From the The Here and WOW Story by Char Tara Albert
Where Horizontal “Here” means Time and Vertical “WOW” means Space
A Story where the Time/Space Intersection
Marries the Universal/Personal Creative Juncture
*For more information see my June Blog Post – (1) The River of Satva – The Path of Illumination *The Vibration of Now and Its Location
*The theories expressed here are gleamed from the yogic tradition plus my personal interpretations. My primary information source for this article is from Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by B. K. S. Iyengar which sheds light on the microcosmic structure of the human being as a reflection of macrocosmic universal energy. I am a student of yoga; my understanding is ever evolving so please forgive any immaturity. Page references refer to Light on the Yoga Sutras. Sanskrit words are offered to attune our minds to the origin of these teachings and their core signature vibration. Take whatever wisdom works for you for now. Leave the rest to ponder on a rainy day.
This article addresses a question -
Can the wisdom of yoga help us to manifest abundance, health and greatness?
Yogic Creation Theory and the 3 Gunas – A Play in Time
Accordingly to yoga, in the beginning, the universe spun out of one all-encompassing, united, non-defined universal force which then subdivided into the 3 gunas or speeds of movement. Thus time, contrast of forces and the axis of “here” was play-crafted into being.
1. Satva – illumined central speed pathway – pure white – essence of purity
2. Rajas – hyperactive/hot or fast speed pathway - vibrancy
3. Tamas – underactive/cool or slow speed pathway – inertia
The 5 Elemental Notes – A Play in Space
Energy then further subdivided into the 5 basic elements which are the building blocks of all creation. Thus space was crafted. It was very WOWish and expansive in nature, so I nicknamed it WOW. The elemental notes express themselves through sentient beings through the 5 organs of perception better know as the 5 senses:
1. Earth – Smelling
2. Water - Tasting
3. Fire - Seeing
4. Air - Feeling
5. Ether - Hearing
Patanjali, author of the original Yoga Sutras, writes that the manifested universe is composed of the blended combination of the 3 gunas (time) and the 5 elements (space). This causes a pulsation between the universal creator, called Brahman in Sanskrit, to the individual creator, the seer, the soul called “atman” in Sanskrit. The universal and individual are married to each other eternally by inherent design. The juncture of these 4 aspects, time/here, space/wow, universal being and personal being causes “The Vortex of Now”, a space of Holy Wow Now where thought seeds begin to grow and congeals into tangibility. Knowing how to align these four vectors and access the creative vortex therefore should theoretically allow us to more easily grow “things from thoughts”.
The Vortex of Now and Its Portal in Human Biology
In the human anatomical body the 3 gunas are localized thus:
1. Satva – fire channel, susumna, center of the spinal column
2. Rajas – sun channel, pingala nadi/left brain, right side of body
3. Tamas – ida nadi/right brain, left side of body
Satva, rajas and tamas vibrational lines of energy weave in and out of the 7 chakras or energy wheels located inside the spinal column, first named by ancient yogis. The chakras, centers of transformative energy, align with vital nerve bundles and affect the endocrine glands in the human anatomy. The chakras transform energy circulating between the 7 sheath bodies called kosas in yoga. The 7 kosas vibrate at finer, more subtle to grosser, heavier levels.
The 7 Kosas or Shining Sheaths
7 Coats of Vibration – The Harmonically Aligned Being Has Well-Calibrated Kosas
Satva, rajas and tamas in balance circulate energy between the 7 kosas allowing for healthy functioning of the body, mind and emotions. A vital and well-charged energy system is the result. Deficient energy systems lead to downward dramatic spirals of all kinds so this is important! The 7 levels of vibrational sheaths correspond to the 5 elemental notes.
The 5 elements are most concentrated in the 7 kosas as thus: (pg 51 & pg 141)
1. Earth – physical body – anatomical level – Annamaya Kosa
2. Water – physiological body - physiological level – Pranamaya Kosa
3. Fire – psychological body - mental - Manomaya Kosa
4. Air – intellectual body - intellectual – Vijnanamaya Kosa
5. Ether – Body of Joy - blissful – Anandamaya Kosa
6. Xxxxx* – Body of Consciousness – Cittamaya Kosa
7. Xxxxx* – Body of the Self – Atmamaya Kosa
*Xxxxx refers to undivided consciousness prior to the gunas and elemental divide.
To bring this down to earth, brain lobe locations for the kosas are assigned.
Anatomy of Here and WOW – Seats or Central Positions of Kosas - (pg 100)
1. Ananamaya & Pranamaya Kosa
Anatomical & physiological - frontal brain – seat of logic
2. Manomaya Kosa
Mental - back of brain – seat of reasoning
3. Vijnanamaya Kosa
Intellectual - base of brain – seat of imprints of pleasure & pain
4. Anandamaya Kosa
Blissful - top of brain
Hatha yoga poses (physical type), especially as designed by Mr. Iyengar - which includes inversions and restorative yoga - improves circulation of prana especially in the skull thus aiding right and left brain balance. The skull is an area that gets easily jammed due to hyperactive or dull thinking patterns. That is how the forces of hot raja energy and cool tamas energy manifest in how we think. Functioning of the body reflects the imbalances. Pranayama, pure yogic breath practice, is a highly effective way to know, flow and grow pranic universal energy thus enhancing communication through all 7 kosas.
Trouble in Wowland – When Ego is Driving the Earth Ship!
The 5 Afflictions are called Klesas in Sanskrit
The kosas are designed to dance in harmonic balance expressing the will of the atman, soul within. In yoga theology the non-synchronized state of being manifests as 5 “Klesas” – afflictions. Trouble begins with the root cause, where consciousness of being veers away from the central point where the time/space vortex, the Holy Wow Now and the power of creation really exists. Soul then forgets and looses it finesse in the art of manifestation.
Avidya – Ignorance of Self, want of spiritual knowledge, lack of wisdom
Through forgetfulness of one’s true self and one’s creative power, the seer gets lost in the creation. Avidya begins the downward descent into ignorance. Avidya is the root cause of the obstacles that prevent us from recognizing things as they really are.
The obstacles begin to multiply:
Asmita – Pride, egoism, I consciousness
The first branch of avidya is asmita which pushes us into thoughts of “I need to be better than others. I must dominate others because I know I am right. I am driven to do so. I am obsessed with stories of me and rightly so. Me, me, me - its all I can see!”
Raga – Desire, attachment, pleasure
The second branch of avidya is raga which expresses itself in making demands. The thinking is “I want more and more because it was pleasurable yesterday even if I don’t need it now. I am not satisfied with what I have now. My desire is unquenchable.”
Dvesa – Aversion, hate, dislike
The third branch of avidya is dvesa, the opposite of raga. Dvesa expresses itself by rejecting self, people and things for fear they will bring pain. The thinking is “I am resistant and hostile (aggressively or passively) because either I sense a threat or I am uncertain of something new. I play lots of sneaky ego games to get even. I can put on the brakes or change plans. I can cause others stress and attempt to suppress their growth. I don’t listen well. I generate toxic energy to poison others. I resist learning and growth.”
Abhinivesa - Clinging to life, fear of death, intentness of affection
The fourth branch of avidya is abhinivesa, which is perhaps the most secretive expression aspect due to its undermining effect on our self-image. A poor self-image threatens our sense of survival causing the ego to build complex masks to hide this aspect. The thinking is “I am afraid, insecure, under constant stress and constantly fatigued. Life seems to be after me! I am afraid I am not okay where I am in life, with my body, my work or my family. I am afraid of being judged and not loved. I am resisting aging and death whether I know it or not. I cannot rest and feel trapped. I have to pretend and compensate in order to survive, I am miserable and exhausted.”
Brain locality of the 5 Klesas are listed as thus: (pg 112)
1. Avidya - Front of Brain – the seat of logic
2. Asmita – Top Brain – the seat of the individual self
3. Raga & Dvesa – Base of the Brain (hypothalamus) – subconscious brain
4. Abhinivesa – Back of Brain (archaic brain) – unconscious brain
There are fascinating correlations between these locations and modern brain science which I will explore in future blogs. These teaching extend back at least 5000 years since Patanjali’s Sutras were based on earlier Vedic books in India.
Entering Freedom’s Gate - Practical Applications on the Tract to Samadhi
Samadhi is a state of being, an absorption where the dream of separation ceases for a moment or more – depending on the capacity we have developed or inherited.
The value of accurate knowledge acts as a beacon on the road to knowing what our soul knows. The seed, the seer, the soul, atman is attempting to communicate through our layers of being, via the 7 kosas. It is soul’s nature to be free, to be at peace and to express joy! Yoga was designed as an eight-fold process in order to balance the flow between all 7 kosas. That is why it is important to practice yoga as a system rather than to practice separate components. For instance, I found that it did not work out well for me to be practicing physical yoga and breathing exercises without understanding and utilizing the practice of pratyahara.
Applying the eight-fold path of yoga*
as organized by Patanjali in The Yoga Sutras.
Here is a recipe for how to apply yogic practices for harmonic alignment.
*For a more complete description on the eight fold path of yoga – visit my blog
Freedom’s Blog Part 2 – October Post at http://lifeinzenmotion.blogspot.com/
Pg 126 Iyengar quote, “The seer is clothed in five sheaths (CTA Note: the 2 most inner sheaths -6/7 - are not categorized as having a physical location), by the elements of nature: earth, water, fire, air and ether. Earth represents the anatomical, water the physiological; fire the mental, air the intellectual and ether the spiritual sheaths. The organs of action and senses of perception aid the sakhaka (student) in purifying the anatomical and physiological sheaths through yama (social disciplines) and niyama (personal disciplines). Asana, (physical yoga) pranayama (breath practice) and pratyahara (regulation of the senses) divest the seer of the mental sheath; dharana (concentration) and dhyana (meditation) cleanse the intellectual sheath. Samadhi (absorption into oneness) brings the seer out through the prison-gates of all the sheaths to experience freedom and beatitude.
Author’s Summary
“Here”, a name for time or duration of moments joins with “WOW”, a name for space where the painting of creation unfolds. The aligned juncture of Here and WOW allows for access to the swirling portal of Holy Wow Now where energy folds and unfolds in a natural rhythmic pulsation between the universal aspect of self and the personal version of self, the atman. For me this is the frontier of Wowland I love to play upon!
Regular practice of the holistically designed eight-fold path of yoga which includes knowledge of the three gunas, the five elements, the seven kosas and the four brain lobe locations may lead toward increased effectiveness in achievement. Accomplishments bring growth and growth renews our fortitude and strength. Especially application of samyama – an integration of focus, meditation and absorption - can lead us to become more at ease and enjoy whatever we are doing. Growth must be earned and cannot be forced. Patience, practice, caring and love of life brings forth the fruiting of our tree of yoga when the factors are ripe.
Yoga is the ability to direct the mind towards an aim and maintain the momentum without distraction. Yoga is the state where we can still the fluctuations of the mind so we may both rest and enjoy peace. Proper use of yoga leads towards higher achievement in any field of endeavor and has the potential to mend all relationships. Yoga is the delightful rejoining of body, mind and soul.
I extend my unconditional love to all and my strong intention that we may culture our individual and collective consciousness into heightened global body/mind awareness and find peace and plenty here on Earth as it in Wowland.
*Email me for a free copy of The Anatomy of Here and WOW Summary Table
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Freedom's Blog Part 2 - Whoosh! Letting the Freedom Wave Roll
Riding the Freedom Wave
The Freedom Wave is a natural counter balance to the MOM, More-of-Me Wave. Our thoughts diversify on the wondrous MOM Wave. MOM is natural force which helps us compose love and order, or lesser stuff. We craft our ideas into reality while riding of wild MOM Wave as discussed more fully in Part 1 of Freedom’s Blog.
The Freedom Wave’s job is to decompose less useful forms so there is space for new growth. When we align with nature’s plan to clear out the cob webs, it is best done minus complaints. Whatever we accept we get to go beyond. When we stop resisting this leads towards peace, a state Buddhists call the void or emptiness. When we are open to playing with both waves, as the need arises, a sense of harmony is felt. We are more able to act in accord with the creative laws that govern the universe. Cooperating with the movement of life encourages synchronistic events to occur. Riding both waves is in balance is a lot like captaining a ship poised between waves and wind. I will elaborate more on “Shipology” in a later blog.
Wouldn’t it be nice to ride The Freedom Wave with grace, ease and trust; allowing change to wash through our lives without clinging, begging for mercy, throwing hate darts or screaming mutiny? It is easy to love The MOM Wave, look at all the great nurturing stuff she brings us! When there is More-of-Me who is complaining? But when MOM’s partner the Freedom Wave takes away – Ouch! So why does the universe have to play take away? The force of the Freedom Wave is a big burley bear to hug no doubt, cute in concept, but in person, we sense its’ big claws and teeth. Life can be scary if we stay in the dark.
I am learning how to ride my ship of body/mind on the rise and fall of the MOM and Freedom Wave so I may better enjoy every magical moment. My imagination can travel to the edge of time and beyond. My eyes were opened reading a fascinating book called The Tree of Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar, a modern day Yoga master. Iyengar is also a spokesperson for the ancient sage, Patanjali, who wrote The Yoga Sutras. The tree plan unveils a recipe for keeping your ship on the UP and forward track and balancing the effects of the elements of wind and waves so to speak. The UP-beat heart has the impetus to laugh a little, generate a few nice hormones and keep the course for freedom’s gate. The tree formula has eight steps.
Tree Tech Practices
The tree of yoga is an old formula, thousands of years old, for spiritual achievement. It is a map of how to navigate this world and steer clear of obstacle-making on the path to enlightenment. There are eight steps or limbs on this road to freedom’s gate. The tree is an organic model of how the body, mind and heart become one with the universal pulse, the MOM and Freedom Wave. I can look back in my life and see the effects of ignoring Tree Tech wisdom. Stalled energy resulted. Adherence to the 8 point tree plan is what I now use to remove knots in my body and mind. A knot is a place where life and consciousness flows but not awareness.
The Winning Recipe: (more interpretations on these aspects to follow in future blogs)
The Eight Limbs (Astanga) of Yoga from The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali
Patanjali – 500 B.C. Indian sage, scholar, yogi, dancer, philosopher & doctor
The eight limbs are explained in detail in The Tree of Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar
The SEED of The Tree of Yoga is the Soul, the indivisible spark called Atman in Sanskrit.
Its’ house is in the human body in the heart center.
