Luminalogue

Asana Practice: the Tail Wagging the Puppy

Yup, it's true.  When it comes to yoga, asana practice is like the tail wagging the dog... or really, the tail wagging a very cute, mixed breed puppy mistakenly thought to have descended from a long line of wise, noble yogi-wolves.  Of course, discovering that the puppy tail is far from pedigreed and actually connects to a much larger body doesn't make it any less worthy or lovable. 

If you have no idea what I'm on about or simply find yourself curiously curious, check out Alanna Kaivalya's smart, funny article about How We Got Here: Where Yoga Poses Come From.

Photo Credit: ?

A Cautionary Tale for Asana Enthusiasts

Photo Credit: Danielle Levitt for The New York Times, Members of the Broadway cast of “Godspell” do their flexible best. From left: Uzo Aduba (doing the wheel), George Salazar (extended-hand-to-big-toe pose) and Nick Blaemire (headstand).

 

In a recent article entitled How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body, which would have been more aptly titled, How Practicing Asanas without Self-Awareness Can Wreck Your Body, author, William Broad interviews long-standing yoga teacher, Glenn Black, about the potentially harmful aspects of ignorant asana practice.  Aside from perpetuating the common misconception that yoga is merely asana by consistently using the word "yoga" to refer to the popular, yet partial, asana practice within the integral tradition of yoga, the article is an informative, well-written, cautionary tale for current and aspiring asana enthusiasts.

Black, with laudable honesty and integrity, warns that the frequent lack of yogic attentiveness and deeper understanding within the often achievement-oriented culture of current exercise-based yoga practice may be more harmful than beneficial.

"According to Black, a number of factors have converged to heighten the risk of practicing yoga. The biggest is the demographic shift in those who study it. Indian practitioners of yoga typically squatted and sat cross-legged in daily life, and yoga poses, or asanas, were an outgrowth of these postures. Now urbanites who sit in chairs all day walk into a studio a couple of times a week and strain to twist themselves into ever-more-difficult postures despite their lack of flexibility and other physical problems. Many come to yoga as a gentle alternative to vigorous sports or for rehabilitation for injuries. But yoga’s exploding popularity — the number of Americans doing yoga has risen from about 4 million in 2001 to what some estimate to be as many as 20 million in 2011 — means that there is now an abundance of studios where many teachers lack the deeper training necessary to recognize when students are headed toward injury. “Today many schools of yoga are just about pushing people,” Black said. “You can’t believe what’s going on — teachers jumping on people, pushing and pulling and saying, ‘You should be able to do this by now.’ It has to do with their egos.”"

Yup.  I couldn't agree more.  Read the entire article for more of Black's perspective, and check out our offerings through Lumina Yoga for a more integral approach.

HipHop Meets Yoga Pop Culture

Hilarious commentary on the contemporary yoga scene...

Turning Toward the Light: Surya Namaskar

  
  "Now, the light which shines above in heaven—pervading all the spaces, pervading everywhere, both below and in the farthest reaches of the worlds—this indeed is that same light which shines within man.

  Chhandogya Upanishad 3.13.7

   "There is an earthly, material sun, which is the cause of heat; and all who are capable of seeing it, even those who are blind, can feel the heat. And then there is an eternal sun, which is the source of wisdom; and those who are spiritually awakened will see this sun and be conscious of His existence."

   Paracelsus

   "As innumerable cups full of water, many reflections of the sun are seen, but the sun is the same; similarly individuals, like cups, are innumerable, but spirit, like the sun, is one."
   The Shiva-samhita I.35 II.42-43

People across cultures have a long history of paying homage to the primary source of life energy here on Earth, our most magnificent star, the Sun.  The yogic tradition is no exception.  Enter any hatha yoga class, and you will find yourself surrounded by sun-worshipers—not the skin-deep, scantily-clad variety of the pre-sunblock eras burning epidermis in pursuit of epic tans—but rather, the lycra-clad, bare-foot yoga enthusiasts engaged, often unknowingly, in the ancient ritual of burning through illusions to rest in the radiance of realized being, commonly referred to as the Sun Salutation. 

Since Vedic times, Surya, the sun, has been venerated as both the solar heart of our planetary life and a symbol of the illumined heart within each of us. Traditionally practiced at daybreak facing the rising sun, Surya Namaskara, the Sun Salutation, is a devotional practice for literally and symbolically turning body, heart, and mind toward the light, greeting each dawn with awakening consciousness.  This moving meditation begins standing with feet planted firmly on the ground, and hands in “prayer” or Heart Seal (Hridaya Mudra), palms together, fingertips skyward, thumbs resting against the chest at heart-level, the center of genuine insight, and continues with a flowing series of twelve poses (asanas), each transitioning into the next in coordination with the breath (pranayama). 

