life, and to express the beauty of our hearts.

While we may not be a musician, talented painter, or a skilled writer, each one of us DOES have an instrument at our fingertips. We can allow our instrument--our own unique physical body--to be an expression of our inner spirit. Our instrument can be an expression of beauty, an expression of the best we have to offer in each moment When we practice in this way, yoga becomes more than physical exercise. Yoga becomes the process of creating art!

Nourish the Body, Feed the Soul

With the arrival of colder temperatures, the major theme that keeps emerging on and off my yoga mat, has been nourishment. I am simply craving continual warmth, comfort, and nurturing. More sleep. Warmer, wholesome, homemade foods. Deeper, more inward-focused yoga practices. Even more alone time, just to reflect on all that's happened so far this year. It has been interesting to note that as these needs arise, there has also been this persistent reluctance on my part to really honour them.

Why is it difficult to give ourselves what we know that we need? Why does the thought of "slowing down" sometimes provoke anxiety or irritation?

In many parts of the world, winter is the season of "hibernation". Each year, the natural world--trees, plants, flowers, animals--move away from bountiful summer expressions and draw their energies inwards. More of our time is spent in darkness; more of our day is spent inside.

This hibernation, this darkness is not a bad thing. Seeds germinate under the darkness of the soil, babies grow and develop in the darkness of the mother's womb. It is in sleep that we rejuvenate, literally rebuilding our bodies every night. This "darkness" holds vast amounts of potentiality, of creative power, of revelation, hints of things to be soon realized.

So, my aim is to enjoy the darkness this year! To make friends with my lower energy levels and my need for more sleep. To really honour the desire for self-reflection and continual comfort and support.

I invite you this season to take the time to listen to your body and heart. Ask yourself, what do I need? What would truly support me during this darker time of year? Then, be open enough to hear the answers. Do something everyday that nourishes your body, do something that truly feeds your soul!

Why Practice Yoga?

Hatha Yoga is an ancient practice that brings body, mind, heart, and spirit into union. Yoga systematically stretches and strengthens all muscles throughout the body, increases circulation to organs and glands, quiets the nervous system, and improves concentration. This timeless system of self-care is an effective technique for developing a healthy body, a vibrant spirit, a sense of peace, and an appreciation for the wholeness of who you are.

By connecting outer body movement to an inner intention, the most basic yoga postures can be vehicles for deep physical and mental transformation!

Here is an *amended* list, from Yoga Alliance, of their "Top Ten" reasons for practicing yoga. We all come to yoga for different reasons at different times; there is no right or wrong reason!

1) Stress Relief- Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body by encouraging relaxation and lowering the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. Additionally, yoga lowers blood pressure and heart rate, improves digestion, boosts the immune system, and eases symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma, and insomnia.

2) Flexibility- Yoga helps to increase general flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains.

3) Increased Strength- Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe! Yoga can also help release chronic muscular tension.

4) Better Breathing- Yoga teaches you how to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function and trigger the body's relaxation response.

5) Body Awareness & Balance-Yoga is about connecting to your body. You will learn how to become aware of what you are feeling and how you are feeling in any given moment. A keener awareness for optimal body alignment results in better posture and helps relieve back, neck, joint, and muscle pain.

6) Improved Circulation- Yoga helps to improve overall circulation and, moving through a wide variety of asanas, oxygenated blood moves more efficiently through the body.

7) Weight Management- Yoga (even Gentle styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing cortisol levels, as well as burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating and a healthy outlook on life.

8) Cardiovascular Conditioning- Even gentle yoga practice provide benefits for your heart by lowering resting heart rate, increasing stamina and endurance, and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9) Focus on the Present- Yoga helps us focus on the fullness of our present experience, each moment, each breath. In our chaotic busy lives, we are often "living" ten steps ahead of where we really are. Through the practice of yoga, we come back to the richness and beauty of each moment as it happens. Yoga also helps improve concentration, coordination, reaction time, and memory.

10) Peace- The meditative aspects of yoga help you connect to your spirit and reach a deeper, more satisfying place in your life. Many of us start yoga to "touch our toes", build strength, or stand on our hands. However, we often find that it is the moments of connection and peace that we experience through the practice that keep us coming back to our mats.