Roxtar Yoga

dedication giving loving February 24, 2010

I have been slowly but surely reading The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali translated by Sri Swami Satchidananda. I typically meditate and read a bit of the book every morning, although lately I’ve been slacking a little bit. The Yoga Sutras is the foremost scripture of yoga, a complete manual for the study and practice of yoga. There are almost 200 sutras, or bare threads of meaning in the book. It is not known when Sri Patanjali lived, or even if he was a single person rather than several persons using the same title. Estimates of the date of the Sutras range from 5000 BC to 300 AD.

I am currently reading the second section, the portion on practice. There are also sections on contemplation, accomplishments, and absoluteness. The very first sutra of the second section (or sutra 2.1) really hit home today and I wanted to share it.

“The last part of Kriya Yoga is simple but great. It is surrendering to the Supreme Being. I understand this to mean dedicating the fruits of your actions to God or to humanity – God in manifestation. Dedicate everything – your study, your japa, your practice – to the Lord. When you give such things to Him, He accepts them but then gives them back many times magnified. You never lose what you have given. Even virtuous, meritorious deeds will bind you in some form or other if you do them with an egotistic feeling. Every time you do something, feel, “May this be dedicated to the Lord.” If you constantly remember to do this, the mind will be free and tranquil. Try not to possess anything for yourself. Temporarily keep things but feel you are just a trustee, not an owner.”

“Be like the mother who receives a soul, nourishes it for nine months and then lets it come out into the world. If the mother were to always keep the baby in her womb, what would happen? There would be great pain. Once something has ripened, it should be passed on. So dedication is true Yoga. Say, “I am Thine. All is Thine. Thy will be done.” Mine binds. Thine liberates. If you drop “mines” all over, they will “undermine” your life – or blow up in your face. But if you change all the “mines” to Thine, you will always be safe.

“Let us all dedicate our lives for the sake of the entire humanity. With every minute, every breath, every atom of our bodies we should repeat this mantram: “dedication, dedication, giving, giving, loving, loving.” That is the best japa, the best Yoga which will bring us all permanent peace and joy and keep the mind from the disturbances of chitta vrittis (mind stuff).”

Somehow the yogic scriptures can say “God”, “Him”, and “Supreme Being” and it doesn’t make me feel closed or uneasy like I would feel when studying the bible in Sunday school as a kid. I just thought this was a beautiful thought to keep in mind as I go about my daily business.

spirit of vegas February 15, 2010

I’m stationed at the San Francisco Airport eating stuffed mushrooms and pondering my most recent travels and health tribulations.

While in Las Vegas last week I noticed how much the city had been effected by the current “economy” when I went for a walk one morning. There were a lot of vacancies and empty buildings and it was kind of odd, yet normal within such an excessive landscape. As much as evidence of the economic climate depresses me, I also feel some of it’s effects are fair and not so bad. I feel like expansion and contraction are normal parts of life’s cycles and I wonder where we will be after the current contraction. My gut tells me it’s far from over and I wonder where it will take us, how many people will have to suffer, will we ever make real changes, and how many corporate crapholes will get much needed reality checks, if any. There is always a positive side to every negative and I’ve appreciated the reminder to simplify my life, stop spending money on crap I don’t need, and focus on the parts of my life that inspire me and build up those parts more. It’s all about living my passion and sharing it in whatever ways I can. I have not enjoyed worrying about myself or my loved ones and watching them suffer unnecessarily. There are no guarantees in life, that’s for sure.

My three-day adventure in Vegas was actually quite enjoyable despite my original misgivings. It’s always so excessive, smoke everywhere, too much partying, too much everything. It is possible to be healthy when life gets busy and challenging I am finding. The hotel had a gym at which I was able to move my legs a bit after getting my arse kicked at a personal training session with friends before I traveled. My legs were quite sore and out of desperation I attempted to do some strength training on a squat machine to ease the pain. It helped despite my yogic aversion to gyms these days. I prefer to get my movement on my yoga mat, bicycle, and two legs while enjoying the great outdoors if possible. I have to say though, it did feel good to challenge my body in a different way. The hotel even had a good food. My travel routine sustained me. I enjoyed KÀ (a Cirque du Soleil show), a heroic journey of love and conflict, set within a dynamic theatrical landscape, on an enormous stage with a captivating display of acrobatics which left the audience in awe. I admit I’m not a huge fan of live theatre, but the synchronized fights, water rescue, and acrobatics were amazing and I really enjoyed the show.