1. Yama – ROOTS OF TREE
• Non-violence - Ahimsa
• Truthfulness - Satya
• Non-stealing - Asteya
• Moderation in sexuality & relationships - Brahmacharya
• Non-covetousness or greed – Aparigraha
2. Niyama – TRUNK OF TREE
• Cleanliness of body/mind - Sauca
• Contentment - Santosha
• Tapas - Fervor on subject, practices aimed toward liberation, heat
• Study of the Self – Svadhyaya (& sacred texts)
• Surrender to God - Isvarapranidhana (offering fruits of labor)
3. Asana – Yogic Postures – LIMBS OF TREE
4. Pranayama – Breath Regulation – LEAVES OF TREE
5. Pratyahara – Sense Regulation – BARK OF TREE
6. Dharana – Focus & Concentration – SAP OF TREE
7. Dhyana – Meditation & Reciprocation - FLOWERS OF TREE
8. Samadhi – Liberation & Complete Absorption in the ONE
The Goal of Yoga is the state of Samadhi – various levels of -
SAMADHI - ONENESS OF BODY/MIND/SOUL - THE FRUIT OF TREE
The Tree of Yoga –by B.K.S. Iyengar - Pg 3 – Chapter: Yoga is One
“The science of yoga helps us to keep the body as a temple so that it becomes as clean as the soul. The body is lazy, the mind is vibrant and the soul is luminous. Yoga practices develop the body to the level of the vibrant mind so that the body and the mind, having both become vibrant, are drawn towards the light of the soul.”
Chant - Ready, Set, Go or Know, Flow, Grow!
I found that the tree model, a familiar symbol, helps me to memorize the methodology of yoga. Tree Tech lessons are well suited for practical applications in dealing with all manner of relationship, money and health challenges. I match up my experiences by the tree template and examine my actions. If I want to create or dismantle something, first I set it UP in my intention. I imagine that both waves cooperate with my request, to both spin their magic through me. I chant - ready, set, go or know, flow, grow NOW!
The natural components of the tree, the roots, trunk, limbs, leaves, bark, sap, flower and fruit grow and change a little each day just like we do. Each day, the sun shines and the earth supports us with gifts of nature. We all have equal opportunity to grow. With our thoughts, words and deeds, we chose to either add or detract from the UP and forward growth of our tree. Down energy slows us down, whereas UP energy accelerates more UP!
Healthy Roots = A Healthy Foundation
An inventory of our roots is the most fundamental of all the Tree Tech practices.
Tree Tech 101 – The First Root of Our Tree
Yama #1 – Ahimsa – Sanskrit for Non-Violence
Non-violence is an art worth mastering. When we keep our agreement to love and honor our self in our thoughts, words and deeds we practice the core of the non-violence art. Healthy roots must be established first, otherwise we will see our violence manifest and craft more obstacles and knot-making. The five root practices listed are called the Yamas in yoga and Ahimsa is the first root discussed in the classical yoga tree model.
To disassemble violence against self, those thoughts and actions which reject and punish self need to be exposed. Ahimsa acts like a lynch pin. Once we begin to master non-violence, our defensive shields and those aggressive or passive aggressive strategies tend to pop up so we can see them. As we break free of ruts, the flow increases. We get used to higher velocity. Knowledge of our purpose, the intelligence from our soul can get through to our conscious attention.
Adherence to Ahimsa - Tree Tech 101
Ahimsa, non-violence is both a fundamental causative principle in our life, shaping everything we touch, and an under-pinning of our behavioral complexities. Disconnection and fear is the “root of the root”. Love, respect and acceptance of our self prime the pump of the creative well within. Violating self-love and siding with self-neglect or self-loathing is the core origin for all manifestations of spiritual dryness. The seat of our own awareness, our soul, this indivisible awareness with the total vision, the seed in our tree story, is our own inner hero. In The Yoga Sutras, how the mind first subdivides and creates its own obstacles is explained clearly in 196 aphorisms. For me reading the sutras lit flaming torches on the road to freedom. Our demanding ego, a shadow of the real self, is the cause of the real drag in life. It slows down forward thrust and increases our addictive need of and enslavement to this world. The world is wonderful, but not so when we have forgotten our true nature and let ego call the shots. For when we resist either the flow of the MOM or Freedom Wave, when we resist and say NO to our very own life creations, we reject self. Thus energy stalls and slips down. This is against self, this is violence. We can stop such nonsense once we see the game.
Promises, Promises – The Honor of Our Word
The ultimate promise to self is to allow our soul seed awareness to fully incarnate into the body and mind. The luminosity of the soul may cause intense feelings of radiation within. Some feel heat, sense a warm fluid moving within or see light. Sometimes I do too. Now the body moves with greater grace. These warm feelings help provide impetus to keep UP and find the keys to access our wishing well, our font of all good to come. Our heart of infinite gold rewards us when we open. As we soften, this flowering offsets the rigors of the upward climb, our spiritual journey. The Yogis call this heart juice, nectar. We need the hearts energy to sustain UP drive.
When we honor and keep a firm commitment to know, flow and grow beyond whatever illusions enslave us, regardless of what comes up, we culture self-confidence. In life we are likely to come face to face with challenges that sprouted from our less-than-loving thoughts. Yet the practice of non-violence, of self-love, self-communication and self-acceptance form this powerful foundation of self-reliance and inner strength. When our foundation, our promise to love and honor our self is solid, our roots can drink deeply. Then we are open to receive. By pausing to breathe deeply, by practicing the tree of yoga and by studying ourselves we transform. Plucking apart negative thoughts before we express them begins to break the pattern. The defensive egoic formulas that fuel down loose power. Down begins to turn to UP! If you are excited by this then perhaps your wonderment factor is already twirling you UP the cosmic slide! Good work.
Exposing the Ego Song – Anytime but Now!
What tools can we summon to expose the ego song? The ego likes to look good and tends to mask its destructive underlying motives. We are either 100% committed to live up to our word or willing to slip slide through life, looking for “outs” - justifications. An agreement represents the honor of our word and the power of our commitment is a tap root which supports and feeds the growth of our tree towards freedom. Being impeccably responsible and trusting in our own self-worth is the basis for creating freedom and prosperity. Forgetting significant agreements or allowing reasons, accidents, sickness or circumstances to unilaterally shift the rules is generally the slid/slide work of the egoic mind. Violating promises and commitments undermine our own self image – these actions are against self and therefore are violent. If agreements are broken regularly, we loose trust in our word to get the job done. Have you ever argued for your own limitations? It is an illusion that circumstances dictate our life, health, relationships or professional status. Our ego mind is a song, a voice that puts ideas in our head. It invents creative ways to get out of commitments. It’s a misuse of the MOM Wave. We are divinely gifted with free will and can use it for good or not. Now, we can select the high path, the tree tech path to reverse all downward spins and lighten UP!
Harmonic Alignment = Freedom!
I find that the more integrally I operate without what I call Hit and Run Tactics, the games my lost child plays when it is scared, the more energy I have for fun. The more fun I have the more I hear the freedom song of my soul. In this flushed abundant state, I now and only now, can cope with the take away factor of the Freedom Wave. In this exuberant wide open place, I begin to figure out how to use the dismantling process without hurting myself or others. I ponder Ahimsa and ask for clarity within if I get into a jam of any sort.
When I am in harmony, I have both Wave reigns in my hands, to create More of Me and the Freedom to give UP! The seed of my soul thrills in taking the MOM and Freedom Wave ride to higher and higher octaves. The more I stay UP on my wave, thrilled with the day, balanced and joyous, I falter less and thus wave friction is reduced. Growth is fun! Harmonic alignment is possible! The Tree of Yoga and The Yoga Sutras explain systemically how to remove the causes of obstacles. Yoga leads to Samadhi – Sanskrit for a state of harmony.
Yes Listening
The YES form of listening is a disciplined approach to hearing that can attune us to know the richness of our inner landscape, the magical dream world I call Wowland. As we become free to journey to Wowland throughout our day and night, synchronistic events are drawn forth more frequently. We catch glimpses of this juicy heart place leading to freedom’s gate where the egoic walls melt and the fluids run clear. Yes, we taste the salt of high adventure and smell the wind of relief. Maybe we cry, or dance and celebrate. Whoosh! we let that Freedom Wave roll. We let go! Now we can make more fun. We say YES, I am ready! Now, ready, set, go. Now, go - know, flow and grow.
And please remember to love each other UP! …..Oh, that is Part 3…to be continued.
The Freedom Wave is a natural counter balance to the MOM, More-of-Me Wave. Our thoughts diversify on the wondrous MOM Wave. MOM is natural force which helps us compose love and order, or lesser stuff. We craft our ideas into reality while riding of wild MOM Wave as discussed more fully in Part 1 of Freedom’s Blog.
The Freedom Wave’s job is to decompose less useful forms so there is space for new growth. When we align with nature’s plan to clear out the cob webs, it is best done minus complaints. Whatever we accept we get to go beyond. When we stop resisting this leads towards peace, a state Buddhists call the void or emptiness. When we are open to playing with both waves, as the need arises, a sense of harmony is felt. We are more able to act in accord with the creative laws that govern the universe. Cooperating with the movement of life encourages synchronistic events to occur. Riding both waves is in balance is a lot like captaining a ship poised between waves and wind. I will elaborate more on “Shipology” in a later blog.
Wouldn’t it be nice to ride The Freedom Wave with grace, ease and trust; allowing change to wash through our lives without clinging, begging for mercy, throwing hate darts or screaming mutiny? It is easy to love The MOM Wave, look at all the great nurturing stuff she brings us! When there is More-of-Me who is complaining? But when MOM’s partner the Freedom Wave takes away – Ouch! So why does the universe have to play take away? The force of the Freedom Wave is a big burley bear to hug no doubt, cute in concept, but in person, we sense its’ big claws and teeth. Life can be scary if we stay in the dark.
I am learning how to ride my ship of body/mind on the rise and fall of the MOM and Freedom Wave so I may better enjoy every magical moment. My imagination can travel to the edge of time and beyond. My eyes were opened reading a fascinating book called The Tree of Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar, a modern day Yoga master. Iyengar is also a spokesperson for the ancient sage, Patanjali, who wrote The Yoga Sutras. The tree plan unveils a recipe for keeping your ship on the UP and forward track and balancing the effects of the elements of wind and waves so to speak. The UP-beat heart has the impetus to laugh a little, generate a few nice hormones and keep the course for freedom’s gate. The tree formula has eight steps.
Tree Tech Practices
The tree of yoga is an old formula, thousands of years old, for spiritual achievement. It is a map of how to navigate this world and steer clear of obstacle-making on the path to enlightenment. There are eight steps or limbs on this road to freedom’s gate. The tree is an organic model of how the body, mind and heart become one with the universal pulse, the MOM and Freedom Wave. I can look back in my life and see the effects of ignoring Tree Tech wisdom. Stalled energy resulted. Adherence to the 8 point tree plan is what I now use to remove knots in my body and mind. A knot is a place where life and consciousness flows but not awareness.
The Winning Recipe: (more interpretations on these aspects to follow in future blogs)
The Eight Limbs (Astanga) of Yoga from The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali
Patanjali – 500 B.C. Indian sage, scholar, yogi, dancer, philosopher & doctor
The eight limbs are explained in detail in The Tree of Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar
The SEED of The Tree of Yoga is the Soul, the indivisible spark called Atman in Sanskrit.
Its’ house is in the human body in the heart center.
1. Yama – ROOTS OF TREE
• Non-violence - Ahimsa
• Truthfulness - Satya
• Non-stealing - Asteya
• Moderation in sexuality & relationships - Brahmacharya
• Non-covetousness or greed – Aparigraha
2. Niyama – TRUNK OF TREE
• Cleanliness of body/mind - Sauca
• Contentment - Santosha
• Tapas - Fervor on subject, practices aimed toward liberation, heat
• Study of the Self – Svadhyaya (& sacred texts)
• Surrender to God - Isvarapranidhana (offering fruits of labor)
3. Asana – Yogic Postures – LIMBS OF TREE
4. Pranayama – Breath Regulation – LEAVES OF TREE
5. Pratyahara – Sense Regulation – BARK OF TREE
6. Dharana – Focus & Concentration – SAP OF TREE
7. Dhyana – Meditation & Reciprocation - FLOWERS OF TREE
8. Samadhi – Liberation & Complete Absorption in the ONE
The Goal of Yoga is the state of Samadhi – various levels of -
SAMADHI - ONENESS OF BODY/MIND/SOUL - THE FRUIT OF TREE
The Tree of Yoga –by B.K.S. Iyengar - Pg 3 – Chapter: Yoga is One
“The science of yoga helps us to keep the body as a temple so that it becomes as clean as the soul. The body is lazy, the mind is vibrant and the soul is luminous. Yoga practices develop the body to the level of the vibrant mind so that the body and the mind, having both become vibrant, are drawn towards the light of the soul.”
Chant - Ready, Set, Go or Know, Flow, Grow!
I found that the tree model, a familiar symbol, helps me to memorize the methodology of yoga. Tree Tech lessons are well suited for practical applications in dealing with all manner of relationship, money and health challenges. I match up my experiences by the tree template and examine my actions. If I want to create or dismantle something, first I set it UP in my intention. I imagine that both waves cooperate with my request, to both spin their magic through me. I chant - ready, set, go or know, flow, grow NOW!
The natural components of the tree, the roots, trunk, limbs, leaves, bark, sap, flower and fruit grow and change a little each day just like we do. Each day, the sun shines and the earth supports us with gifts of nature. We all have equal opportunity to grow. With our thoughts, words and deeds, we chose to either add or detract from the UP and forward growth of our tree. Down energy slows us down, whereas UP energy accelerates more UP!
Healthy Roots = A Healthy Foundation
An inventory of our roots is the most fundamental of all the Tree Tech practices.
Tree Tech 101 – The First Root of Our Tree
Yama #1 – Ahimsa – Sanskrit for Non-Violence
Non-violence is an art worth mastering. When we keep our agreement to love and honor our self in our thoughts, words and deeds we practice the core of the non-violence art. Healthy roots must be established first, otherwise we will see our violence manifest and craft more obstacles and knot-making. The five root practices listed are called the Yamas in yoga and Ahimsa is the first root discussed in the classical yoga tree model.
To disassemble violence against self, those thoughts and actions which reject and punish self need to be exposed. Ahimsa acts like a lynch pin. Once we begin to master non-violence, our defensive shields and those aggressive or passive aggressive strategies tend to pop up so we can see them. As we break free of ruts, the flow increases. We get used to higher velocity. Knowledge of our purpose, the intelligence from our soul can get through to our conscious attention.
