Practice is the most important factor in Yoga

As the year is almost over and trying to feel celebratory during the holiday season, I can’t help but reflect and think of the year and myself. Seems the classes I’ve taught toward the end of the year have kept a similar theme of reflection and given me reminders of my personal Yoga practice, both, on and off the mat. In some of my recent classes I either started or ended the classes by reading a portion of the preface in the Yoga Sutras of Patangali (by Sri Swami Satchidananda). I’m not sure why I initially turned to that particular page as I’m much further along in my reading of the Sutras. Though I’m always reminded of how my reading of the Sutras and The Bhagavad Gita (by Sri Swami Satchidananda) will always be at the beginning stages. Every time I open those books I could take away something new, even if reading the same page I’ve read before. In a sense, I’ll always be a beginner in Yoga. Although that may seem odd, it really is true. The universe, our own Self, is in a constant state of change. Every minute we’re becoming someone new and my Yoga practice is always new with new challenges, whether physically, mentally, or in my heart.

“Practice is the most important factor in Yoga.

Let us know that all these ideas and practices are there to help us forget our personal selfishness and broaden our minds more and more…. It’s very simple. Be good and do good and the entire wisdom will be yours.

Every day let us check our progress and see that we grow a little better. Every day should elevate us a little, broaden our attitudes, reduce our selfishness and make us better masters over our own body, senses and mind. This is the kind of Yoga that will really help us.”  -Yoga Sutras of Patangali by Sri Swami Satchidananda)

Christmas is a day away (my family celebrates on the 24th) and this year isn’t as jolly as last year. As the plans we made have changed. Last year my mom and grandma came to visit me and we enjoyed the Christmas lights in the town and went to see the Nutcracker. This year my poor grandma fell a few weeks ago and due to that couldn’t visit during Thanksgiving. She was getting better and was sent home, only to be sent back to the hospital. She is back home again. I arranged subs for my Yoga classes or cancelled them and drove up to see her and my mom. I had gotten a Charlie Brown Christmas tree last weekend, but due to the unforeseen circumstances Charlie is not decorated and I didn’t get the chance to bring my Menorah out during Hanukkah. (I like to celebrate all the holidays.)

As I am now with my mom and grandma, my heart goes out of both of them. My poor grandma is struggling with a failing body, while my mom is struggling balancing work and taking care of my grandmother. I struggle feeling helpless as there isn’t much I can do to help. This entire situation reminds me of many things. It reminds me how important Yoga is for our BODY. A good example of how Yoga helps someone’s body is Tao Porchon-Lynch. She is (now) a 94-year old Yoga Teacher. I met her during a conference earlier this year. She is truly inspirational. She said to wake in the morning and tell yourself IT WILL BE A GOOD DAY and to SMILE a lot and SMILE at others. She never would listen to a doctor when she had an injury and they told her she couldn’t do this or that pose. She would PRACTICE and eventually gained her strength back.

Now that my path has brought me to Yoga, I realize it is vital for me (and anyone) to have some sort of Yoga practice. I’m not saying everyone should do intense asanas. My Yoga Guru, Ranjitha Sandeep, has always taught me, the basic Yoga poses are the most important. I don’t think I totally understood this until recently. Though seems a lot of what I learned during my Yoga Teacher Training with Ranjitha at Yoga Sutra for Life I don’t completely understand until when I experience it or maybe when it is my time to truly understand it. Spending 15 minutes a day doing some basic asanas will strength your body, mind, and heart. It will also loosen up your muscles and body. It will stretch you where you need. It will massage your inner organs and cleanses toxins out. It will open up your mind and heart. I could go on about all the benefits of Yoga, but basically when practicing Yoga you will get out of it what YOU need. And for all of us that NEED could be something different.

Eventually all us, God-willing, will get old. My grandma is now in her mid-80’s and, unfortunately, with a failing body. I can’t help but wonder, if she had a Yoga practice, could her suffering that she is experiencing now have been prevented? Although that question can never be answered, I would like to believe it could have. Yoga helps balance. So it is very possible with better balance she would not have fallen and broken her arm. And maybe she would have recovered better from sitting in a hospital bed for days if her body was stronger before entering the hospital. Although we’ll never know for sure if Yoga would have helped her, I’m sure have a Yoga practice would not have hurt her.

As far as my personal practice, I remember my teacher, Ranjitha, and other teachers warned me to not teach too many classes as it could drain my energy and I may not find time for my personal practice. Well, that started to happen late this year. I love teaching Yoga and sharing what I learned through my Yoga Teacher Training and continue to learn to my amazing students. Though as I reflect on the year I need to be more cautious to not let my personal practice on the mat suffer.

Lately my neck has started bothering me a great deal again. I think it is partially due to sleeping wrong, then partially to pushing myself too much during an intense workshop, partially to not paying as much attention to my body while I teach, and partially due to stress I’m experiencing lately. Stress with my grandma and other personal stress. Yes, there is a TRUTH when people tell you your stress will create physical pain. I always tell my students this. And I know I’ve experienced this before, but now that I am experiencing it again, I am reminded even more how connected our Mind, Body and Heart are. I started acupuncture treatments again and my acupuncturist, Dr. David Karlovich, noticed extreme tightness in my back and shoulders, although I went to him for my neck. Then I had a massage and my massage therapist, Rachel, noticed my shoulders and hips jutting forward. Although I’m sure a lot of this is due to the factors I mentioned above, I realized that maybe a bigger part of my pain and misalignment is due to my emotional stress lately. We hold our emotions in our hips, so it makes sense that my hips are out of place and everything above my hips is getting out of balance too. Hips openers!! Yes, hips openers are something I need to focus on in my personal practice. See how the MIND, BODY, and HEART all are intertwined?!

