Sewing the seeds

As we enter what I affectionately refer to as “vata season” I find the need to tune in and really listen to what my body is telling me, as opposed to what I would do BYE (Before Yoga Era): become erratic, run around and not focus on anything in particular.

If you’re not familiar with Ayurveda, yoga’s sister science here’s a quick run down. Ayurveda treats the whole person as an individual, we are said to be made of three parts to create our unique constitution: pitta (fire), vata (air), kapha (earth). We are born, live and die with this constitution so the more we understand about it and our propensities within it the more we can live balanced and harmonious (sattvic) existence. If we choose to, free will is a whole other discussion.

The point being, that while we made up of these essences, so we see it revealed in the nature we find around us. Autumn and spring are particularly vata times, there’s a lot of change happen, quite literally (eh-hem) a lot of wind flying around. And since I'm particularly vata, I feel this season particularly. We can feel scattered and thrown to the four corners. The beauty of aryuveda is that one doesn’t treat this as such, it merely provides us with a whole range of tools which we can use to bring more balance.

So for me that means, porridge and stews. It means warm drinks. It means a grounded, slow practice. It means time on the sofa under a duvet enjoying my favourite books and giving myself space for contemplation. Because as autumn is a time to slow down it is also the time we plant the seeds we wish to gestage and then grown in the spring. So it’s the time to turn inside and give space for your creativity to be sewn.

Peek a boo

This week, as I’ve continued my delve into the Bhagavad Gita <small plug for my other blog> the idea of concealment and revelation has been, well, if you’ll pardon the pun, re-revealed to me. I’m assuming a general understanding of the story of The Gita, if not, stop reading this blog and instantly go and get a copy now. I have Easwaran, however, I’ve also heard good things about Stephen Mitchell’s translation. The books I'm using to support my study are Ram Dass' Paths to God (a truly transformative read) and Dr. Douglas Brooks' Poised for Grace.

One of my favourite scenes is when Krishna reveals himself to Arjuna in his entirety. It’s one of the moments which draws me back time and again to The Gita and I’m amazed every time I see it repeated throughout every culture’s literature. My first, aha on that was when Macbeth sees Banquo’s heirs down the ages revealed to him by the three witches in Macbeth. That one truly stopped me in my tracks and made my mouth hang open! It’s like we’ve been given little sign posts along the way just to gently just our conscious mind into remembering. Today I had a hit when my IPhone shuffled its way to David Bowie, how could I forget how great that music is?

The point is this. Forgetting is in no way a problem because forgetting is an entryway into remembering what we already know. It’s the moment when your brain grasps onto something and starts wheezing because it’s desperately trying to recall something, that’s the moment of revelation. That’s the moment of friction between concealment and revelation. That’s the edge we get to play.

Alone with everybody

The thing about yoga is that you don't get to do it alone. Even though I spend so much time on my own. There is a difference between being on your own and being lonely. Let's face it, yoga is a solitary endeavour, we do it in our own little mat, sometimes we break up into partners, mainly we're in our own body and mind. I practice mostly on my own, I plan my classes on my own, when I teach it's me up there at the front on my own. The whole purpose it to go inside yourself and know you better.

So how come I never feel lonely? I never feel lonely because this is a very ancient practice, millions have walked it before me and millions will walk it afterwards. When I chant, I chant words which have been spoken through the ages and will continue to be sung because of the power in their resonance. When I'm lucky enough to be in a crowd in a class there is an energy which lifts everyone. When I read a text, the words have been read and spoken so, so many times.

I am connected through this practice. We are all connected.  

A small confession

I have a little confession to make... I've fallen off the practice bandwagon -*shock*. I know it happens; I’m not flaying myself with a birch branch about it and I know our practice ebbs and flows, that’s just how it is. However, I have noticed how it’s affected my life in some very specific and clear ways:
 

Goodbye energy:  I can’t focus, I’m down, my get up and go has got up and gone

Goodbye awareness: Conscious eating is out of the window, think before I speak? – not so much, getting gnarly about the small stuff is on the rise
 

Goodbye fun: there’s a heaviness to everything, a desire to sit under my mat not on it, I haven’t phoned a friend in a while

Interesting isn’t it. The thing about yoga practice is that when you start it’s like a hit that lights you up for days afterwards. Then after you get accustomed to feeling happy and bright most of the time it’s a huge imposition to not get that feeling. Then you get a bit complacent about it and think, it’s cool, I’ll get back to that in time. Then all of a sudden your mats in a corner gathering dust.