Adherence to Ahimsa - Tree Tech 101
Ahimsa, non-violence is both a fundamental causative principle in our life, shaping everything we touch, and an under-pinning of our behavioral complexities. Disconnection and fear is the “root of the root”. Love, respect and acceptance of our self prime the pump of the creative well within. Violating self-love and siding with self-neglect or self-loathing is the core origin for all manifestations of spiritual dryness. The seat of our own awareness, our soul, this indivisible awareness with the total vision, the seed in our tree story, is our own inner hero. In The Yoga Sutras, how the mind first subdivides and creates its own obstacles is explained clearly in 196 aphorisms. For me reading the sutras lit flaming torches on the road to freedom. Our demanding ego, a shadow of the real self, is the cause of the real drag in life. It slows down forward thrust and increases our addictive need of and enslavement to this world. The world is wonderful, but not so when we have forgotten our true nature and let ego call the shots. For when we resist either the flow of the MOM or Freedom Wave, when we resist and say NO to our very own life creations, we reject self. Thus energy stalls and slips down. This is against self, this is violence. We can stop such nonsense once we see the game.
Promises, Promises – The Honor of Our Word
The ultimate promise to self is to allow our soul seed awareness to fully incarnate into the body and mind. The luminosity of the soul may cause intense feelings of radiation within. Some feel heat, sense a warm fluid moving within or see light. Sometimes I do too. Now the body moves with greater grace. These warm feelings help provide impetus to keep UP and find the keys to access our wishing well, our font of all good to come. Our heart of infinite gold rewards us when we open. As we soften, this flowering offsets the rigors of the upward climb, our spiritual journey. The Yogis call this heart juice, nectar. We need the hearts energy to sustain UP drive.
When we honor and keep a firm commitment to know, flow and grow beyond whatever illusions enslave us, regardless of what comes up, we culture self-confidence. In life we are likely to come face to face with challenges that sprouted from our less-than-loving thoughts. Yet the practice of non-violence, of self-love, self-communication and self-acceptance form this powerful foundation of self-reliance and inner strength. When our foundation, our promise to love and honor our self is solid, our roots can drink deeply. Then we are open to receive. By pausing to breathe deeply, by practicing the tree of yoga and by studying ourselves we transform. Plucking apart negative thoughts before we express them begins to break the pattern. The defensive egoic formulas that fuel down loose power. Down begins to turn to UP! If you are excited by this then perhaps your wonderment factor is already twirling you UP the cosmic slide! Good work.
Exposing the Ego Song – Anytime but Now!
What tools can we summon to expose the ego song? The ego likes to look good and tends to mask its destructive underlying motives. We are either 100% committed to live up to our word or willing to slip slide through life, looking for “outs” - justifications. An agreement represents the honor of our word and the power of our commitment is a tap root which supports and feeds the growth of our tree towards freedom. Being impeccably responsible and trusting in our own self-worth is the basis for creating freedom and prosperity. Forgetting significant agreements or allowing reasons, accidents, sickness or circumstances to unilaterally shift the rules is generally the slid/slide work of the egoic mind. Violating promises and commitments undermine our own self image – these actions are against self and therefore are violent. If agreements are broken regularly, we loose trust in our word to get the job done. Have you ever argued for your own limitations? It is an illusion that circumstances dictate our life, health, relationships or professional status. Our ego mind is a song, a voice that puts ideas in our head. It invents creative ways to get out of commitments. It’s a misuse of the MOM Wave. We are divinely gifted with free will and can use it for good or not. Now, we can select the high path, the tree tech path to reverse all downward spins and lighten UP!
Harmonic Alignment = Freedom!
I find that the more integrally I operate without what I call Hit and Run Tactics, the games my lost child plays when it is scared, the more energy I have for fun. The more fun I have the more I hear the freedom song of my soul. In this flushed abundant state, I now and only now, can cope with the take away factor of the Freedom Wave. In this exuberant wide open place, I begin to figure out how to use the dismantling process without hurting myself or others. I ponder Ahimsa and ask for clarity within if I get into a jam of any sort.
When I am in harmony, I have both Wave reigns in my hands, to create More of Me and the Freedom to give UP! The seed of my soul thrills in taking the MOM and Freedom Wave ride to higher and higher octaves. The more I stay UP on my wave, thrilled with the day, balanced and joyous, I falter less and thus wave friction is reduced. Growth is fun! Harmonic alignment is possible! The Tree of Yoga and The Yoga Sutras explain systemically how to remove the causes of obstacles. Yoga leads to Samadhi – Sanskrit for a state of harmony.
Yes Listening
The YES form of listening is a disciplined approach to hearing that can attune us to know the richness of our inner landscape, the magical dream world I call Wowland. As we become free to journey to Wowland throughout our day and night, synchronistic events are drawn forth more frequently. We catch glimpses of this juicy heart place leading to freedom’s gate where the egoic walls melt and the fluids run clear. Yes, we taste the salt of high adventure and smell the wind of relief. Maybe we cry, or dance and celebrate. Whoosh! we let that Freedom Wave roll. We let go! Now we can make more fun. We say YES, I am ready! Now, ready, set, go. Now, go - know, flow and grow.
And please remember to love each other UP! …..Oh, that is Part 3…to be continued.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Freedom's Blog - How to Turn Down to UP! In 5 Part Harmony
Part 1 – Riding The MOM Wave
Introduction
This tangible universe operates according to the laws of opposites, checks and balances where every force is counterbalanced. From this perspective there is no good or bad, right or wrong, just the ever moving dance of cosmic ether into matter and then the reverse process of dissolution. I call these two vectors The MOM (More of Me) Wave and The Freedom Wave; together they cause full atomic cycling. Noticing and riding these two waves with equal openness brings harmonic balance. Letting go on the Freedom Wave makes more room for creativity. Creativity on the MOM Wave is enhanced when we can put down our old habits. Posing our mind and heart between these opposite forces and accepting life as a joy, helps reverse downward trends and restores UP and forward motion. My perspectives and the exercises that follow are drawn from the well of ancient yogic wisdom of which I am a student. Take what fits for you. At this time, some of my favorite authors are B.K.S. Iyengar, Eckert Tolle and the Abraham material.
Caveat for Down & UP
Labeling life as down or up is quite absurd! The cosmos is swirling! However, in this blog “down” refers to mood energy which has become dismembered from the inner throb of peaceful being. This sub-divided aspect of self takes on personality characteristic and causes a mood removed from full MOM and Freedom cycle, a mood that fights itself and tends to create encumbrances or obstacles. So “down” in Freedom’s Blog refers to emotional energy that has become awkwardly complex, isolated, slow moving and biologically dysfunctional. Healthy flow gets inhibited and cellular cycles that depend on the full MOM and Freedom cycle become chaotic. A build up of stuff that blocks our insight of how to move on is caused by resisting the cleansing power of the Freedom Wave.
The MOM Wave and The Freedom Wave
Most of us know what its like to get stuck in the down dimension. Down and UP emotions create matching life circumstances. If heading down you might get more down and notice your life turning downhill. However the good news is the well is always open! The More-of-Me or MOM Wave describes a common direction in time/space, a force that primes the creative well within which is designed to express and manifest our desires.
In yoga, the stages of development from a seed to flower and fruit bearing tree describe the spiritual quest. Our soul is the seed, the original spark that caused life. Our soul is a watcher that allows the creative wave to flow through the body and mind to awaken, grow, bloom and completes itself. The MOM Wave is moving behind all life and there is no stopping it. Trying to block MOM can cause exhaustion. The wishing well of our heart, our very own creative vortex, is the hot little idea-box that the MOM Wave draws from and returns to. Our unique soul generates its own beautiful ideas to add to the collective wave. The MOM Wave causes fruitation, it composes and the Freedom Wave facilitates decomposing or cosmic composting.
Allowing The MOM Wave to Move Through You
If we try to block the MOM Wave from moving through us, it tends to cause friction. This disturbance can cause a type of blindness where the soul gets dizzy and forgets what it is UP to. It is easy to become so enraptured and busy in this marvelous world. The yogic theory is that as we grow immersed into multiplying the complexity of our idea-forms, the very dazzle of it all creates amnesia of why we first came into motion. We loose our memory of purpose. Our soul seed voice gets crowded out by other competitive agendas that the mind makes up. This aspect of the mind, the ego, is very much like a lost child. The animal mind will fight to the death to prove it’s self along with clinging to everything in sight. Really our child is afraid. This floundering of desperation wastes energy and disperses concentration. That is how downward swirl occurs; dynamic UP and forward motion is sacrificed. Our disconnection within is what starts the whirlpool of down. Distrust maintains the blockage. Lack of faith in the MOM Wave causes us to pinch tight the feed lines.
We pivot towards the good when we open to allow the MOM Wave to flow through us. To prepare for MOM, we widen our chest, relax and invite her to move through us without complaint. Trust opens our heart and teaches us to ride the wild MOM for all she’s worth. YES IS THE WORD for more MOM!
The Goddess of MOM
The MOM Wave is called The Goddess by ancient cultures. For instance, Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity, wisdom, fortune, generosity and courage. For me this archetype conjures up an image of a magnificent being that emits luxurious, generosity and infinite benevolence. Belief in a high power can help restore trust or you can just trust MOM without needing a stimulus or symbol. Accessing innate intelligence and remembering we are free to create our own destiny is the first step to come awake. Even our cells have the codes to recall our truth and make MOM, more of me. Our solar plexus can be triggered to act like turbines of trust, real guts, ever ready to spiral UP!
Posing or Imposing
While we have little control over the world and its myriad of characters, we do have control over the posing of our emotions. We cannot impose our ideas on others but we can be the peace we wish to see in the world. You see, even if a person is really stuck in “Downland”, and believes they have zero control over their feelings; one step in the UP direction will reverse down.
Give Up the Future
The shift can only occur in the now, not later. I had to give up the future. It never came and that made me unhappy. So then I learned to let go of this fleeting thing called future. Turning down to up requires a powerful pivot, best to do it immediately, fueled by gut trust in our self. UP feelings empower our will to live, activates digestion, increases our rate of inhalation and exhalation and mobilizes cellular intelligence. An UP energy vibration impacts health, happiness and harmony. Down energy can cause the soul seed to forget entirely its reason for being, causing anger, blame and confusion. It is never too late to turn around. UP energy restores memory, relieves frustration and despair and leads towards freedom’s gate. So ride the MOM Wave and go for UP and forward with all your might and don’t look back. Oops, I forgot to mention, you have to give up the past too!
Hint
She, the great MOM Wave, flows on your in-breath!
Stay tuned in. Part 2 of Freedom’s Blog explores The MOM Wave partner – The Freedom Wave
Introduction
This tangible universe operates according to the laws of opposites, checks and balances where every force is counterbalanced. From this perspective there is no good or bad, right or wrong, just the ever moving dance of cosmic ether into matter and then the reverse process of dissolution. I call these two vectors The MOM (More of Me) Wave and The Freedom Wave; together they cause full atomic cycling. Noticing and riding these two waves with equal openness brings harmonic balance. Letting go on the Freedom Wave makes more room for creativity. Creativity on the MOM Wave is enhanced when we can put down our old habits. Posing our mind and heart between these opposite forces and accepting life as a joy, helps reverse downward trends and restores UP and forward motion. My perspectives and the exercises that follow are drawn from the well of ancient yogic wisdom of which I am a student. Take what fits for you. At this time, some of my favorite authors are B.K.S. Iyengar, Eckert Tolle and the Abraham material.
Caveat for Down & UP
Labeling life as down or up is quite absurd! The cosmos is swirling! However, in this blog “down” refers to mood energy which has become dismembered from the inner throb of peaceful being. This sub-divided aspect of self takes on personality characteristic and causes a mood removed from full MOM and Freedom cycle, a mood that fights itself and tends to create encumbrances or obstacles. So “down” in Freedom’s Blog refers to emotional energy that has become awkwardly complex, isolated, slow moving and biologically dysfunctional. Healthy flow gets inhibited and cellular cycles that depend on the full MOM and Freedom cycle become chaotic. A build up of stuff that blocks our insight of how to move on is caused by resisting the cleansing power of the Freedom Wave.
The MOM Wave and The Freedom Wave
Most of us know what its like to get stuck in the down dimension. Down and UP emotions create matching life circumstances. If heading down you might get more down and notice your life turning downhill. However the good news is the well is always open! The More-of-Me or MOM Wave describes a common direction in time/space, a force that primes the creative well within which is designed to express and manifest our desires.
In yoga, the stages of development from a seed to flower and fruit bearing tree describe the spiritual quest. Our soul is the seed, the original spark that caused life. Our soul is a watcher that allows the creative wave to flow through the body and mind to awaken, grow, bloom and completes itself. The MOM Wave is moving behind all life and there is no stopping it. Trying to block MOM can cause exhaustion. The wishing well of our heart, our very own creative vortex, is the hot little idea-box that the MOM Wave draws from and returns to. Our unique soul generates its own beautiful ideas to add to the collective wave. The MOM Wave causes fruitation, it composes and the Freedom Wave facilitates decomposing or cosmic composting.
Allowing The MOM Wave to Move Through You
If we try to block the MOM Wave from moving through us, it tends to cause friction. This disturbance can cause a type of blindness where the soul gets dizzy and forgets what it is UP to. It is easy to become so enraptured and busy in this marvelous world. The yogic theory is that as we grow immersed into multiplying the complexity of our idea-forms, the very dazzle of it all creates amnesia of why we first came into motion. We loose our memory of purpose. Our soul seed voice gets crowded out by other competitive agendas that the mind makes up. This aspect of the mind, the ego, is very much like a lost child. The animal mind will fight to the death to prove it’s self along with clinging to everything in sight. Really our child is afraid. This floundering of desperation wastes energy and disperses concentration. That is how downward swirl occurs; dynamic UP and forward motion is sacrificed. Our disconnection within is what starts the whirlpool of down. Distrust maintains the blockage. Lack of faith in the MOM Wave causes us to pinch tight the feed lines.
We pivot towards the good when we open to allow the MOM Wave to flow through us. To prepare for MOM, we widen our chest, relax and invite her to move through us without complaint. Trust opens our heart and teaches us to ride the wild MOM for all she’s worth. YES IS THE WORD for more MOM!
The Goddess of MOM
The MOM Wave is called The Goddess by ancient cultures. For instance, Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity, wisdom, fortune, generosity and courage. For me this archetype conjures up an image of a magnificent being that emits luxurious, generosity and infinite benevolence. Belief in a high power can help restore trust or you can just trust MOM without needing a stimulus or symbol. Accessing innate intelligence and remembering we are free to create our own destiny is the first step to come awake. Even our cells have the codes to recall our truth and make MOM, more of me. Our solar plexus can be triggered to act like turbines of trust, real guts, ever ready to spiral UP!
