Akhyana

I drove across the country last week. We had driven from BC to Ontario last summer and then last week we moved all the way back to BC. It was very interesting to be able to observe my reaction to such a stressful activity both before and after the yoga training. I can say that I was noticeably calmer about the entire process the second time. It is true that I was moving back to a familiar city and to my friends and family so I knew what to expect but the whole process both physically and mentally went a lot smoother. My body hurt less during the move, I took on crises with very little stress and I solved problems without batting an eyelash.

The driving was very long and tiring and althought I did get a very back flu in teh first few days, even that wasn’t as big a deal as it would have been last year. When we got snowed in upon our entrance to Calgary, I was able to get a little upset and then instantly started thinking of all the positive results of us beign forced to stay in one place. I was able to get healthy and we were lucky enough to make it to my aunt’s house and have a visit while we waited for the snow to stop.

I truly think that my yoga training has given me the ability to approach life in a more peaceful manner. I find that I am kinder to strangers, more enthusiastic and rational when faced with difficult tasks. Life generally seems easier. Enlightenment, here I come!

Sometimes you just need a little push to help find that tapas (burning enthusiasm). I have been packing all month to move mine, my boyfriend’s and our dog’s lives back across the country, about 5000km, form Ottawa to Victoria. We did this exact move, only in reverse, about ten months ago. I have been avoiding packing because every time I pick up one of our boxes I vividly remember unpacking it only last year. I have been spending a lot of time procrastinating, feeling guilty about my lack of progress then giving up after only packing one box.

Today, I decided that I would spend all day packing, no matter what. I decided to unleash my tapas and fill every box in the house. At around 4:30 I slumped downstairs, for the millionth time, looking for something distracting. I decided to check the mail. Amongst the bills and misaddressed mail, there was a little postcard. It was a card from my favorite coffee shop at home. I had often sent these postcards, which you can buy for $.50, to friends who had moved away from Victoria to remind them of what awaits their return, a coffee date with me. This one, however, was addressed to me. It read:

thought maybe this would make the packing easier! -love Dad

This card is now sitting at my computer so that every time I sit down to distract myself from packing I will remember that the sooner I get it done, the sooner I get to go home and see my perfect dad.

The tapas has been restored, the packing continues.

I have an imaginary love affair with India. With most imaginary things, there is a fear of disappointment. I have studied India extensively but only through novels and history books, which could suggest a more romantic version of the country. I have decided that until I am ready to accept and experience India completely, without any romantic notions attached, I will refrain from making any travel plans. This is, however, getting tougher and tougher as I go through my yoga training as India is the birthplace of yoga and the opportunities for continued study there are endless and very enticing.

Here are a couple of amazing yoga schools in India that are calling to me:
Pattabhi Jois’ school in Mysore- http://www.ayri.org/
and,  Krishnamacharya’s Yoga Mandiram in Channai- http://www.kym.org/

Someday, after I have realized my aparigraha with India.

A few weeks ago I took photos of some class mates in their favorite yoga postures. They turned out well and the afternoon was really fun. I posted them on our photo site, Atomic Photography: www.atomicphotography.com

“It is a new area of research, but indications are intriguing and suggest that meditation may have a measurable impact on the brain”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7319043.stm

Earlier this week I started writing a post about my birthday. I turned 31 last weekend and celebrated by going to Toronto with my boyfriend to visit some close friends of ours. The people I was with weren’t maniac birthday people, like I am, so my birthday was celebrated by a casual dinner and some drinks at the pub but very little actual celebrating took place. This disappointed me. When I began to write the earlier post, I went on and on about my birthday and how it was so disappointing to not have cake or presents or anything while claiming that I was over it, claiming santosha.

As I wrote this post I realized that I was not at all over my birthday and by writing that I was I would be purging my commitment to satya, truthfulness. I have spent the rest of the week quietly contemplating this and my boyfriend told me he would try harder next year  so I am content. I am over the lack of cake, presents or birthday wishes, truly. Overall it was a great weekend and I have learned not to rush into solving a situation, that to force myself into realizing one path of yoga may mean that I am ignoring another.

“Just as does the full water-tank, when drawn upon, supply the crystal fluid which will fill every vessel according to its shape and size, so do the spiritual teachings, when drawn upon, furnish just what is needed to fill the mind of the earnest student, according to the degree and character of its development”

I am in the middle of reading the Bhagavad Gita, a very long poem about a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna, on a battle field, where Arjuna is about to engage in war. It is one of the last stories in the Vedic texts (Hindu scriptures) and Krishna mentions yoga throughout the poem as a way for Arjuna to reach enlightenment. Although the language is obviously dated, I am really enjoying the book and finding a lot of it very relevant to present day. This is very impressive for a book that was written several thousands of years ago. My copy was even published back in 1930!

Tapas (austerity): Literally, “to burn”; in Yoga, tapas implies the burning of all desires by means of discipline, purification, and penance. Fasting, enduring heat or cold, and observing silence are methods of tapas.

We learned about Tapas this week. I think that this is going to be one of the more accessible aspects of my yoga practice as I love hot yoga, I love my practice, I love to challenge myself and I am generally a pretty enthusiastic person. That being said, I realize that it will be important for me put my enthusiastic nature toward things that I dislike. This week it is going to be wedding dress shopping.

So far shopping for a wedding dress has been very stressful for me and not at all the fun activity I anticipated it would be but as with any task, I have to remind myself why I am doing it. I am having a wedding because I want one, I am getting a wedding dress because I want one. As with any activity in life, I am participating in it because I want to. No one has to go to work, no one has to do laundry, no one has to take out the garbage, or buy a wedding dress, however, participating in these activities provide us with the life that we want, the life that makes us happy. Each time I am faced with a task that I perceive as distasteful I will just remember why I am doing it and that there is always a choice.

I went to my first mantra concert last weekend. It was a part of our yoga training to go and see Sikh singer Snatam Kaur on her Celebrate Peace tour. The concert was held in a lovely church with a big wooden interior. Normally, I don’t even clap at concerts, I observe them in a reserved and “dignified” manner but fter about two second of listening to Snatam Kaur I was chanting along, clapping when it was time and even participating in arm waving and hand holding! To say that this is unusual for me is an understatement.

Although I didn’t participate in the group prayers, I did enjoy the amazing energy they produced that radiated from the stage and throughout the room. Snatam Kaur’s voice and presence are breathtaking and inspiring. Everyone, especially the totally unassuming looking people, seemed to really enjoy the performance and the participation. I left the concert feeling happy, light and loved.

I recently bought this book to improve my ability to teach yoga to people with limited mobility due to illness or physical limitations. It is great! There are tons of sequences, pictures and detailed instructions. What is most helpful is a list of illness and then sample postures for people with that illness. I recommend this to anyone who has or knows someone who has limited mobility.

And, not that I condone shopping at Chapters but the book is 35% off right now if you order it online!