Lotus Notes - Volume I

I've been wanting for some time to find a place where I could express my views on Yoga and share tips for personal practice and teaching, and finally decided that this is as good a place as any. So sit back, relax, and I'll get started. I should add that much of what I have to say is distilled from other sources, so I'd like to give credit in advance to my teachers, and all other inspirations. The title is kind of an inside joke. It just came to me one day, and may only be amusing to a select few with a computer background who also practice Yoga, but there it is anyway.

Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. I should explain that Yoga is a Sanskrit word that means "union". And the objective of Yoga is the union of the individual with the divine. In order to achieve this, we must quiet the mind. In order to quiet the mind, we meditate on our breath while in the various asanas (poses).

So the first thing to remember is that Yoga is not about what happens or what you can do IN the asanas, but rather what happens in BETWEEN the asanas, while you're relaxing. You should not worry or judge if you cannot bend or flex as far as the next person, or even as far as you could the day before. Remember that wherever you are is perfect for you today, and every day your body is different. Relaxation is the key, and one must really work hard to give oneself permission to relax, to simply surrender without judgment. We judge every day, and it is very hard not to, but just try.

One theory is that during the asanas, we are triggering pressure points along the body's astral nerves (or nadis), similar to what happens in the Japanese massage practice of Shiatsu, and when we rest after each asana, the life force (or prana) can flow freely through the nadis, as they have become unblocked. It helps to visualize this process when you are resting in between asanas.

Yogic philosophy believes that the divine is in everything, so another way of saying that Yoga is union with the divine, is that Yoga's primary goal is to build awareness, as opposed to building muscles and force or flexibility. Start by lying down on your back in savasana (dead man's pose), with your eyes closed. Open your legs wide to open the hip joints. Open the arms wide, palms facing up, to open the shoulders. This is the most important asana in Yoga!

Begin breathing through the nose, and breathing deeply from the abdomen (inhale, belly rises, exhale, belly falls), and become aware of the three levels at which your physical body exists: first the corporeal, then the cellular, and finally the atomic. Then take some time to become aware of and give thanks for the grace and beauty that is you, the grace and beauty that is all around you, and how the two are connected. During your practice, continue to bring your awareness back to your body, by trying to find the perfect balance between relaxing and pushing yourself. If you are too relaxed, you will not progress. If you push too hard, you may hurt yourself. The "monkey" mind likes to wander to the past and to the future. Notice that, don't judge, just let it go, and then use your breath as an anchor to bring your awareness back to the moment. Using a combination of your awareness and your breath, you can focus your "mental rays" on various parts of your body during the asanas (your hamstrings, your lower back, your shoulders, etc) as you use your breath to soften those areas by inhaling energy and exhaling tension.

Every inhale, feel yourself become fully present within your body. Every exhale, feel the barrier between you and the universe dissolve just a little. As you inhale, the universe is flowing into you. As you exhale, the universe is breathing you in. As you inhale, feel the belly, then the chest, then the shoulders expanding, and really work on feeling all sides of the rib cage expand, not just the front. And then as you exhale, completely empty the lungs. Imagine your breath is the waves in the ocean. Visualize yourself surfing the waves of your breath, as you inhale joy, energy, relaxation, pleasure, and light, and exhale anger, fatigue, tension, pain, and black smoke.

As you connect with the wave-like motion of your breath, feel the air coming into your lungs, passing through your heart, bringing oxygen/energy/prana to all the cells in your body, and then feel it flow back through the heart, into the lungs and out on the exhale. Meditate on this amazing life-giving process that occurs with each and every breath.

By now you should be completely relaxed! Next time we'll move deeper into the practice and talk about some breathing exercises and warmups.

Namaste

Jim / Siva