Posing or Imposing
While we have little control over the world and its myriad of characters, we do have control over the posing of our emotions. We cannot impose our ideas on others but we can be the peace we wish to see in the world. You see, even if a person is really stuck in “Downland”, and believes they have zero control over their feelings; one step in the UP direction will reverse down.
Give Up the Future
The shift can only occur in the now, not later. I had to give up the future. It never came and that made me unhappy. So then I learned to let go of this fleeting thing called future. Turning down to up requires a powerful pivot, best to do it immediately, fueled by gut trust in our self. UP feelings empower our will to live, activates digestion, increases our rate of inhalation and exhalation and mobilizes cellular intelligence. An UP energy vibration impacts health, happiness and harmony. Down energy can cause the soul seed to forget entirely its reason for being, causing anger, blame and confusion. It is never too late to turn around. UP energy restores memory, relieves frustration and despair and leads towards freedom’s gate. So ride the MOM Wave and go for UP and forward with all your might and don’t look back. Oops, I forgot to mention, you have to give up the past too!
Hint
She, the great MOM Wave, flows on your in-breath!
Stay tuned in. Part 2 of Freedom’s Blog explores The MOM Wave partner – The Freedom Wave
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Recharging Our Vitality Turbines
Recharging Our Vitality Turbines!
Each cell in the human body acts like a vitality turbine which powers our progress each day. In the solar plexus area of the body, around the navel, is an area called Manipura in the yoga tradition (Sanskrit). Here the feeling network reveals that our tummy feels good or not. If we are able to transform foods into usable cellular energy then we are supported to function at our optimal best. The solar plexus acts as a generator to sustain momentum during life’s many up and downs. There will always be “things” we cannot change immediately. Having an energy reserve in our cells due to good digestion provides a feeling of abundance and this engenders optimism and acceptance. We create, we are responsible for the condition of our feeling and gross bodies. Choosing to live in the spirit of gratitude vs. complaint encourages us to look on the bright side and this develops more adaptability. Playfulness and cooperation with the movement of life adds that extra joy wheel into Manipura to keep recharging the vitality turbine.
Sailing towards our Destiny – Knowing our Direction
Imagine a sail boat as our body/mind vehicle. For the long haul from birth to death we need the wind to fill our sails as breath fills our lungs. For short stints, we use the engine, the energy reserve in Manipura for more power. The idea is to mostly use the wind and not use up all your gas by the time you are 35!
In our day of modern science we can dissect and study how the digestive system operates yet that does not explain how our moods and attitudes reflect themselves in our tummy area. Do we have tools to keep our spirits high? Do we live with an attitude of plentitude that potential energy is everywhere? How do we harvest the most energy and joy from what we think and eat?
Shifting towards higher functioning implies giving up waiting for change. I believe that each being has a chosen destiny and only when we are on route do our vitality turbines burn most efficiently. Some sort of sensing device in our heart knows that either we are heading toward home or not and revs up the gas or steps on the brake. If each day we proceed closer to our heart’s call, then the perpetual motion of enthusiasm will carry us along on the wind.
The 5 Phases of Recharging Our Cellular Turbines
1. Acceptance and Gratitude: Regardless if we are starting with good or poor health, we first accept where we are and really be okay with it. This will naturally part the curtain of ignorance that shrouds our attachments to ideas, to wanting things to be different than they are. Acceptance is a leap off point, a portal to receive energy by cooperating with the movement of life. This creates flow and delight.
2. Study: Arrogance blocks growth. After many years I came to see my own futile resistance hidden deep under other layers that looked nice to the world. I was humbled. I learned to question myself, meditate, take long walks in nature and introspect. Research and study helps me dance on this edge of growth, being willing to open my mind and learn from others. Study informs and helps renew the mind.
3. Healthy Practices: Study and humility then helps us to understand and explore new health practices. Seeing positive results provides necessary feedback. Noticeable results can be used to increase commitment. Commitment produces more results.
4. Imagination: Sometimes I pretend I am two years old again and fresh on life’s journey with endless zeal! I have a photo of little baby me nearby to jog my memory. Modulating my own mood has been my ally in growing well. Music is useful to stimulate the imagination. So are excursions in nature flooded with sunshine and beauty. Use what you got and be creative. Playfulness causes fun and joy turns turbine wheels!
5. Sharing & Caring: When we finally see how the principles of abundance work we can begin to use what is called karma yoga. Whatever we create we then do for the joy of the doing and the sharing. We enjoy the journey and not just the journey’s end. We savor the moment. We treasure our relationships with others, we feel what they feel. The connection and pleasure is immediate. Watch out for old losers to reappear in the mind, those win/lose greedy gremlins. Discipline the mind with meditation! Sharing and caring are the precepts of prosperity.
We have a galaxy of cells, celestial-agents, if you will, that carry the code of our attitudes and moods via chemicals of emotion. Our cells are thus entrained as energy turbines. Their level of vibration reflects our alignment with the direction of our destiny. The gathering of cells in the digestive area, in the Manipura Chakra - unveil a song each day of willingness or resistance, wellness or woe. I hope these ideas help you consider the effects of your thoughts and feelings on the charge level of your cellular turbines and the integrity of your digestive system.
Wait no more. Go for joy now and breathe big! Let your heart expand and tell you its secrets.
One more time: Listening and accepting the truth that our body teaches us, thankfulness, being willing to learn new stuff while adapting to life’s ups and downs with a creative sprit, and committing to find and enact our special work in the world all these serve us well on our journey towards holy wholeness. Healthy practices and a caring and sharing attitude keep the circle of love flowing and flowering ever outward and paradoxically inward in the cosmic spiral of evolution.
Each cell in the human body acts like a vitality turbine which powers our progress each day. In the solar plexus area of the body, around the navel, is an area called Manipura in the yoga tradition (Sanskrit). Here the feeling network reveals that our tummy feels good or not. If we are able to transform foods into usable cellular energy then we are supported to function at our optimal best. The solar plexus acts as a generator to sustain momentum during life’s many up and downs. There will always be “things” we cannot change immediately. Having an energy reserve in our cells due to good digestion provides a feeling of abundance and this engenders optimism and acceptance. We create, we are responsible for the condition of our feeling and gross bodies. Choosing to live in the spirit of gratitude vs. complaint encourages us to look on the bright side and this develops more adaptability. Playfulness and cooperation with the movement of life adds that extra joy wheel into Manipura to keep recharging the vitality turbine.
Sailing towards our Destiny – Knowing our Direction
Imagine a sail boat as our body/mind vehicle. For the long haul from birth to death we need the wind to fill our sails as breath fills our lungs. For short stints, we use the engine, the energy reserve in Manipura for more power. The idea is to mostly use the wind and not use up all your gas by the time you are 35!
In our day of modern science we can dissect and study how the digestive system operates yet that does not explain how our moods and attitudes reflect themselves in our tummy area. Do we have tools to keep our spirits high? Do we live with an attitude of plentitude that potential energy is everywhere? How do we harvest the most energy and joy from what we think and eat?
Shifting towards higher functioning implies giving up waiting for change. I believe that each being has a chosen destiny and only when we are on route do our vitality turbines burn most efficiently. Some sort of sensing device in our heart knows that either we are heading toward home or not and revs up the gas or steps on the brake. If each day we proceed closer to our heart’s call, then the perpetual motion of enthusiasm will carry us along on the wind.
The 5 Phases of Recharging Our Cellular Turbines
1. Acceptance and Gratitude: Regardless if we are starting with good or poor health, we first accept where we are and really be okay with it. This will naturally part the curtain of ignorance that shrouds our attachments to ideas, to wanting things to be different than they are. Acceptance is a leap off point, a portal to receive energy by cooperating with the movement of life. This creates flow and delight.
2. Study: Arrogance blocks growth. After many years I came to see my own futile resistance hidden deep under other layers that looked nice to the world. I was humbled. I learned to question myself, meditate, take long walks in nature and introspect. Research and study helps me dance on this edge of growth, being willing to open my mind and learn from others. Study informs and helps renew the mind.
3. Healthy Practices: Study and humility then helps us to understand and explore new health practices. Seeing positive results provides necessary feedback. Noticeable results can be used to increase commitment. Commitment produces more results.
4. Imagination: Sometimes I pretend I am two years old again and fresh on life’s journey with endless zeal! I have a photo of little baby me nearby to jog my memory. Modulating my own mood has been my ally in growing well. Music is useful to stimulate the imagination. So are excursions in nature flooded with sunshine and beauty. Use what you got and be creative. Playfulness causes fun and joy turns turbine wheels!
5. Sharing & Caring: When we finally see how the principles of abundance work we can begin to use what is called karma yoga. Whatever we create we then do for the joy of the doing and the sharing. We enjoy the journey and not just the journey’s end. We savor the moment. We treasure our relationships with others, we feel what they feel. The connection and pleasure is immediate. Watch out for old losers to reappear in the mind, those win/lose greedy gremlins. Discipline the mind with meditation! Sharing and caring are the precepts of prosperity.
We have a galaxy of cells, celestial-agents, if you will, that carry the code of our attitudes and moods via chemicals of emotion. Our cells are thus entrained as energy turbines. Their level of vibration reflects our alignment with the direction of our destiny. The gathering of cells in the digestive area, in the Manipura Chakra - unveil a song each day of willingness or resistance, wellness or woe. I hope these ideas help you consider the effects of your thoughts and feelings on the charge level of your cellular turbines and the integrity of your digestive system.
Wait no more. Go for joy now and breathe big! Let your heart expand and tell you its secrets.
One more time: Listening and accepting the truth that our body teaches us, thankfulness, being willing to learn new stuff while adapting to life’s ups and downs with a creative sprit, and committing to find and enact our special work in the world all these serve us well on our journey towards holy wholeness. Healthy practices and a caring and sharing attitude keep the circle of love flowing and flowering ever outward and paradoxically inward in the cosmic spiral of evolution.
Friday, June 25, 2010
The River of Satva - The Path of Illumination
“Where the river is deepest, it makes the least noise” Proverb
Welcome to the River of Satva where the yogic perspective helps remove obstacles so our consciousness can flow delightfully in the stream of everyday life.
The Vibration of Now and Its Location
Yoga, union of spirit with body/mind, is a pathway that leads toward illumination, where the gleam of the star spark or soul can be experienced even if only momentarily. Yogis believe that prana, Sanskrit for life force, flows along subtle energy channels in the body called nadis. The most important nadis are susumna, the fire channel, flowing up the center of the spine, while pingala, the sun channel flows to the right of the spine and ida, the moon channel flows to the left of the spine. The word nadi is derived from nada, meaning sound vibration, which refers to the cosmic principle that all atomic energy is ever in flux. The nadi vibrate like strings of a violin and are therefore associated with a particular rate of movement or speed. Have you not heard a tune and felt your heart strummed like a guitar? (They would have said lute in the old days)
The speed through which energy moves in each channel is designated by the “gunas” or three qualities. These three qualities of speed, satva, rajas and tamas govern how matter first comes into expression and later dissolves into the creative vortex or cosmic source which sounds more like quantum physics than what we think of as yoga. In this theme of the creation myth, the big bang occurred when satva, rajas and tamas came out of balance and the manifest cosmos spun into being. According to yoga, when these three forces return into harmonic balance, it is said the universe will resolve itself and return to nothingness - zippo, be breathed back into the creative font. To me what is more relevant is how to use this information to create stuff, like rejuvenating my body, now in my life. Reading what the ancient sages said about the gunas gives hints as to how matter emerges from the void and dissolves into the void. Perhaps the “Secret” was first written in the yogic texts.
The Duo Waving Pulsation – The Dance of the Creative Organism
Breath is the link between body and mind. When we take our first breath we are born; our last breath marks death’s doorway. Inhalation relates to the shift of consciousness from core, font of presence in our heart center, towards the periphery, our skin. Yogis call this the “will to desire” to individualize, to differentiate. Breath exhalation moves awareness from the periphery towards the core. This phase of pulsation is called the “will to liberate”. This duo pulsation of yin and yang, moon and sun, out and in within the mortal being creates a friction and a perpetual motion machine during life that is said by Sufis to keep the universe spinning. Through breath, the universal force enters our lungs, marries to the thoughts and words we generate, is shaped and then twirls out to the world as a differentiated fruit of consciousness.
The Wish Wash Cycle
So long as the polarity of this dance is maintained in balance, our energy keeps flowing. Upon attempting to claim ownership or grasp onto the fruit of creativity we twirl forth, the ego is born. Thought of in this way, the ego appears to be a phase of consciousness where wishing - core to periphery differentiating phase - and making new stuff did not complete or balance itself with washing – periphery to core liberation phase. The more this imbalance repeats itself the more energy builds up in the ego function and the more plump the ego grows. Yet with each successive wish or desire that the ego attaches ownership to, the more the energy slows down until the soul feels entrapped in the body.
Our consciousness, which includes our mind, is a moving field of awareness that can choose which rate of vibration it follows provided we are not weighted down by attachments as described above. We can choose to move our breath and our thoughts in harmonic satva balance or zoom at break neck speed or bump along depressively.
The Three Gunas - Again
Yoga ascribes a location for the main vessels that carry the energy of the 3 gunas.
1. Satva (susumna-spinal center location) – Fire – luminous, clear, blissful
2. Rajas (pingala – right of spine) – Sun - An aggressive ratio, dynamic activity
3. Tamas (ida- left of spine) – Moon - A receptive quality of energy, pausing, heavy
Whatever is the dominant speed of our breath and thoughts will be at the tip of spear of awareness. If we select satva, the middle river, where the water is deeper, there is more energy to play with. In the deep calm waters of the River of Satva there is a balance of the Wish Wash Cycle. Energy flows freely and the autonomic nervous system can find its equilibrium. With less resistance there is less friction upon our body which may equate to reduced aging. The proverb in my title suggests that where the river is deepest, it makes the least noise. With abundant energy flow there is less chaos and struggling and more biological order. The River of Satva represents the clear calm waters of balanced pulsation, sun and moon in harmony, where the polarity of inhalation and exhalation and inner and outer activity is well regulated.
