KonaYoga.com

Looking Past Illusions

I learned what is obvious to a child. That life is simply a collection of little lives, each lived one day at a time. That each day should be spent finding beauty in flowers and poetry and talking to animals. That a day spent with dreaming and sunsets and refreshing breezes cannot be bettered.
-Nicholas Sparks

In the spirit of Easter, we introduced ourselves in Saturday's class with our first names and a description of something that we would like to revive, re-experience or renew. Mentioned, were things like reviving cancelled movie sitcoms, re-experiencing home-cooked dinners on the beach, eating healthy and getting back to creative pursuits. Simple actions and processes, nothing big or fancy.

Doesn't it seem as though we look at the future and dream big and wide, yet look back for the small, bright spots? I think it's because we just want to feel good, and that projected or recalled emotion can only take place in the present. Children seem to do it best, reveling in the simple joys of the present. Their attention spans are short for all things mundane and waiting is not a game they enjoy.

In order to experience the joys of our past and the hopeful happiness of the future, we have to hold those intentions in the present. All of our power is in the present . So in class, we moved through yoga postures while counting our breaths. We chose the movements we felt were necessary, before enacting them. While it may sound serious and somber, there was actually a lot of giggling and gaiety. There are so many illusions to look past when you're trying to focus.

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Just for fun, try this Awareness Test (You Tube, 01:08).

How to Raise a Happy Child, by the Baby Center.

Happy Childhood Memories Breath Spray, $4.99.

Photo of Adario and Hayden at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory: Geno Ortiz.

The Lights Are On Because Somebody's Home

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

"Thank you for bringing such interesting people together in your classes", a woman said to me on Saturday. Yoga for Women, follows a novel format in that it lasts for two hours because we gather in a circle for the first thirty minutes to introduce ourselves and discuss a chosen topic before the experience of yoga postures.

This past week, each participant was asked to share something about themselves that others might find "interesting". What prompted me was the fact that we have many part-time residents in our classes who come away from very different settings and lifestyles when they enter the studio.

Carole Kaeding is one example. She'll be returning very soon to Michigan where she owns Gratiot Lake Basketry. When she retired (many years ago, she says) and took up basket making, she found a need for a consistent supply of materials. She became that supplier and today has a successful business staffed with the most capable people, which allows her the time to come back every year to Kona and yoga.

Surrounding Carole were some other very special women who varied in age and life experience. They have travelled the world solo or taken up a new language. They are exploring different cultures and art forms or discovering hidden talents and hobbies. They seek the excitement of exploring lava tubes, beginning a new service for the elderly or just having fun in life playing and travelling.

I then introduced a restorative yoga sequence meant to alleviate fatigue by soothing and then energizing the adrenal glands. Some of the dozen or so postures had to be modified for the varying degrees of yoga experience and physical limitations but once everyone reached their perfect position, it was a sight to behold! When we learn how to be comfortable in our bodies, wherever life might position us, we can remain calm and peaceful; everything flows and everyone glows. It doesn't matter what it looks like from the outside, the light is on inside because someone's at home!

At the end of class, phone numbers were exchanged so that conversations could continue. I doubt that fatigue is something that these women experience very often...they seem to balance their lives quite gracefully.

Photo of the Duomo in Florence, Italy: GeneBurch. com

More Picnics!

"There's too much emotion, too much negative emotion: frustration, hatred, anger. I think that's the greatest obstacle. So I think as a first step this should be cooled down. Reduced. Forget these things. And I think for the time being, we need more festivals, more picinics. Let us forget these difficult things, these emotions, and make personal friends. Then we can start to talk about these serious matters."
Dalai Lama, quoted in Ode Magazine (September 2007)

In Saturday's yoga class, we talked about the benefits of keeping an open mind as I'd written a short post about it a few days earlier. We agreed that open minded people appear more youthful and vibrant. Every day brings them a chance for a new adventure.

While we all have opinions and thoughts on just about every subject imaginable, our beliefs should allow and encourage growth rather than a stubborn stagnation. As British writer Gilbert Chesterton said, "A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things but cannot receive great ones."

I like the Dalai Lama's suggestion to cool down and get happy through festivities. When we're not being challenged or threatened, our bodies can spend the time to heal and we're able to hear those instinctual whispers that lead us out of the ruts that habits form.

It will soon be the season for gathering and celebrating so this may be a good time to resolve to do things a bit differently. Celebrate with a new group of people or in a novel way or celebrate in the usual manner but with more positive attitudes and intentions.

You have nothing to lose. Either you'll make some new friends and have the best holiday season ever, or you'll acquire a new level of appreciation for the friends, family and traditions that you already have. If the thought of changing your holiday practices makes you uneasy, consider some of the introductory ideas listed on How to Exercise an Open Mind.

Photo:10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

Let's Make It Fit

Registrations are coming in for John Leebold's workshop here at Kona Yoga, June 22-26. If you live on Oahu, you may attend the workshop with John at Manoa Yoga. Tell Ray or Shelly that Kona Yoga sent you!

Due to the workshop schedule, several of our weekly classes will be cancelled.

• Saturday, June 23: 8am and 10am Classes
• Monday, June 25: 5:30pm Class
• Tuesday, June 26: 6pm Class

Please make every effort to attend as many workshop classes as possible. John is a teacher who inspires your teachers and we want to show him some true Kona Aloha!
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Yoga for Women. Effective this coming Saturday, June 16, this class will be extended by a half hour. Due to our discussion format at the beginning of class, the asana portion is sometimes "wanting". I've decided to change it to a 2 hour class with no additional fee.
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Tuesdays 6-7:30pm. The Beginning Yoga series ends this Tuesday and because of the enthusiasm of the class, I've decided to segue into a Creating a Home Practice class which will begin June 19.