So this all brings me back to the Yoga Sutras and why PRACTICE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN YOGA. Constant and consistent practice is necessary and beneficial for my (and your) MIND, BODY, and HEART. Again, you don’t need to do 60-75 minutes of Yoga day if you don’t have time. Maybe just 15 minutes a day of basic Asanas. Strengthen your body to strengthen your mind and heart. Loosen and stretch your body to open your mind and heart. Twist your body to cleanse your mind and heart. What our parents and music teachers told us as kids is true, Practice, Practice, PRACTICE. We may, as I feel I have recently, fall out of the wagon, but simply CATCH YOURSELF and bring yourself back to your Yoga practice. And that practice includes OFF THE MAT, just as much as ON THE MAT. Yoga will bring your MIND, BODY, and HEART back to BALANCE.

I wish you a very happy and peaceful holiday season and a healthy New Year! Set your intentions, but surrender to the outcome.

Namaste,
Karin aka Shanti Om

Dogs know Yoga better than People

I noticed something interesting and amazing the other day when I was at a dog park and how dogs let go of things so effortlessly. If a dog has a negative experience with another dog (growling, showing teeth, snapping or even biting), the negative experience happens and then literally seconds later it is over. (At least in most instances it seems to end quickly.) Then the dogs go back to getting along as though nothing ever happened. They truly DETACH from the past and live in the present. One of the Yamas we should strive for in our Yoga practice is Aparigraha (non-attachment). If only it were as easy for humans as it is for dogs to detach from negative experiences (or any experiences that we obsess about.)

I watched this very thing happen again during a time I took my dog to an agility class and the lab he has puppy playdates with was there. During their puppy playdates they play wonderfully. Well, during this agility class my dog and the lab started getting quite nasty with each other! Me and my friend were shocked! The trainer told us when we leave the agility class to not even think about what happened as the dogs have already forgotten. When we left the class, both, my friend and I couldn’t help but think about the ugly and scary experience. We had to keep talking outloud to ourselves reminding ourselves to pretend the fight between the dogs never happened. Well, sure enough, the dogs truly acted as though nothing happened. They were back to being friends!

If only us humans could do the same! We as humans ATTACH ourselves to past experiences. We have an extremely difficult time just letting go. That attachment eats away at our minds and drives us CRAZY. I’m sure you’ve had an experience that you keep running through in your head over and over… AND OVER again. You probably felt like you were almost going crazy. Maybe that experience that you kept running through your head now started ruining your day because your attitude surrounding the experience was negative. This happens to all of us! Sad, but true. Wouldn’t it be beautiful if we could let go of past experiences so effortlessly like dogs? Imagine the weight we would lift off of our mind and soul? And once we remove those weights, our physical body will feel better to! When we let thoughts go out of control in our mind, our shoulders, neck, hips and back could start to hurt. Another reminder that our mind, body and soul are truly connected!

Recently, me and a good friend seemed to drift apart. I reached out to that friend to see what, if anything, was wrong. I asked if I did anything to upset her. Turns out she was upset because I was still talking to a mutual friend of ours that she is no longer speaking with. I know it seems so immature and trivial, but this was the answer I received. I think about my friend often and pray for her that she can learn to LET GO. Obviously, a past experience is eating away at her and she is allowing that past experience to dictate how she thinks and acts in the present. She’s allowing that past experience to interfere with a friendship that could be existing now because she is bothered by that past experience. She’s letting that past experience eat away at her mind. I’m not saying that I’m perfect at LETTING GO and DETACHING. Though I am trying to learn to let go and live in the present. I’m trying to LEAVE THE PAST IN THE PAST.

The other thing that saddens me about my friend and how she is letting her past control her present, is that she and this mutual friend are no longer friends. Neither one will talk to and listen to the other and apologize and move on as friends. This made me think that relationships of all kinds (friendships, family, lovers, etc) should not be defined if those two people in the relationship fight or disagree or not, because any two people in any type of relationship WILL FIGHT and DISAGREE. It is inevitable that all persons in all relationships will fight/disagree at some point. We all have different beliefs and personalities and at times those beautiful differences could easily cause a fight/disagreement. I think a relationship should be defined by HOW YOU MAKE UP. I’ve had many fights and disagreements with my closest friends that I have known since I was a child. Those close friends at times have annoyed me as I’m sure I’ve annoyed them. But just as dogs do not focus on the negative and rather focus on the positive, we as humans should do that same. Negative will happen. But positive will happen too. Focus on the positive! Forgive! Apologize! Move on! No relationship is worth losing over a fight. If we learn to let go (detach) and focus on the positive, rather than then negative, so many relationships could be saved.

How sad a life we would live if we didn’t forgive? Beautiful friendships and family relationships would be lost over stupid things that maybe we thought meant something, but in the big picture mean nothing. I, too, made this mistake (not forgiving and leaving the past in the past) and lost a relationship of someone very dear to me. Everyday I work on forgiving myself for this mistake. We all need to speak our minds, forgive and apologize. Even if we feel we truly didn’t do anything wrong, maybe just apologizing (and a hug) is what needs to be done for both parties to move on.

All that said we also need to remember one of the other Yamas, Ahimsa (non-violence). If we are letting our mind get out of control obsessing about some past experience or someone or anything, we’re causing harm to ourselves. We need to practice not only not harming others, but not harming ourselves. We need to surround ourselves with positive people, thoughts and experiences. Remember, you are what you think!

This link is to an article about a boy who’s stepfather hurt him and his mother very severely. The boy forgave his father! It is a inspiring story and a reminder that in order to create peace within ourselves we need to forgive.

Namaste,

Karin aka Shanti Om

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Enjoy!

-Karin, RYT 200