The universe lies within. What the ancients described as the origin of the vast universe occurs also in the microcosm. Theoretically, with the satva balanced quality of action at the point of our arrow of consciousness energy does not stall. Therefore creative forward drive and our breathing can become even and stabilized. Using music as imagery, the sound of satva is the fundamental or center of a note whereas the rajas and tamas wavelengths are sharps and flats. Put simply, everything is composed of vibration often called the music of the spheres.
Share Your Fruit and Be Free!
In the Yoga Sutras written by Patanjali some twenty five hundred years ago, the precise methodology of the yoga recipe for self liberation is laid out in fascinating detail. The workings of the mind are explained in 196 aphorisms. The soul spark, called the Atman, must learn through trial and error to differentiate itself. It comes to know its one power as distinct from the fruit it creates and that which it creates through, the vessels of the mind and body. Be not attached to the fruits of action is the recommended Yoga Sutra instruction. The seer is not the seen. Have fun creating the seen, the fruit and then share! This is the path to freedom. In the game of life, as mortal beings, we tend to become lost in misidentification. The demanding ego creates craziness. Me, mine and more, more, more is the ego’s song – desiring, wishing, wanting, it never ceases so long as the ego aspect dominates. We have that choice to transcend our habits and be rebooted by the Wish Wash Cycle thus balancing our gunas, the fire, sun and moon rivers within.
Yoga – the Quickie Definition
Yoga is described as the ability to direct the mind towards an object, - in this case, soul’s intended liberation from misidentification – and be able to sustain that momentum – which refers to consistent speed – without distraction – which implies continual forward drive - through acquired mental focus and control. Patanjali’s eight fold plan with 10 sub-categories, known as The Eight Limbs of Yoga, was extracted from earlier yoga works, the Vedas. This road map is ever useful stay on liberation’s course.
From Duhkha – suffering - to Sukha – easefulness (Sanskrit words)
Patanjali’s plan, limb one, called the Yamas, comprise the five social disciplines of non-violence, honesty, non-stealing, sexual moderation and non-coveting. The Yoga Sutras explain that painful effects or a feeling of duhkha, constriction, occur when our actions veer away from practice of the Yamas. The mind is prone to getting stuck in the Wish Wash Cycle and then being influenced by negative, complex and obsessive traits called the nine obstacles. Fear begins with the ignorance which halts the duo pulsation. Once the energy stalls it might be likened to E.T. (as in the movie by that name) being left on earth separated from his mother ship – the way to get home. We dream we are lost. Our ears close and we don’t hear the voice of wisdom. The River of Satva is still singing but we may not be skillful enough to hear so we make poor decisions which further enslave us. We contract under the assumed weight of isolation, griped by fear and this can causes secondary reactions, such as anger and then lies to cover up our shame.
Hence the first two Yamas of non-violence (Sanskrit/ahimsa), and honesty (satya) begin a downward spiral away from peace and harmony and towards increasing duhkha. Adhering to the Yama then supports an upward moving spiral from duhkha constriction to Sukha which in Sanskrit means openness or easefulness. Following the path of yoga helps us undo the feeling of duhkha and its outward sign: dysfunctional stories of woeful dramas. The River of Sattva or the Path of Illumination - is The Middle River - where the channel runs deep and quiet, where Sukha, easefulness reigns. Meditation and breath practice are two important tools of re-tuning our mind engine and nervous system to a corrective pace. Yogic postures, asanas, help raise the body up to the level of the mind, move our fluids along, balance hormones and increase our muscular strength. It is best to study yoga from a qualified teacher, I found this to be true for me regardless of how many years I have studied.
Liberating the Force for Fun and Health
The soul’s natural origin is peace and its rhythm is joy. When attachment and its symptom, fear, are released, consciousness organically powers the parasympathetic nervous system, the relaxation response. This system enhances sleep, bodily detoxification and digestion thus reinforcing the pleasure of right living.
The still living yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar wrote “Physical health is not a commodity to be bargained for. Nor can it be swallowed in the form of drugs or pills. It has to be earned through sweat. It is something that we must build up. You have to create within yourself the experience of beauty, liberation and infinity. This is health”.
The ancient yogis expressed the expansion and contraction of the universe as the breath of God. This current or universal wind can be experienced as a vibration felt in the bones of our inner ear. The Yogis call this Nada, the inner sound. Fear based thoughts block our listening and eventually dull our inner senses and our outer organs of sense perception leading to more and more aggressive desire. The Yoga Sutras explain how to reverse this addictive or duhkha effect and use the released energy for rejuvenation.
My Tract toward Samadhi
Poising myself in harmony with the Wish Wash Cycle – the dual pulsation - by dropping attachments and offering my fruit, my gifts, to share with others, helps me balance my breath and brainwaves. Following this path, my soul is free to flaps its wings with new found energy. Now there is a feeling of more space, openness, Sukha, so that a loving feeling can quiver my heart. This reminds me of who I am - the peace that is already my nature. I practice yoga everyday because I see good results and now trust this process of growth.
My Wish for You
This state of finding and merging with one’s inner calling and knowing perfect absorption into the present moment is called Samadhi in yoga. The essence of the state of Samadhi is not a trance but a wave dance where the soul, mind and body all move in a coordinated and syncopated speed like a starlit symphony. May we each discover the bliss of riding the River of Satva - the Path of Illumination and awaken to sing our true soul song. Just as the suns and stars shine equally upon all, may we also radiate our loving awareness to all we encounter on this remarkable journey we call life and be deeply nourished by love’s replenishing rebound.
Welcome to the River of Satva where the yogic perspective helps remove obstacles so our consciousness can flow delightfully in the stream of everyday life.
The Vibration of Now and Its Location
Yoga, union of spirit with body/mind, is a pathway that leads toward illumination, where the gleam of the star spark or soul can be experienced even if only momentarily. Yogis believe that prana, Sanskrit for life force, flows along subtle energy channels in the body called nadis. The most important nadis are susumna, the fire channel, flowing up the center of the spine, while pingala, the sun channel flows to the right of the spine and ida, the moon channel flows to the left of the spine. The word nadi is derived from nada, meaning sound vibration, which refers to the cosmic principle that all atomic energy is ever in flux. The nadi vibrate like strings of a violin and are therefore associated with a particular rate of movement or speed. Have you not heard a tune and felt your heart strummed like a guitar? (They would have said lute in the old days)
The speed through which energy moves in each channel is designated by the “gunas” or three qualities. These three qualities of speed, satva, rajas and tamas govern how matter first comes into expression and later dissolves into the creative vortex or cosmic source which sounds more like quantum physics than what we think of as yoga. In this theme of the creation myth, the big bang occurred when satva, rajas and tamas came out of balance and the manifest cosmos spun into being. According to yoga, when these three forces return into harmonic balance, it is said the universe will resolve itself and return to nothingness - zippo, be breathed back into the creative font. To me what is more relevant is how to use this information to create stuff, like rejuvenating my body, now in my life. Reading what the ancient sages said about the gunas gives hints as to how matter emerges from the void and dissolves into the void. Perhaps the “Secret” was first written in the yogic texts.
The Duo Waving Pulsation – The Dance of the Creative Organism
Breath is the link between body and mind. When we take our first breath we are born; our last breath marks death’s doorway. Inhalation relates to the shift of consciousness from core, font of presence in our heart center, towards the periphery, our skin. Yogis call this the “will to desire” to individualize, to differentiate. Breath exhalation moves awareness from the periphery towards the core. This phase of pulsation is called the “will to liberate”. This duo pulsation of yin and yang, moon and sun, out and in within the mortal being creates a friction and a perpetual motion machine during life that is said by Sufis to keep the universe spinning. Through breath, the universal force enters our lungs, marries to the thoughts and words we generate, is shaped and then twirls out to the world as a differentiated fruit of consciousness.
The Wish Wash Cycle
So long as the polarity of this dance is maintained in balance, our energy keeps flowing. Upon attempting to claim ownership or grasp onto the fruit of creativity we twirl forth, the ego is born. Thought of in this way, the ego appears to be a phase of consciousness where wishing - core to periphery differentiating phase - and making new stuff did not complete or balance itself with washing – periphery to core liberation phase. The more this imbalance repeats itself the more energy builds up in the ego function and the more plump the ego grows. Yet with each successive wish or desire that the ego attaches ownership to, the more the energy slows down until the soul feels entrapped in the body.
Our consciousness, which includes our mind, is a moving field of awareness that can choose which rate of vibration it follows provided we are not weighted down by attachments as described above. We can choose to move our breath and our thoughts in harmonic satva balance or zoom at break neck speed or bump along depressively.
The Three Gunas - Again
Yoga ascribes a location for the main vessels that carry the energy of the 3 gunas.
1. Satva (susumna-spinal center location) – Fire – luminous, clear, blissful
2. Rajas (pingala – right of spine) – Sun - An aggressive ratio, dynamic activity
3. Tamas (ida- left of spine) – Moon - A receptive quality of energy, pausing, heavy
Whatever is the dominant speed of our breath and thoughts will be at the tip of spear of awareness. If we select satva, the middle river, where the water is deeper, there is more energy to play with. In the deep calm waters of the River of Satva there is a balance of the Wish Wash Cycle. Energy flows freely and the autonomic nervous system can find its equilibrium. With less resistance there is less friction upon our body which may equate to reduced aging. The proverb in my title suggests that where the river is deepest, it makes the least noise. With abundant energy flow there is less chaos and struggling and more biological order. The River of Satva represents the clear calm waters of balanced pulsation, sun and moon in harmony, where the polarity of inhalation and exhalation and inner and outer activity is well regulated.
The universe lies within. What the ancients described as the origin of the vast universe occurs also in the microcosm. Theoretically, with the satva balanced quality of action at the point of our arrow of consciousness energy does not stall. Therefore creative forward drive and our breathing can become even and stabilized. Using music as imagery, the sound of satva is the fundamental or center of a note whereas the rajas and tamas wavelengths are sharps and flats. Put simply, everything is composed of vibration often called the music of the spheres.
Share Your Fruit and Be Free!
In the Yoga Sutras written by Patanjali some twenty five hundred years ago, the precise methodology of the yoga recipe for self liberation is laid out in fascinating detail. The workings of the mind are explained in 196 aphorisms. The soul spark, called the Atman, must learn through trial and error to differentiate itself. It comes to know its one power as distinct from the fruit it creates and that which it creates through, the vessels of the mind and body. Be not attached to the fruits of action is the recommended Yoga Sutra instruction. The seer is not the seen. Have fun creating the seen, the fruit and then share! This is the path to freedom. In the game of life, as mortal beings, we tend to become lost in misidentification. The demanding ego creates craziness. Me, mine and more, more, more is the ego’s song – desiring, wishing, wanting, it never ceases so long as the ego aspect dominates. We have that choice to transcend our habits and be rebooted by the Wish Wash Cycle thus balancing our gunas, the fire, sun and moon rivers within.
Yoga – the Quickie Definition
Yoga is described as the ability to direct the mind towards an object, - in this case, soul’s intended liberation from misidentification – and be able to sustain that momentum – which refers to consistent speed – without distraction – which implies continual forward drive - through acquired mental focus and control. Patanjali’s eight fold plan with 10 sub-categories, known as The Eight Limbs of Yoga, was extracted from earlier yoga works, the Vedas. This road map is ever useful stay on liberation’s course.
From Duhkha – suffering - to Sukha – easefulness (Sanskrit words)
Patanjali’s plan, limb one, called the Yamas, comprise the five social disciplines of non-violence, honesty, non-stealing, sexual moderation and non-coveting. The Yoga Sutras explain that painful effects or a feeling of duhkha, constriction, occur when our actions veer away from practice of the Yamas. The mind is prone to getting stuck in the Wish Wash Cycle and then being influenced by negative, complex and obsessive traits called the nine obstacles. Fear begins with the ignorance which halts the duo pulsation. Once the energy stalls it might be likened to E.T. (as in the movie by that name) being left on earth separated from his mother ship – the way to get home. We dream we are lost. Our ears close and we don’t hear the voice of wisdom. The River of Satva is still singing but we may not be skillful enough to hear so we make poor decisions which further enslave us. We contract under the assumed weight of isolation, griped by fear and this can causes secondary reactions, such as anger and then lies to cover up our shame.
Hence the first two Yamas of non-violence (Sanskrit/ahimsa), and honesty (satya) begin a downward spiral away from peace and harmony and towards increasing duhkha. Adhering to the Yama then supports an upward moving spiral from duhkha constriction to Sukha which in Sanskrit means openness or easefulness. Following the path of yoga helps us undo the feeling of duhkha and its outward sign: dysfunctional stories of woeful dramas. The River of Sattva or the Path of Illumination - is The Middle River - where the channel runs deep and quiet, where Sukha, easefulness reigns. Meditation and breath practice are two important tools of re-tuning our mind engine and nervous system to a corrective pace. Yogic postures, asanas, help raise the body up to the level of the mind, move our fluids along, balance hormones and increase our muscular strength. It is best to study yoga from a qualified teacher, I found this to be true for me regardless of how many years I have studied.
Liberating the Force for Fun and Health
The soul’s natural origin is peace and its rhythm is joy. When attachment and its symptom, fear, are released, consciousness organically powers the parasympathetic nervous system, the relaxation response. This system enhances sleep, bodily detoxification and digestion thus reinforcing the pleasure of right living.
The still living yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar wrote “Physical health is not a commodity to be bargained for. Nor can it be swallowed in the form of drugs or pills. It has to be earned through sweat. It is something that we must build up. You have to create within yourself the experience of beauty, liberation and infinity. This is health”.
The ancient yogis expressed the expansion and contraction of the universe as the breath of God. This current or universal wind can be experienced as a vibration felt in the bones of our inner ear. The Yogis call this Nada, the inner sound. Fear based thoughts block our listening and eventually dull our inner senses and our outer organs of sense perception leading to more and more aggressive desire. The Yoga Sutras explain how to reverse this addictive or duhkha effect and use the released energy for rejuvenation.
My Tract toward Samadhi
Poising myself in harmony with the Wish Wash Cycle – the dual pulsation - by dropping attachments and offering my fruit, my gifts, to share with others, helps me balance my breath and brainwaves. Following this path, my soul is free to flaps its wings with new found energy. Now there is a feeling of more space, openness, Sukha, so that a loving feeling can quiver my heart. This reminds me of who I am - the peace that is already my nature. I practice yoga everyday because I see good results and now trust this process of growth.
