Tag yoga

Seeing. Grounded

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My roots extend from the heels, from the fronts of the feet, through the mat, through the floor boards, through the concrete foundation, through the dirt, through the bedrock, through the crust, through the mantle, all the way to the hot molten core at the center of the Earth.  The Earth’s gravity pulls me down.  With equal force, I pull it back up, through the roots, through the heels, through the tailbone, through the back of the heart.

Dr. Eric directs us to open the eyes to a soft gaze and begin to move around the room, roots and all.  Continue reading “Seeing. Grounded” →

2.1

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(Image from the Yoga International article commenting on this sutra)

This sutra opens the second book of the Yoga Sutras.  The second book is about the practice.  This sutra describes “yogic action”.  In the few commentaries that I’ve read, “tapas” is translated as “discipline” or “austerity”, acknowledging that the root means “heat”, or perhaps “energy”.  “Svadhyaya” is “self-reflection”, or “self-study”, or “going inside oneself”.  “Iśvara” is too often translated as God or Lord, which is unfortunate, because it makes it too easy to dismiss (for me and a few folks I know anyway).

This sutra came up a couple of times in our teacher training.   Continue reading “2.1” →

Driven by Narcissism

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“… hatha yoga practice may initially be driven to some extent by narcissism.  After all, hatha yoga can appeal to us because of the powerful way it addresses some of the self’s most cherished preoccupations – health, attractiveness, sexual energy, and longevity.”

– Chip Hartranft, The Yoga-Sūtra of Patañjali: A New Translation with Commentary

Ouch.  Not going to stop, but a good one to keep in mind

A Traveler’s Friend

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One of my occasionally unhelpful patterns is to connect with the people who are leaving.  I thought about that, uncomfortably, one of the deep Fall evenings we shared the way home.

There is another way to see that.  Continue reading “A Traveler’s Friend” →

To Hold Space

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Our yoga psychology teacher gave us homework: to write personal code of conduct for close relationships with students.  There is of course the Yoga Alliance Code of Conduct, and, at the basic level, the boundaries are clear.  But it quickly becomes non-trivial.  What if teaching is a huge part of your life, and the main place where you meet like-minded people?  What if you do run into someone special, whatever that may mean.  What if, you know, you are human sometimes?  How close is too close anyway?  And why?  No, not because it’s written somewhere, but for real – why? Continue reading “To Hold Space” →