Although not always observed in contemporary practice, the Sun Salutation usually begins with a silent or spoken recital of the Gayatri Mantra, The Mantra of Spiritual Light, considered to be one of the most profound mantras.  In the words of Sri Aurobindo, "Of all the mantras, the supreme and the most potent power of powers is the great, glorious Gâyatrî Mantra.  It is only one's faith and purity of heart that really count. Indeed, Gâyatrî is an impregnable spiritual armor, a veritable fortress, that guards and protects its votary, which transforms him into the divine, and blesses him with the brilliant light of the highest spiritual illumination.  It is universally applicable, for it is nothing but an earnest prayer for Light, addressed to the Supreme Almighty Spirit" (Sri Aurobindo, Hymns to the Mystic Fire). 

Yoga Being

 

"Yoga is the turning of one or of all powers of our human existence into a means of reaching divine Being..."    Sri Aurobindo

 

"Just drop all seeking, turn your attention inward, and sacrifice your mind to the One Self radiating in the Heart of your very being..."    Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

What if there is a way of being that fundamentally changes your experience for the better?  What if you can exercise in a way that improves your mental clarity, reduces your stress, enhances your well-being, develops your awareness, boosts your energy, and still tones your tush?  

Yoga is quite possibly the oldest integral practice for personal well-being and Self-realization.  A rich, holistic tradition exemplifying five thousand years or so of practice, yoga is essentially a way of learning how to pay attention to what matters.  It is the practice of attending to our somatic, psychological and spiritual experience in the moment as a way of bettering each moment of experience for ourselves, each other and our world.  Simply stated, yoga is a way of fully engaging body, heart, and mind in the wholeness of life. 

These days, people begin a yoga practice for all sorts of reasons--stress reduction, weight loss, sleep restoration, pain management, injury rehabilitation, cross-training, personal growth, and more.  Yoga classes have even become the habitat du jour for singles seeking flexy, sexy dates and mates.  However, regardless of what initially attracts one to the mat, all who develop a genuine yoga practice embark on a life-long path of self-realization with benefits far-exceeding those originally sought.  With regular practice, one breathes more deeply, eats more lightly, sleeps more soundly, moves more fluidly, sees more clearly, speaks more freely, laughs more easily, loves more wholly, and lives more fully.

Although most yoga classes in the West emphasize the physical postures (asanas) and energetic breathing techniques (pranayama), these aspects of yoga are merely a starting point.  Yoga is a complete system of principles and practices that transforms one’s entire being.  Asana and pranayama are primarily aimed at developing a habit of attentive relaxation that supports meditative states by balancing the physical and energetic body.  Through simple poses and breathing practices, we learn to shift our attention from the external to the internal.  Through concentration and meditation practices, we learn how to be with ourselves and abide in the truth of who we are.  Finally, we learn to seamlessly navigate these inner and outer dimensions of experience as a holistic whole.

This ever-growing quality of attention that one develops on the mat is what transforms a series of postures into the genuine practice of yoga.  Despite its growing popularity as a form of fitness, yoga is not merely an exercise reserved for skinny, minny contortionists and modern-day members of the cult of the "body beautiful."  Nor is it an enlightenment fast-track for bendy, trendy spiritual seekers.  Yoga is not about being able to touch one’s nose to one’s knees, sculpting a beautiful body, or accumulating experiences of bliss, although all are common effects of practice.  Rather, yoga is about coming into harmony with ourselves, each other, and our world. 

Be well...

Photo Credit with thanks: www.petesaloutos.com

Yoga: The Original Integral Practice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The principle of Yoga is the turning of one or of all powers of our human existence into a means of reaching divine Being…” Sri Aurobindo

"You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state." Sharon Gannon

"Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one's being, from bodily health to self-realization. Yoga means union - the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul." B.K.S. Iyengar

In all of the excitement about integral practice (not just the one in a kit, but the whole kit and caboodle), it seems to me that yoga—fully practiced beyond the reductionist emphasis on Hatha-yogic postures—serves this rather well. As a yoga practitioner for the last twenty years, I have found that yoga fulfills what most people seem to be seeking in this quest for integral practice—a comprehensive method for engaging Spirit in our lives.

Maybe I’m an integral Luddite [grin], but I love being part of such a rich, global tradition exemplifying five thousand years or so of practice, especially one that requires so little—a willing body, heart, and mind. No bells (dumb or otherwise, but if you're into gear, there's no shortage of mats and straps and props for you), no whistles (although with practice you’re likely to hear the sounds of the universe, the music of the spheres). Wireless and portable. Pure simplicity with enough complexity to continue to evolve through centuries of practice.

I’ve taken it with me around the world and it’s never failed me. That said, I appreciate any offering that inspires people to embrace Spirit in the world—and I have even been known to lift a weight or two with some regularity. So without dismissing the value of ITP, ILP and other more recent self-transformative endeavors, I simply invite you to consider the relevance of what came before by offering this relatively brief and decidedly un-academic introduction to what may be the most useful and original integral practice that I know: yoga.