My Wish for You
This state of finding and merging with one’s inner calling and knowing perfect absorption into the present moment is called Samadhi in yoga. The essence of the state of Samadhi is not a trance but a wave dance where the soul, mind and body all move in a coordinated and syncopated speed like a starlit symphony. May we each discover the bliss of riding the River of Satva - the Path of Illumination and awaken to sing our true soul song. Just as the suns and stars shine equally upon all, may we also radiate our loving awareness to all we encounter on this remarkable journey we call life and be deeply nourished by love’s replenishing rebound.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Mental Decompression - Dramatic Detox
In cases of chronic illness, persistent fatigue, overwhelming difficulties or due to grief, a cycle of depression may set in. When hopelessness becomes chronic and long term, doctors call it “Clinical Depression”. When our energy stalls and in frustration we feel blinded, confused and stuck, when no corrective plan that we sense we can trust unfolds, when we wait and ask and no miracle appears, anxiety make take over. Anxiety and depression are interlinked. How can we steer clear of depression and anxiety and counter balance the stresses? Modern life is complex. What routes are likely to increase our enjoyment of life to the max? Mental decompression refers to allowing pent up energies to release in a controlled stream, like steam escaping from a pressure cooker controlled by a pressure gauge.
My Aim in Sharing
My aim in sharing my writings is to cause discoveries in myself plus offer a fresh perspective to others. I have written reports called DramaticDetox™ which detail a practical, dynamic and fun approach toward body/mind vitality. If you find this blog valuable you can visit my main website at Taurox4Vitality (.com) and check out the Newsletters. Through visiting with each other via our writings, the shadings of our unique perspective can open, shift and evolve daily. In the drama of this one moment, the possibility exists to upgrade to a higher level of understanding so we can improve biological functioning immediately, like magic. This process of integration is detailed in the ancient texts of Yoga of which I am a student and a teacher. More on my philosophy plus radio interviews can be accessed through my yoga website at WaveDancz (.com).
Personally I believe that happy, healthy, harmonious being is our birth right. I see life as a cosmic learning game where we play to learn and can choose or not choose to allow our well-being to flower each day. Each day we have a new shot to start over! We are free to invent new ways to play or to follow recipes provided by others to remove common stumbling blocks such as depression or anxiety. In order to enlist the full cooperation of the child within, the creative power, it helps me to keep my enjoyment level high! This is my approach to detoxify dramatically, steadily and beautifully. Based on my observations the ability to grow ever more adaptable is supported by happiness.
The Cosmic Learning Game
From the human perspective, life on earth can be a quite challenging, even treacherous. There are many dangers in our modern world and these pressures, such as our fragile eco system, appear to be increasing. From a broader perspective, perhaps we are participating in this cosmic learning game where as the challenges increase we match the environment by becoming more capable and able to adapt, thus evolving the human race. I found a reasonable road map to help me navigate this life trip and decompress mentally through the step outlined in what is traditionally called The Eight Fold Path of Yoga.
The Galactic Level Ice Skater
Let us begin by imagining being a Galactic Level Ice Skater. The tip of our skating blade is the point of our attention in the immediate now. Our ice rink is our personal arena, our life situation, where our attention is focused. In our vibrational dream world as a galactic skater we are creating here, we have attained a degree of physical and mental mastery, we have near perfect timing; we are super strong and toned. Our body and mind act as coordinated, obedient, marvelous instruments. Through time, hard work, skill and focus, we can now swirl, dance, twirl, leap and perform amazing feats all in time with the music. We can also skate in tandem with a partner while the world is watching and never miss a beat! The world is a stage as Shakespeare said. Yes, in this dream world, we are flying high in the zone of joy, dancing upon the wave of now.....Yippeeee!......so long as our attention does not wander…..
The Dancz of Presence on The Wave of Now
The Galactic Skater is a good analogy for what I call The Dancz of Presence. (misspelling intended) This zone of awareness, our personal ice rink, refers to the immediate moment and evidential circumstances at hand. When our attention is riveted upon the point of our blade, in this precious present moment and no where else, we can then access the ability to pivot on The Wave of Now. Just like a surfer on an oceanic wave so long as we control the dancz of our presence. All matter and subtle energy is composed of vibrational waves and these waves oscillate according to certain cosmically derived scientific principles. I saw an illustration in The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking where the relationship between space and time is laid out as vertical and horizontal lines that intersect, a graph, forming a type of tapestry upon which objects, like planets and all forms of matter - rock, roll, spin and vibrate – dance! This is how I see the tapestry of The Wave of Now. Some might also call this the matrix.
Adaptability and Decompression
This knack of adapting, of being able to let off steam, to decompress mentally, to empty enough to respond, to remain awake and ready to shift, to pivot in any direction as needed, leads to freedom. Adaptability is a trait found in people who live to be over a hundred years old. I read this in Quantum Healing by Deepak Chopra. To be highly adaptable requires dropping the resistance habit. We can learn to operate in a manner that integrates fresh perspectives into what we have acquired via memorization, thus using and incorporating the brain’s creative functions. By not depending on memory alone, new sensitivity builds up in our five perceptive openings, ears, eyes, nose, tongue and skin.
I came upon a deeper understanding of this by reading a book called the Tree of Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar. The tradition of yoga explains that overuse of memory causes the five perceptive facilities to become less sensitive. When we operate in the immediate moment, with intelligence yet without undue interference, pressure and preferences based mainly on memory, vitality can rebuild. What is the memory function seeking to do? - repeat past pleasures and avoid traumas. Memory of course is essential, however overuse leads to addictive behaviors and stasis in our sojourn towards liberation.
The Balance of Expansion and Contraction
The ego or individual aspect of our being seeks to express itself and that is what makes the world go round yet at the same time we have to give equal time to allow our attention to reconnect with our universal identity. The continuum causes expansion out from the center of being and contraction from the peripheral of self (personality) towards the less finite inside where calmness presides. Getting quiet, meditating, taking time to walk in nature or whatever works to relax spastic beta brain waves, is how we reboot and return to the less complex, clear seeing aspect of self. If we keep doing what we do while in a state of confusion we tend to spiral out discordant notes that strike flat or sharp, causing undue internal friction. The goal is act in harmony with the same cosmic principles that cause the planets and all matter to rock, roll, spin and vibrate.
If we seek to capture moments in time, to hold onto good times or painful, if we congeal around things and try to control circumstances in a way that inhibits the natural movement of life – we BLOCK the flow of energy, in our own body/mind. Energy that moves too fast or too slow can inhibit flow. Stagnant subtle energy inhibits central nervous system function and the body begins, ever so slightly at first, to cramp, shrivel and degrade. We instigate our own descent into chaos. The rivers of blood, lymph, cranial fluid and so respond to emotional moods. Addictive behavior and failure to adapt build up slowly as frustrations mount until one morning we wake up and declare we are beaten by life, hopeless and depressed. The truth is that when we hold onto resistance to how our life is - the factors of current circumstances - we seat our self in the driver’s seat pointed towards exhaustion. Sure, we are all moving in the direction of physical death, the end of our personal life cycle, but the question is, death of what?
The Time Space Webbing of Now
As a galactic skater on the ice rink of wave of now, the time/space webbing, what are the properties of this medium or matrix upon which we dance? In our make up story, the quality of the rink is formed by the sea of thought and actions, the vibrations that humanity generates, as perceived or modulated by our unique self. This webbing is laid upon the framework of the organic natural kingdom of earth and this is back lit and imprinted by the universal energy which is moving and spinning the entire cosmos. The ice we skate upon is therefore not smooth. Everyday we come upon interesting curves and grooves to navigate. If we are engaged in the excitement of the adaptive cosmic game of life and enjoying the dancz of presence, we may be more ready for the curves and respond appropriately so we don’t fall down. Then we can shift, or pivot and change our course as needed. This helps us want to keep playing at the 100% max level.
The Path of Integration or Disintegration
To me there are only two main directions in life. One leads to integration of our soul into our mind/body with satisfying, peace permeating accomplishments while the other path leads to disintegration of our mind/body by squeezing the life force away from matter resulting in low energy and frustration. I think that for everybody, there comes a time when the light goes on and we realize that we do indeed wish to penetrate the matter of our mind/body with the light of the greater self – that atom of being that is the one whom is perceiving – call it the soul – or the watcher, or whatever. – This begins the journey to skillfully decompress the mind so we can operate more easily. At this point in our journey we have to consider other factors such as our speed of growth. From this position in our life, provided we are adaptable enough to pivot and shift towards integration at least in our intention, what then is our speed of movement or vector of growth based on our current emotional load?
THREE SPEEDS – How We Dance Upon The Wave of Now
There are 3 basic speeds of operation of our galactic skater:
1. NOW SPEED – Spinning on the tip of the blade with full attention, ready to rock, roll, spin, twirl, vibrate and dance to whatever the music of life is playing!
2. FAST FORWARD – Spinning too fast, skimming over the ice out of control and frequently crashing – Anxiety is common, the pressure which tends to lead to…
3. LETHARGIC MODE– Spinning too slow with the emergency brake on, loosing momentum, falling over and not wanting to even get up again which = depression or getting stuck in safe mode.
In Yoga these 3 speeds are called the 3 expressions or qualities of the “Gunas”
1. Now Speed – Sattva – clear, transparent, appropriately timed speed
2. Fast Forward – Rajas – agitated, overly dynamic, burning too fast
3. Lethargic Mode – Tamas – fixed, immobile, heavy, ineffective movement
A dysfunction pattern often occurs of bouncing between Rajas to Tamas to counterbalance energy flow. This does not lead to relief! The process of mental decompression begins once we learn to remain poised in Sattva speed.
An Example
I am currently studying to be a Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher in a year long program with Lillah Schwartz at Lighten Up Yoga in Asheville NC. I am learning from a gifted teacher and I am excited yet to attain requires commitment, focus and hard work. My aim is to maintain the same degree of enthusiasm that I had at the beginning of the course until I reach completion. Therefore I must be clear that I am heading towards graduating with excellence. I must enable myself to do the work with equal or increased vigor everyday in order to sustain my speed and remain in Sattva mode. One definition of yoga is the ability to direct the mind towards an object and sustain that direction without any distractions. Seems simple enough!
The Three Doshas and Stress Relief
These three speeds or gunas express through the five basic elements of the manifest universe. A complete study of the elements as they affect humans, were detailed in Ayurvedic Medicine some 5000 years ago. They are categorized as the three doshas. The science of the doshas explains how the 5 basic elements affect our personal health and reality.
1. VATA DOSHA– Air/Space – lightest and faster to move
2. PITTA DOSHA – Fire/Water – moderate weight and moderate movement
3. KAPHA DOSHA – Earth/Water – heaviest and slowest to move
The science of Ayurveda and the path of yoga, if rightly understood, teach us methodologies to use the five natural elements and their qualities (in attitudes, foods, exercise, lifestyle etc) in order to balance our interaction with the wave of now by understanding the principles of direction and speed. Since there is nothing static in the entire universe, energy dances through us whether we participate or not. However, when we resist, energy stagnates and problems persist! Resistance and clutching to past memories or worries about the future causes excessive tamas or rajas quality of mind. Stress and worry activates the fight or flight function of our nervous system causing the body/mind to go into chronic overdrive. Peace of mind is lost and situations tend to worsen because now the mind is burdened and perception is clouded.
To learn more about relieving stress through modulation of the Autonomic Nervous System and what you can do to encourage bountiful balance, please see my Fall 2008 Issue of the 100% Vitality Newsletter at
http://www.taurox4vitality.com/newsletter_fall08post.html
The Eight Limbed Path of Yoga
The art and science of the eight limbed path of yoga as guided by the authoritative text, The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali, thought to be 2500 years old, details how the mind/body operates. Upon the path of disintegration the mind entrap the spark of life, the essence of being in this life. We get play getting trapped in order to learn how to become non-trapped. Upon the path of integration, the mind can be subdued and trained in order to harmonize biological functioning and assist the greater aim.
The body is naturally lazy and therefore must be brought up to the level of the vibrant mind, (through physical training) for only then can the sight and light of the soul be glimpsed. I am paraphrasing B.K.S. Iyengar, another gem from The Tree of Yoga. I know this to be true for me. The physical training aspect is why the path of yoga includes postures, called asana in Sanskrit. The practice of asana is an integral part of the eight limbed path of yoga. In asana we watch how energy dances or not through the physical body and are able to trace blockages back to their roots in our thought and emotional body.
What are the mental factors that cause us, the galactic skater in our story, to harbor energy, to become imbalanced and to veer away from NOW TIME, Sattva into FAST FORWARD, Rajas or LETHARGIC MODE, Tamas?
Interference is Caused by the Nine Obstacles of the Mind
A Subset of the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali
Extracted from The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar
9 Obstacles of the Mind as described by Patanjali
Illness
Lethargy
Doubt
Haste or Impatience
Resignation or Fatigue
Distraction
Ignorance or Arrogance
Inability to take a new step
Loss of Confidence
2.10 – When the obstacles do not seem present it is important to be vigilant
2.11 - Advance towards a state of reflection to reduce their impact and prevent them from taking over
2.12 - Our actions and their consequences are influenced by these obstacles. The consequences may or may not be evident at the time of the action
2.13 – As long as the obstacles prevail they will affect action in every respect: in its duration, and its consequences
2.14 – The consequences of an action will be painful or beneficial depending on whether the obstacles were present in the concept or implementation of the action.
2.15 Painful effects from any object or situation can be a result of one or more of the following: changes in the perceived object, the desire to repeat pleasurable experiences, and the strong effect of conditioning from the past. In addition, changes within the individual can be contributing factors
2.16 – Painful effects that are likely to occur & should be anticipated and avoided
2.17 – The cause of actions that produce painful effects is the inability to distinguish what is perceived from what perceives.
Ahhhh – to Pivot Freely as the Perceiver! Ahhhhaaaaa – to Identify as The Perceiver!
What we learn is that when we PIVOT as the Perceiver or create a SHIFT in our life towards integration of soul/mind/body….we are identifying with our soul, the one who perceives and not the by-products of our mind – that which is perceived. This shift feels good and freeing. Our cells can twinkle and charge up! Success and accomplishments are better established in the manifest world. Yet if our action is tainted by negative mental states, the results or fruits of our labor will be tainted. So once again consider the effects of acting while under the influence of: Illness – Lethargy – Doubt - Haste or Impatience - Resignation or Fatigue – Distraction - Ignorance or Arrogance - Inability to take a new step - Loss of Confidence
If troubles come in a day - a pop-up in our brain might say - Stop and reboot now! Return to zero, to silence. Decompress now! Please meditate before proceeding.
In a Pickle
Patanjali’s sutras state that acting while the mind is under the influence of the negative mental obstacles will increase suffering - sooner or later. Even if initially everything looks great. Now, what can we do if we have already gotten into a pickle so to speak?