‘nough said. Less blogging more mat time.

Yoga and Cancer

I'm delighted to offer this guest blog on how yoga can help with cancer sufferers...

While healthy individuals may practice yoga for fitness, mental clarity or emotional well-being, cancer patients may turn to gentle yoga classes as a form of therapy.

Aggressive cancers such as mesothelioma can cause symptoms that become debilitating if they are not properly managed. Yoga provides a simple, natural way to relieve both physical and mental symptoms. Mesothelioma patients may also use yoga to relieve side effects of other cancer treatments.

These benefits can be noted after just one yoga class, although patients may benefit the most from recurring sessions. Yoga studios, health clubs and senior centers often offer several gentle yoga classes each week that patients can participate in when their energy levels are high. 

Physical Benefits of Yoga for Cancer Patients

Patients can use yoga as a palliative therapy for several different cancer-related conditions.

For asbestos cancer patients, yoga can help reduce chest pain, promote easier breathing and relieve fatigue. Some of the most beneficial yoga poses for patients with these conditions include:

• Cobra and/or upward dog (to open the chest and improve breathing)
• Child’s pose (lessens fatigue and alleviates head, neck and chest pain
• Extended side angle (stretches the whole body, including the chest and shoulders)
• Warrior II (increases lung capacity)

Certain side effects of other cancer treatments can also be relieved through yoga.

Bridge pose and lotus pose can improve digestion that has been disrupted by chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Chemotherapy-induced nausea may be reduced by reclining hero pose. Many patients also find that a general yoga practice can help fight fatigue or stimulate their appetite when sleep and hunger patterns are disrupted by treatment.

Mental Benefits of Yoga for Cancer Patients

Yoga is also an excellent outlet for cancer-related stress and anxiety. Poses such as forward bend and cat-cow stretches can help induce relaxation. Savasana (the final pose in any yoga class) is also excellent for clearing the mind and releasing tension. A brief period of meditation before or after a yoga class can provide patients with even more opportunities to relax and diffuse stress.  

Even off the mat, cancer patients can use yogic practices to relieve anxiety. Yogic breathing (known as pranayama) can be used in a hospital, cancer center or any other location where patients begin to feel nervous. Slowing the breathing and becoming more attentive to the inhalation and exhalation process can help yoga practitioners feel calmer and more centered any time that anxiety strikes.

Author bio: Faith Franz is a writer for the Mesothelioma Center. She combines her interests in whole-body health and medical research to educate the mesothelioma community about the newest developments in cancer care.

Playing the edge

This week my beginner students asked me to review wild thing, a pose I introduced last week as a way to experience Organic Energy. It's a funky pose, which I've always found gives me a lot of freedom to express myself.

You need a few things to get to this place of expression: a melting heart, ability to move the head of your armbones back, power in your feet and legs and the willingness to go somewhat into the unknown.
To get a feeling you can build up a sequence with some shoulderopeners, funky downward facing dogs and backbends. All good, fun poses in their own right.

Where it really gets interesting though is building up a theme around this pose. My theme on this occasion was given to me through Chris Chavez, at a teacher's practice he led last week (THANK YOU CHRIS!) He was talking about "playing the edge", a phrase we use a lot in yoga. When you break it down, to it's consituent parts: play and edge (or boundary is a word I like to describe the heart quality) you get an idea of how it's possible to face a challenge with a sense of childlike enthusiasm and inhibition. We are contained within out body, yet this gives us a way to feel our experience even more profoundly.

So thinking about my own challenging situations of late, I find that by approaching these challenges with an enquiry mind rather than one of aversion I begin to find where the lesson is and what I'm meant to learn from any situation.

What we're really talking about here is what we refer to in Anusara Yoga as the "Optimal Blueprint". This is the place where you're aligned perfectly, where you'll find new openings and from there it just keeps on expanding.