The next Beginning Yoga class starts Tuesday, August 7.

Happy Kamehameha Day!

Photo:hb19

Ascent and Assent

When Yoga for Women was first offered, Krista and I wanted to address the typical female issues from the viewpoints of yoga and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

During the first year, we based our classes and discussions on The Woman's Book of Yoga and Health by Linda Sparrow and Patricia Walden. The moral of the story, the bottom-line for each class, turned out to be: take care of yourself, first. It's the only way you can insure the health and happiness of your loved ones.

Lately, we've been focused upon the subject of Happiness and the class seems to attract happy women. Women of all ages and in various stages of their lives. Strong women, not willing to fit into a cultural mold. Flexible women, willing to yield to disparate views.

Daily Dharma's post entitled Mountain Guides, an excerpt from When the Iron Eagle Flies by Ayya Khema offers this as a description of what we are experiencing:

A good spiritual friend who will help us to stay on the path, with whom we can discuss our differences frankly, sure of a compassionate response, provides an important support system which is often lacking. Although people live and practice together, one-upmanship often comes between them. A really good friend is like a mountain guide. The spiritual path is like climbing a mountain: we don't really know what we will find at the summit. We have only heard that it is beautiful, everybody is happy there, the view is magnificent and the air unpolluted. If we have a guide who has already climbed the mountain, he can help us avoid falling into a crevasse, or slipping on loose stones, or getting off the path. The one common antidote for all our hindrances is noble friends and noble conversations, which are health food for the mind.

Photo:Climbing Equipment

April 7, 2007

In today's class we decided that life during the past week definitely was looking up. Most of us continued with our comfort-seeking-mission through the last seven days.

Tricycle Magazine sent a relevant article a couple of days ago, befitting as always:

From a Fixed Vantage Point

Once you have located your own breath point with clarity, don't deviate from that spot. Use this single point in order to keep your attention fixed. Without having selected such a point, you will find yourself moving in and out of the nose, going up and down the windpipe, eternally chasing after the breath, which you can never catch because it keeps changing, moving, and flowing. If you ever sawed wood you already know the trick. As a carpenter, you don't stand there watching the saw blade going up and down. You would get dizzy. You fix your attention on the spot where the teeth of the blade dig into the wood. It is the only way you can saw a straight line. As a meditator, you focus your attention on that single spot of sensation inside the nose. From this vantage point, you watch the entire movement of breath with clear and collected attention. --Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English

In determination to stay focused on moving up the emotional scale, there is also a helpful process referred to as segment intending: setting an intention for a specified amount of time. It could be for a day, an hour, or for the next natural segment of time you engage yourself (a meeting, an important phone call, or the drive home). Here's an article entitled The Size of Your Segment DOES Matter. I can't wait to see what the next week brings!

Photo: Frank Sutton (where are you, Frank?)

March 31, 2007

While it might appear as though Krista has passed out from too much water, she's actually created an alternative to Viparita Karani that is comfortable for her burgeoning belly.

Laying flat on her back puts too much pressure on her vena cava, and is also not the most comfortable in later stages of pregnancy. She rested for about 5 minutes before she switched and put her right leg up the wall.

 

We start these classes in what has become our Circle of Wisdom. After the usual opening poses, we gather and toss around themes and thoughts from the past week. No matter what the topic, we usually whittle it down to a persistant: Let's Take Care of Ourselves, first. Then we move into a related asana practice. The focus of today's restorative class was "making comfortable choices".

As important as it is to find and work at the edge of your capabilities during an active asana class, I think it's vital for us to allow for comfort during restorative yoga poses. Those reared in 'no pain, no gain' cultures often find it difficult to release the need to push and pull, equating effort with progress. Restorative classes are a perfect time to practice the art of letting go and to locate your body's comfort level while still paying attention to correct alignment. In essence, feeling good while doing good.

Everyone was encouraged to choose from a variety of poses that they would be able to hold for 10 minutes, but to also allow themselves to adjust for comfort. So Krista found a way to improve the circulation in her legs, safely and comfortably.

Image:Birth.com.au

Facing Reality

Sometimes people say, "Well, shouldn't I face reality?" We say, no, never do that. Never face reality unless it is perfect in every way.              -Abraham-Hicks

If you were given an ominous medical diagnosis, would you accept it as reality? If a large number of your relatives have succumbed to a 'congenital' disease, would you be able create a healthy future for yourself?

The topic for today's class was inspired by a client of Krista's who suggested that they begin to focus on the parts of her body that DID function without pain.

The result? She experienced less pain and it renewed  Krista's intentions for her acupuncture practice and treatments. Our bodies and our lives are so miraculously wired for well-being, all we have to do is supply the belief.

We carried the theme into the asanas: standing twists. Parivrtta Trikonasana, Parivrtta Parsvakonasana, Parivrtta Virabadhrasana II  and Parivrtta Uttanasana. While it may seem easier or more logical to face life/reality as we always have, if we let our heart-center lead us...miracles can occur.

Read and view some miracle recoveries:

A Walking Miracle: a young man's recovery from a diving accident.
A Miner's Recovery with fish oil: my favorite since I'm 'into' the Omega Zone.
A Miracle on Video: What would have happened if rescue teams didn't hold even a 1% thought of a recovery?

Artwork by Deloffre. Available at AllPosters.com