Mental Decompression
The eight limbs of yoga explain how to release the mind from compression and obsession. The eight components and sub-components join as one liberating force, a map to navigate towards freedom, each limb or tool compliments the other.
For simplicity I will illustrate just the 5 Niyama's which comprise Limb #2.
(English & Sanskrit names)
• Cleanliness of body/mind - Sauca
• Contentment - Santosha
• Enthusiastic commitment to practices – Tapas
• Study of the Self – Svadhyaya
• Surrender to the ORIGINAL CREATIVE FORCE – Isvarapranidhana
(some call this force God – which requires belief)
Taking a Personal Inventory
If we wish to loosen the grip of mental obsession and help the mind to decompress we can take a mental inventory of how we do our life in relation to the 5 Niyama’s.
• How is our practice of cleanliness, contentment, commitment, self-study and surrender to the Creative Force?
• Which Niyama is strongest in our practice and which is weakest?
• What shift in emphasis upon these 5 practices would compliment our life?
• What actions could be leading edge choices to produce major changes?
• Are we willing to take the time and contemplate these questions deeply?
• What are the voices in our head saying and where do those voices come from?
The Death of Anger via Forgiveness
For instance, if we find overt or repressed signs of anger coming from within which destroys contentment, as maybe the case in chronic depression or low energy states, then naturally the second Niyama, is not achievable. The roots of anger, I believe, usually begin in early life as we became increasingly disheartened when we perceived that our parents or caretakers did not meet our exact needs. We may have gotten mad and may be still imprinting that anger on every authority or family figure in our life. How can we back out of that pickle? Forgiveness of one’s parents is a great place to begin on the road to contentment. So, yes, we are all proceeding towards completing this life cycle, toward so called death, yet this death can be the end of confusion and its red flag, anger.
Watery Imagery of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is like a hot spring of warmth which harnesses the river of love to melt hardened ridges in our mind and allow the sweet waters of delight to flow. Joy is then effortless and effervescent. Our family is the womb of our beginning. I suspect that many of the problems of this world are caused by our inability to forgive our parents or other family members. Here is where the water hardens and freezes. It is easy to get stuck in the rut of always crying out and wanting more, demanding more than the situation delivers, feeling overly entitled while skidding out of the control on the ice or flopping repeatedly on one’s face or butt. When we flail against life we are actually rejecting our self and this does not lead to contentment. It is logical to think this must begin early on, in infancy. Some parents fall short terribly and that is sad. Many “good” parents fall short; they could only give to their capacity. I am one of them, I was basically a good mom yet I ask my three sons to forgive me all the time! Forgiveness however need not follow the path of logic. Forgiveness exercises our ability to love unconditionally. Forgive, ask for forgiveness and be forgiven.
Forgive our Parents for Starters
In the 10 Commandments the principle is clear - respect and honor your mother and father. This is crucial because the universe is a hologram. Our factual mother and father represent Mother and Father Cosmic Creator, that which continue to give life to the body, mind and spirit. When we harbor grievances against our parents it limits our own access to renewing abundance because that anger pollutes our connection with Mother/Father Creator or source of goodness. Our physical parents gave us life therefore it is advised to forgive them completely and to do our best to take care of them, asking as little as possible in return. This attitude of forgiveness and giving love to our parents paves the way to increasing generosity, good relations and success in life. The Oriental people understand this. The light of consciousness can then align our actions. Forgiveness helps us release the compression, the log jam and fill up with energy! The emotion of anger is often submerged and hidden, we may have to dig to find and uproot it. Ask for help in the stillness of your soul…..
For me, once I slowed down enough, I began to realize the full extent of many of my actions had been tainted with fear and mental obstacles. This helped me become more compassionate towards myself, other and awaken deeper responsibility. Little stuff counts. I asked within so I might release my sense of entitlement to have more than I have right now. Once my attitude shifted towards how lucky I am where I am, despite myself, I became happier with everything, as if by magic! I felt freed from yet another shackle of projection that pulled me off my blade. I can now skate on the ice rink of the wave of now with a little more ease…..so long as I continue to pay attention, HA! I can catch my breath and prepare myself to prance into the next day, to dancz the presence into the cosmic game of life. This requires I that I remain mindful of my direction towards integration and watch my speed so I don’t skim off the edge or bottom out. Conserve! All the while I take note of how my body moves and groove or not. In Sattva speed the brain can recharge, the five perceptive organs, our senses, become more sensitive and this helps us to have fun with a simple life. Yes, having a sweet day and taking delight in little things is a good measure of mental decompression.
Adaptable and Ready – The Love Song of My Soul
I am slowing down my life so I have time to recharge my battery every day and every night. Healthy eating, outdoor exercise, relinquishing negative patterns, time for asana (yoga exercises) and meditation plus a decent night’s sleep form my foundational approach to keep my skater’s blade of attention sharp. Santosha or contentment is my gauge with ease of physical movement my proof. Joy is the gleam of contentment I watch for. When I vital there is radiation to spare! I watch out for any signs of depression, anxiety or self judging, those nagging self critical voices in my head. I counter them by jokingly asking, “Hey, who it talking here! Excuse me please… I am having a good time, so hush.” I know I have to go within and reboot regularly to stay tuned in. I am the Dancz of Presence on The Wave of Now whenever I stay on my course and modulate my pace. Play to learn in the Cosmic Game of Life! Yes, in Sattva style, I want to be ready right now to twirl and soar and leap with pure delight, in harmonic balance, as the Now howls and calls my name…..Hey, you, Char Tara, its your turn to skate, now go for it girl! This is the love song of my soul.
My Aim in Sharing
My aim in sharing my writings is to cause discoveries in myself plus offer a fresh perspective to others. I have written reports called DramaticDetox™ which detail a practical, dynamic and fun approach toward body/mind vitality. If you find this blog valuable you can visit my main website at Taurox4Vitality (.com) and check out the Newsletters. Through visiting with each other via our writings, the shadings of our unique perspective can open, shift and evolve daily. In the drama of this one moment, the possibility exists to upgrade to a higher level of understanding so we can improve biological functioning immediately, like magic. This process of integration is detailed in the ancient texts of Yoga of which I am a student and a teacher. More on my philosophy plus radio interviews can be accessed through my yoga website at WaveDancz (.com).
Personally I believe that happy, healthy, harmonious being is our birth right. I see life as a cosmic learning game where we play to learn and can choose or not choose to allow our well-being to flower each day. Each day we have a new shot to start over! We are free to invent new ways to play or to follow recipes provided by others to remove common stumbling blocks such as depression or anxiety. In order to enlist the full cooperation of the child within, the creative power, it helps me to keep my enjoyment level high! This is my approach to detoxify dramatically, steadily and beautifully. Based on my observations the ability to grow ever more adaptable is supported by happiness.
The Cosmic Learning Game
From the human perspective, life on earth can be a quite challenging, even treacherous. There are many dangers in our modern world and these pressures, such as our fragile eco system, appear to be increasing. From a broader perspective, perhaps we are participating in this cosmic learning game where as the challenges increase we match the environment by becoming more capable and able to adapt, thus evolving the human race. I found a reasonable road map to help me navigate this life trip and decompress mentally through the step outlined in what is traditionally called The Eight Fold Path of Yoga.
The Galactic Level Ice Skater
Let us begin by imagining being a Galactic Level Ice Skater. The tip of our skating blade is the point of our attention in the immediate now. Our ice rink is our personal arena, our life situation, where our attention is focused. In our vibrational dream world as a galactic skater we are creating here, we have attained a degree of physical and mental mastery, we have near perfect timing; we are super strong and toned. Our body and mind act as coordinated, obedient, marvelous instruments. Through time, hard work, skill and focus, we can now swirl, dance, twirl, leap and perform amazing feats all in time with the music. We can also skate in tandem with a partner while the world is watching and never miss a beat! The world is a stage as Shakespeare said. Yes, in this dream world, we are flying high in the zone of joy, dancing upon the wave of now.....Yippeeee!......so long as our attention does not wander…..
The Dancz of Presence on The Wave of Now
The Galactic Skater is a good analogy for what I call The Dancz of Presence. (misspelling intended) This zone of awareness, our personal ice rink, refers to the immediate moment and evidential circumstances at hand. When our attention is riveted upon the point of our blade, in this precious present moment and no where else, we can then access the ability to pivot on The Wave of Now. Just like a surfer on an oceanic wave so long as we control the dancz of our presence. All matter and subtle energy is composed of vibrational waves and these waves oscillate according to certain cosmically derived scientific principles. I saw an illustration in The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking where the relationship between space and time is laid out as vertical and horizontal lines that intersect, a graph, forming a type of tapestry upon which objects, like planets and all forms of matter - rock, roll, spin and vibrate – dance! This is how I see the tapestry of The Wave of Now. Some might also call this the matrix.
Adaptability and Decompression
This knack of adapting, of being able to let off steam, to decompress mentally, to empty enough to respond, to remain awake and ready to shift, to pivot in any direction as needed, leads to freedom. Adaptability is a trait found in people who live to be over a hundred years old. I read this in Quantum Healing by Deepak Chopra. To be highly adaptable requires dropping the resistance habit. We can learn to operate in a manner that integrates fresh perspectives into what we have acquired via memorization, thus using and incorporating the brain’s creative functions. By not depending on memory alone, new sensitivity builds up in our five perceptive openings, ears, eyes, nose, tongue and skin.
I came upon a deeper understanding of this by reading a book called the Tree of Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar. The tradition of yoga explains that overuse of memory causes the five perceptive facilities to become less sensitive. When we operate in the immediate moment, with intelligence yet without undue interference, pressure and preferences based mainly on memory, vitality can rebuild. What is the memory function seeking to do? - repeat past pleasures and avoid traumas. Memory of course is essential, however overuse leads to addictive behaviors and stasis in our sojourn towards liberation.
The Balance of Expansion and Contraction
The ego or individual aspect of our being seeks to express itself and that is what makes the world go round yet at the same time we have to give equal time to allow our attention to reconnect with our universal identity. The continuum causes expansion out from the center of being and contraction from the peripheral of self (personality) towards the less finite inside where calmness presides. Getting quiet, meditating, taking time to walk in nature or whatever works to relax spastic beta brain waves, is how we reboot and return to the less complex, clear seeing aspect of self. If we keep doing what we do while in a state of confusion we tend to spiral out discordant notes that strike flat or sharp, causing undue internal friction. The goal is act in harmony with the same cosmic principles that cause the planets and all matter to rock, roll, spin and vibrate.
If we seek to capture moments in time, to hold onto good times or painful, if we congeal around things and try to control circumstances in a way that inhibits the natural movement of life – we BLOCK the flow of energy, in our own body/mind. Energy that moves too fast or too slow can inhibit flow. Stagnant subtle energy inhibits central nervous system function and the body begins, ever so slightly at first, to cramp, shrivel and degrade. We instigate our own descent into chaos. The rivers of blood, lymph, cranial fluid and so respond to emotional moods. Addictive behavior and failure to adapt build up slowly as frustrations mount until one morning we wake up and declare we are beaten by life, hopeless and depressed. The truth is that when we hold onto resistance to how our life is - the factors of current circumstances - we seat our self in the driver’s seat pointed towards exhaustion. Sure, we are all moving in the direction of physical death, the end of our personal life cycle, but the question is, death of what?
The Time Space Webbing of Now
As a galactic skater on the ice rink of wave of now, the time/space webbing, what are the properties of this medium or matrix upon which we dance? In our make up story, the quality of the rink is formed by the sea of thought and actions, the vibrations that humanity generates, as perceived or modulated by our unique self. This webbing is laid upon the framework of the organic natural kingdom of earth and this is back lit and imprinted by the universal energy which is moving and spinning the entire cosmos. The ice we skate upon is therefore not smooth. Everyday we come upon interesting curves and grooves to navigate. If we are engaged in the excitement of the adaptive cosmic game of life and enjoying the dancz of presence, we may be more ready for the curves and respond appropriately so we don’t fall down. Then we can shift, or pivot and change our course as needed. This helps us want to keep playing at the 100% max level.
The Path of Integration or Disintegration
To me there are only two main directions in life. One leads to integration of our soul into our mind/body with satisfying, peace permeating accomplishments while the other path leads to disintegration of our mind/body by squeezing the life force away from matter resulting in low energy and frustration. I think that for everybody, there comes a time when the light goes on and we realize that we do indeed wish to penetrate the matter of our mind/body with the light of the greater self – that atom of being that is the one whom is perceiving – call it the soul – or the watcher, or whatever. – This begins the journey to skillfully decompress the mind so we can operate more easily. At this point in our journey we have to consider other factors such as our speed of growth. From this position in our life, provided we are adaptable enough to pivot and shift towards integration at least in our intention, what then is our speed of movement or vector of growth based on our current emotional load?
THREE SPEEDS – How We Dance Upon The Wave of Now
There are 3 basic speeds of operation of our galactic skater:
1. NOW SPEED – Spinning on the tip of the blade with full attention, ready to rock, roll, spin, twirl, vibrate and dance to whatever the music of life is playing!
2. FAST FORWARD – Spinning too fast, skimming over the ice out of control and frequently crashing – Anxiety is common, the pressure which tends to lead to…
3. LETHARGIC MODE– Spinning too slow with the emergency brake on, loosing momentum, falling over and not wanting to even get up again which = depression or getting stuck in safe mode.
In Yoga these 3 speeds are called the 3 expressions or qualities of the “Gunas”
1. Now Speed – Sattva – clear, transparent, appropriately timed speed
2. Fast Forward – Rajas – agitated, overly dynamic, burning too fast
3. Lethargic Mode – Tamas – fixed, immobile, heavy, ineffective movement
A dysfunction pattern often occurs of bouncing between Rajas to Tamas to counterbalance energy flow. This does not lead to relief! The process of mental decompression begins once we learn to remain poised in Sattva speed.
An Example
I am currently studying to be a Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher in a year long program with Lillah Schwartz at Lighten Up Yoga in Asheville NC. I am learning from a gifted teacher and I am excited yet to attain requires commitment, focus and hard work. My aim is to maintain the same degree of enthusiasm that I had at the beginning of the course until I reach completion. Therefore I must be clear that I am heading towards graduating with excellence. I must enable myself to do the work with equal or increased vigor everyday in order to sustain my speed and remain in Sattva mode. One definition of yoga is the ability to direct the mind towards an object and sustain that direction without any distractions. Seems simple enough!