I decided to look up the definition of Ka to see where the show got it’s name from. The Ka (k3) was the Egyptian concept of spiritual essence, that which distinguishes the difference between a living and a dead person, with death occurring when the ka left the body. This resembles the concept of spirit in other religions. Hmmm the concept of spirit is one shrouded in history and opinion and I’m not up for that discussion today.

viva las vegas February 10, 2010

I came onto this dreaded computer after an exhausted day on it already to laugh and share a bit of the joy of teaching software and working in Las Vegas, of all places. This morning I emerged from the elevator to very loud rock music. The volume of the rock music doesn’t change throughout the Hard Rock Hotel, no matter the time of day. It was a bit jarring at 8am. You would think they would switch to sappy hard rock ballads at that hour. It was funny walking through the hotel and casino in business clothes with my laptop while others where still partying from the night before. There are always drunk people here. There area also rugby players everywhere as there are 14 teams staying here for some sort of playoff game.

I’m really enjoying teaching to this size group, 30 people. Last year teaching 90 was a bit chaotic. I think this must be the golden mean size of a class for classroom teaching.

I don’t really think Avril Lavigne has earned as much play as she gets in this hotel.

Did I bring my yoga on this trip to Sin City? Why, yes, how dare you question my dedication I exercised a bit last night, meditated and practiced this morning, and exercised a bit tonight. I feel pretty good considering the lack of fresh air I’ve been inhaling. We’ve been eating good food. Life feels good today.

No yogi lessons for me today. Except to breathe when busy. Just breathe. Ahhhhhh.

toilet magic February 7, 2010

“Woody. I just wrote a top 40 song on your toilet.” said Michael Franti to his friend Woody Harrelson, whose house he was staying at.
“Michael, was it #1 or #2?” said Woody in return.

Last Friday I attended a yoga class with Sean Corn and Michael Franti with 400 yogis at the Yoga Journal SF Conference. The energy was incredible and the message they shared was profound. They reminded us to take action in whatever ways we can, right here, right now. No one else is going to be the change we want to see. We have to be that change. It reminded me how truly blessed I am. She started a challenge last year for anyone who could raise $20,000 in their communities (not just giving their own money) and if you met the goal you were able to join her in a 3rd world country to help build and create infrastructure to help those in need. She raised half a million dollars last year for Cambodia and is going to South Africa next year. Wow. They built a school, a birthing center, and more. It actually brought me to tears. They encouraged us to sit down and make a plan. I have a sort of plan, but I wonder what else I can do to to be the change I want to see. What really bothers you in this world, what do you want to change? Part of my plan is to take better care of myself so I can bring my best self to the world. One of Michael’s goals is to write a top 40 song this year and he told us a pretty funny story about it coming to him in the shower and the toilet. Isn’t that how it works, the best ideas come out of random places, and random times, as if magic, pixie, dust just appeared out of nowhere. Voila!

I returned from Yoga Journal SF a week ago and have been pedaling my hardest to keep up with this epic climb known as life. How did I maintain my yogi ways while away from home, you ask? I cooked kitcheree for breakfast the first day and it was awesome and I had leftovers the next morning. Even though it’s not considered “breakfast food”, it was really nice to have the mornings to myself, cook a nourishing breakfast, meditate, and do yoga, if only for a little bit. Sleep is imperative when traveling. I never sleep as well when I travel, so getting 8 hours is the only way to feel remotely normal. I usually am not a walker, but I really enjoyed walking every morning before my long days began. It was very meditative, relaxing, and the fresh air was like medicine for the body. I ended up sharing my hotel room with a friend unexpectedly. Although it disrupted my routine a bit, it was fun and good to help share yoga, even if it wasn’t directly through teaching. I didn’t eat all my snacks and food, but it was better to be over prepared. Kitcheree, trail mix, apples, tea, and vitamin c are the travel companions of champions.

I am on my way to Las Vegas and Seattle this week so I hope to bring my yoga and life practices with me for another week away from my nurturing routines. This is when it gets challenging, when the intensity and busy feeling stay for more than a week. I feel like this is it. If I can’t take care of myself under the stress of travel, how is a single mom going to do it, or a lonely grandma, or an executive, or student? We have to bring our yoga with us everywhere. And your yoga may be something very different than mine. I am thankful for and enjoy how much my yoga practice brings to me in day to day life, but I really want to find a way to bring it with me everywhere.