The Three Doshas and Stress Relief
These three speeds or gunas express through the five basic elements of the manifest universe. A complete study of the elements as they affect humans, were detailed in Ayurvedic Medicine some 5000 years ago. They are categorized as the three doshas. The science of the doshas explains how the 5 basic elements affect our personal health and reality.
1. VATA DOSHA– Air/Space – lightest and faster to move
2. PITTA DOSHA – Fire/Water – moderate weight and moderate movement
3. KAPHA DOSHA – Earth/Water – heaviest and slowest to move
The science of Ayurveda and the path of yoga, if rightly understood, teach us methodologies to use the five natural elements and their qualities (in attitudes, foods, exercise, lifestyle etc) in order to balance our interaction with the wave of now by understanding the principles of direction and speed. Since there is nothing static in the entire universe, energy dances through us whether we participate or not. However, when we resist, energy stagnates and problems persist! Resistance and clutching to past memories or worries about the future causes excessive tamas or rajas quality of mind. Stress and worry activates the fight or flight function of our nervous system causing the body/mind to go into chronic overdrive. Peace of mind is lost and situations tend to worsen because now the mind is burdened and perception is clouded.
To learn more about relieving stress through modulation of the Autonomic Nervous System and what you can do to encourage bountiful balance, please see my Fall 2008 Issue of the 100% Vitality Newsletter at
http://www.taurox4vitality.com/newsletter_fall08post.html
The Eight Limbed Path of Yoga
The art and science of the eight limbed path of yoga as guided by the authoritative text, The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali, thought to be 2500 years old, details how the mind/body operates. Upon the path of disintegration the mind entrap the spark of life, the essence of being in this life. We get play getting trapped in order to learn how to become non-trapped. Upon the path of integration, the mind can be subdued and trained in order to harmonize biological functioning and assist the greater aim.
The body is naturally lazy and therefore must be brought up to the level of the vibrant mind, (through physical training) for only then can the sight and light of the soul be glimpsed. I am paraphrasing B.K.S. Iyengar, another gem from The Tree of Yoga. I know this to be true for me. The physical training aspect is why the path of yoga includes postures, called asana in Sanskrit. The practice of asana is an integral part of the eight limbed path of yoga. In asana we watch how energy dances or not through the physical body and are able to trace blockages back to their roots in our thought and emotional body.
What are the mental factors that cause us, the galactic skater in our story, to harbor energy, to become imbalanced and to veer away from NOW TIME, Sattva into FAST FORWARD, Rajas or LETHARGIC MODE, Tamas?
Interference is Caused by the Nine Obstacles of the Mind
A Subset of the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali
Extracted from The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar
9 Obstacles of the Mind as described by Patanjali
Illness
Lethargy
Doubt
Haste or Impatience
Resignation or Fatigue
Distraction
Ignorance or Arrogance
Inability to take a new step
Loss of Confidence
2.10 – When the obstacles do not seem present it is important to be vigilant
2.11 - Advance towards a state of reflection to reduce their impact and prevent them from taking over
2.12 - Our actions and their consequences are influenced by these obstacles. The consequences may or may not be evident at the time of the action
2.13 – As long as the obstacles prevail they will affect action in every respect: in its duration, and its consequences
2.14 – The consequences of an action will be painful or beneficial depending on whether the obstacles were present in the concept or implementation of the action.
2.15 Painful effects from any object or situation can be a result of one or more of the following: changes in the perceived object, the desire to repeat pleasurable experiences, and the strong effect of conditioning from the past. In addition, changes within the individual can be contributing factors
2.16 – Painful effects that are likely to occur & should be anticipated and avoided
2.17 – The cause of actions that produce painful effects is the inability to distinguish what is perceived from what perceives.
Ahhhh – to Pivot Freely as the Perceiver! Ahhhhaaaaa – to Identify as The Perceiver!
What we learn is that when we PIVOT as the Perceiver or create a SHIFT in our life towards integration of soul/mind/body….we are identifying with our soul, the one who perceives and not the by-products of our mind – that which is perceived. This shift feels good and freeing. Our cells can twinkle and charge up! Success and accomplishments are better established in the manifest world. Yet if our action is tainted by negative mental states, the results or fruits of our labor will be tainted. So once again consider the effects of acting while under the influence of: Illness – Lethargy – Doubt - Haste or Impatience - Resignation or Fatigue – Distraction - Ignorance or Arrogance - Inability to take a new step - Loss of Confidence
If troubles come in a day - a pop-up in our brain might say - Stop and reboot now! Return to zero, to silence. Decompress now! Please meditate before proceeding.
In a Pickle
Patanjali’s sutras state that acting while the mind is under the influence of the negative mental obstacles will increase suffering - sooner or later. Even if initially everything looks great. Now, what can we do if we have already gotten into a pickle so to speak?
Mental Decompression
The eight limbs of yoga explain how to release the mind from compression and obsession. The eight components and sub-components join as one liberating force, a map to navigate towards freedom, each limb or tool compliments the other.
For simplicity I will illustrate just the 5 Niyama's which comprise Limb #2.
(English & Sanskrit names)
• Cleanliness of body/mind - Sauca
• Contentment - Santosha
• Enthusiastic commitment to practices – Tapas
• Study of the Self – Svadhyaya
• Surrender to the ORIGINAL CREATIVE FORCE – Isvarapranidhana
(some call this force God – which requires belief)
Taking a Personal Inventory
If we wish to loosen the grip of mental obsession and help the mind to decompress we can take a mental inventory of how we do our life in relation to the 5 Niyama’s.
• How is our practice of cleanliness, contentment, commitment, self-study and surrender to the Creative Force?
• Which Niyama is strongest in our practice and which is weakest?
• What shift in emphasis upon these 5 practices would compliment our life?
• What actions could be leading edge choices to produce major changes?
• Are we willing to take the time and contemplate these questions deeply?
• What are the voices in our head saying and where do those voices come from?
The Death of Anger via Forgiveness
For instance, if we find overt or repressed signs of anger coming from within which destroys contentment, as maybe the case in chronic depression or low energy states, then naturally the second Niyama, is not achievable. The roots of anger, I believe, usually begin in early life as we became increasingly disheartened when we perceived that our parents or caretakers did not meet our exact needs. We may have gotten mad and may be still imprinting that anger on every authority or family figure in our life. How can we back out of that pickle? Forgiveness of one’s parents is a great place to begin on the road to contentment. So, yes, we are all proceeding towards completing this life cycle, toward so called death, yet this death can be the end of confusion and its red flag, anger.
Watery Imagery of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is like a hot spring of warmth which harnesses the river of love to melt hardened ridges in our mind and allow the sweet waters of delight to flow. Joy is then effortless and effervescent. Our family is the womb of our beginning. I suspect that many of the problems of this world are caused by our inability to forgive our parents or other family members. Here is where the water hardens and freezes. It is easy to get stuck in the rut of always crying out and wanting more, demanding more than the situation delivers, feeling overly entitled while skidding out of the control on the ice or flopping repeatedly on one’s face or butt. When we flail against life we are actually rejecting our self and this does not lead to contentment. It is logical to think this must begin early on, in infancy. Some parents fall short terribly and that is sad. Many “good” parents fall short; they could only give to their capacity. I am one of them, I was basically a good mom yet I ask my three sons to forgive me all the time! Forgiveness however need not follow the path of logic. Forgiveness exercises our ability to love unconditionally. Forgive, ask for forgiveness and be forgiven.
Forgive our Parents for Starters
In the 10 Commandments the principle is clear - respect and honor your mother and father. This is crucial because the universe is a hologram. Our factual mother and father represent Mother and Father Cosmic Creator, that which continue to give life to the body, mind and spirit. When we harbor grievances against our parents it limits our own access to renewing abundance because that anger pollutes our connection with Mother/Father Creator or source of goodness. Our physical parents gave us life therefore it is advised to forgive them completely and to do our best to take care of them, asking as little as possible in return. This attitude of forgiveness and giving love to our parents paves the way to increasing generosity, good relations and success in life. The Oriental people understand this. The light of consciousness can then align our actions. Forgiveness helps us release the compression, the log jam and fill up with energy! The emotion of anger is often submerged and hidden, we may have to dig to find and uproot it. Ask for help in the stillness of your soul…..
For me, once I slowed down enough, I began to realize the full extent of many of my actions had been tainted with fear and mental obstacles. This helped me become more compassionate towards myself, other and awaken deeper responsibility. Little stuff counts. I asked within so I might release my sense of entitlement to have more than I have right now. Once my attitude shifted towards how lucky I am where I am, despite myself, I became happier with everything, as if by magic! I felt freed from yet another shackle of projection that pulled me off my blade. I can now skate on the ice rink of the wave of now with a little more ease…..so long as I continue to pay attention, HA! I can catch my breath and prepare myself to prance into the next day, to dancz the presence into the cosmic game of life. This requires I that I remain mindful of my direction towards integration and watch my speed so I don’t skim off the edge or bottom out. Conserve! All the while I take note of how my body moves and groove or not. In Sattva speed the brain can recharge, the five perceptive organs, our senses, become more sensitive and this helps us to have fun with a simple life. Yes, having a sweet day and taking delight in little things is a good measure of mental decompression.
Adaptable and Ready – The Love Song of My Soul
I am slowing down my life so I have time to recharge my battery every day and every night. Healthy eating, outdoor exercise, relinquishing negative patterns, time for asana (yoga exercises) and meditation plus a decent night’s sleep form my foundational approach to keep my skater’s blade of attention sharp. Santosha or contentment is my gauge with ease of physical movement my proof. Joy is the gleam of contentment I watch for. When I vital there is radiation to spare! I watch out for any signs of depression, anxiety or self judging, those nagging self critical voices in my head. I counter them by jokingly asking, “Hey, who it talking here! Excuse me please… I am having a good time, so hush.” I know I have to go within and reboot regularly to stay tuned in. I am the Dancz of Presence on The Wave of Now whenever I stay on my course and modulate my pace. Play to learn in the Cosmic Game of Life! Yes, in Sattva style, I want to be ready right now to twirl and soar and leap with pure delight, in harmonic balance, as the Now howls and calls my name…..Hey, you, Char Tara, its your turn to skate, now go for it girl! This is the love song of my soul.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
My Mother , The Great Z
My Mother, The Great Z
My mother, Charlotte, defended me like a wolverine wild woman. She loved me unconditionally as only a mother can. All along our journey she covered my back. Yet it was only after her sudden departure from this Earthly sphere, that I actually received the full gift of her potent and instinctive love. Life is so rich, amazing and paradoxical like that! Now that she is gone, I remade her into a youthful playmate, I call her Charlottla, the Great Z - signifying her eternal and ethereal nature, for at least within my heart, she will live on forever.
First she helped me get to my feet… literally; I have a picture from 1956 to prove it where I am taking my first steps, one hand flinging in fear, the other held by the Great Z, stooped down and real close, watching me with pointed tenderness. I swear that the power of her eyes alone could keep danger away. Mom’s regular position was to defend me against the onslaught of my older brother’s roughness. When I was a teen, she protected me from my father’s criticism which she thought was crude. Dad was actually a soft-ee but he could be aroused and she, Charlotte the Great Z, guarded me closely with all her might. Once she made up her mind about anything….well she could not be easily deterred! What power, whew!
As an adult, my mother expressed genuine and excited interest in all my involvements and always, or so it seems to me, took my side! I am laughing for how pampered and lucky a life I lived under the care of my mother, The Great Z, maker of Zen or Harmonic Oneness. Only now am I tapping the magnitude of treats she laid at my feet.
Is this not the most hidden of all secrets when it comes to creating a prosperous life? That the gifts laid under the Christmas tree for us, barely opened or only partly appreciated, waiting for our patient attention, must be explored before we get to pass through the next gate in life’s journey?
Perhaps the greatest act of achieving a rich and abundant life is simply learning to play with pleasure in our own backyard. My mom helped me to enjoy cooking, raking leaves and way back then, ironing shirts, Ha! Thanks to her I became a strong, confident and creative woman. The Z’s way taught me to protect my own children and to feel safe. My gratitude quivers and dances my own heart strings. Can we enter the portal of plentitude by opening to our mothers love and completely appreciating what we have already received until we vibrate and tingle with delight? Is the perception of success in all things in the immediate now easier than we think? Is entry into the Temple of Zen, where juicy joy swims in slow and delicious motion, possible this moment? My feeling is a double YES with cherries on top!
My mother, Charlotte, defended me like a wolverine wild woman. She loved me unconditionally as only a mother can. All along our journey she covered my back. Yet it was only after her sudden departure from this Earthly sphere, that I actually received the full gift of her potent and instinctive love. Life is so rich, amazing and paradoxical like that! Now that she is gone, I remade her into a youthful playmate, I call her Charlottla, the Great Z - signifying her eternal and ethereal nature, for at least within my heart, she will live on forever.
First she helped me get to my feet… literally; I have a picture from 1956 to prove it where I am taking my first steps, one hand flinging in fear, the other held by the Great Z, stooped down and real close, watching me with pointed tenderness. I swear that the power of her eyes alone could keep danger away. Mom’s regular position was to defend me against the onslaught of my older brother’s roughness. When I was a teen, she protected me from my father’s criticism which she thought was crude. Dad was actually a soft-ee but he could be aroused and she, Charlotte the Great Z, guarded me closely with all her might. Once she made up her mind about anything….well she could not be easily deterred! What power, whew!
As an adult, my mother expressed genuine and excited interest in all my involvements and always, or so it seems to me, took my side! I am laughing for how pampered and lucky a life I lived under the care of my mother, The Great Z, maker of Zen or Harmonic Oneness. Only now am I tapping the magnitude of treats she laid at my feet.
Is this not the most hidden of all secrets when it comes to creating a prosperous life? That the gifts laid under the Christmas tree for us, barely opened or only partly appreciated, waiting for our patient attention, must be explored before we get to pass through the next gate in life’s journey?
Perhaps the greatest act of achieving a rich and abundant life is simply learning to play with pleasure in our own backyard. My mom helped me to enjoy cooking, raking leaves and way back then, ironing shirts, Ha! Thanks to her I became a strong, confident and creative woman. The Z’s way taught me to protect my own children and to feel safe. My gratitude quivers and dances my own heart strings. Can we enter the portal of plentitude by opening to our mothers love and completely appreciating what we have already received until we vibrate and tingle with delight? Is the perception of success in all things in the immediate now easier than we think? Is entry into the Temple of Zen, where juicy joy swims in slow and delicious motion, possible this moment? My feeling is a double YES with cherries on top!
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