02/19/11 by Vibhuti Jaya | tykes & teens | No Comments »
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I had the pleasure of teaching a really fast lesson (30 minutes) on the mind-body connection to a great group of teens this past Tuesday. IRSC’s Chastain Center campus generously hosted our time together in a big, open room on campus that had been cleared out for us to “get our yoga on”. What a thrill! I love teaching, and it is especially fabulous to get to work with young adults, and to promote that they begin to install ways to deflect (or relieve) stress at an early point in their lives.
The stress we have when we are teens is overwhelming enough: SCHOOL, TESTS, SPORTS, TESTS, EXAMS, HOMEWORK, TESTS, QUIZZES, JOBS, TESTS, CHORES, FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES, FRIENDS, HAVING MONEY, just to name a few. It’s quite a lot! Unfortunately, stress just gives us bigger and bigger chances to experience it as we grow into adulthood, particularly since we tend to take on more responsibilities, and have lots more obligations as we mature. As the teens and I discussed in our group conversation, stress just makes us feel pretty bad (body and mind), and it has also been identified as one of the main ingredients of disease, which is often spelled out for us as dis-ease"the state of being comfortable" in order to illustrate how ease promotes health and the absence of ease contributes to that which is unhealthy. Stress is one of the first things our trusted health care practitioners tell us to try and eliminate if we should happen to need to heal anything in our bodies (or minds for that matter).
One of the most significant things that has happened in my life as a direct result of my experiences with yoga is my ability to keep STRESS at bay. The reason why yoga reduces stress is a three-pronged rationale that just also happens to be the way we connect mind to body, and body to mind.
Making the mind-body connection is actually quite simple. There are essentially three (3) ways to do it:
- BREATH
- MOVEMENT
- AWARENESS
When I first started writing this post, I nearly wrote “Mind Body Teens Learn to Beat STRESS!”, but the word BEAT is kind of a stressful word. It gives the impression that one has to FIGHT or DO BATTLE with stress, which is just not as effective as simply side-stepping stress and not letting it catch hold of you. The idea here is that these practices make one resistant to stress. We want to be solid and inhabit our lives with such serenity that stress can not touch us. So, I changed it to “Evade STRESS” because I think of stress as a form of capture. Stress has a way of imprisoning us—keeping us in captivity in our own lives, and if we are not made aware of ways to slip past its steely grip, we run the risk of letting it squeeze out the joy we might get to experience in our moments. (I’m a big fan of joy, so, for the sake of joy alone, it’s worth understanding how to escape the clutches of stress!)
In order to understand the How-To’s of connecting mind to body and body to mind, we first take a look at what I like to call the three (3) dispositions:
- MIND DOMINANT
- BODY DOMINANT
- IN-THE-MIDDLE
Those of us who are born into minds that are vastly inquisitive and insatiably curious tend to gravitate towards things that are mental. We, like scholars and scientists, like to think, to question and to problem-solve. We read, we write, we ponder things deeply, we can sit in silence (and sometimes solitude), working our minds for hours and hours and hours on end. We are so cerebral that we sometimes forget we have a body. For us, the body patiently awaits our return from where we usually hang out—in our heads! We are mind-dominant, so in our practices we must connect mind to body.
Those of us who are born into bodies that are naturally inclined towards movement and physical human performance tend to align ourselves with more concrete, sensory things. We, like athletes and dancers, like to move—we NEED to move! We are oriented towards working with our hands or on whole-body tasks that we repeat and refine. We are sometimes restless and unfocused when we don’t get enough physical movement. We tend to spend more time immersed in the embodied sense of our experiences—and wayyyy less time in our heads. We are body dominant, so in our practices we must connect body to mind.
There are those of us who share aspects of both versions described above, and it is we who have an easier time of this thing called integration—or the mind-body connection. We have a little less distance to travel in connecting the parts because we sort of hang out in the middle most of the time. Because we are neither mind nor body dominant, in our practices, we must learn to discern what our needs are in the moment. This requires us to refine our inner listening ability, and allows us to become more attuned to ourselves and those around us.
Of course, yoga isn’t the only way to make that connection, but it just so happens that yoga features the three (3) things that are very effective at bridging the gap. When we place our attention on our BREATH (Step 1), we take a huge step in the direction of calming the nervous system. Whenever we focus on our inhales and exhales, the breath naturally deepens and slows, which bring oxygen rich blood to our cells and just make things easier, and better for our physiology. When we engage in MOVEMENT (Step 2), we incite the cooperation of all body systems, we move many fluids, increase heart-rate and respiration and circulate our life energy.
When we connect the BREATH to the MOVEMENT—that’s when we are really balancing things out! All the great benefits of BREATHING and all the great benefits of MOVING come together to bring stillness, and calm to our beings. That’s the secret of the connection!!!
AND, as if that were not enough grooviness for you, the last part of making the mind-body connection is to add AWARENESS of what we’re doing to the equation. When we add AWARENESS of our breath, and awareness of our movements to the discipline of whatever we’re doing in each moment, we really take ourselves to the very center of the experience. When we give our full awareness to the thing we’ve chosen as our practice—basketball, lacrosse, football, art, music, writing, rapping, fishing, basket-weaving, dance or WHATEVER—and if we do that practice diligently, with all three (3) steps, then we can really lose ourselves in the thing we love and create a big space for happiness to come into our lives.
When we take the time to practice these three (3) steps in what we do, there is no before"at an earlier time, previously", there is no after"following in time, later", there is only the moment that we’re living. There is just RIGHT NOW. When we are in RIGHT NOW, there can really be no stress. We side-step it, like greased lightning. Like teflon. We are slick! We are just ourselves, breathing, moving and paying attention to our breath and movement—to the rhythm of our life. We listen closely with the ears of the heart—we look deeply with the eyes of the breath for our chance to grab a big, healthy dose of joy.
12/05/10 by Vibhuti Jaya | blog | No Comments »
The Odyssey of Homer
translated from the Greek by T. E. Lawrence, and brought forth into this writer’s reality by Steven Pressfield
INVOCATION
O DIVINE POESY
GODDESS-DAUGHTER OF ZEUS
SUSTAIN FOR ME
THIS SONG OF THE VARIOUS-MINDED MAN
WHO AFTER"following in time, later" HE HAD PLUNDERED
THE INNERMOST CITADEL OF HALLOWED TROY
WAS MADE TO STRAY GRIEVOUSLY
ABOUT THE COASTS OF MEN
THE SPORT OF THEIR CUSTOMS GOOD OR BAD
WHILE HIS HEART
THROUGH ALL THE SEA-FARING
ACHED IN AN AGONY TO REDEEM HIMSELF
AND BRING HIS COMPANY SAFE HOME
VAIN HOPE—FOR THEM
FOR HIS FELLOWS HE STROVE IN VAIN
THEIR OWN WITLESSNESS CAST THEM AWAY
THE FOOLS
TO DESTROY FOR MEAT
THE OXEN OF THE MOST EXALTED SUN
WHEREFORE THE SUN-GOD BLOTTED OUT
THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN
MAKE THE TALE LIVE FOR US
IN ALL ITS MANY BEARINGS
O MUSE
Thank you, Steven Pressfield, for your poignant reminders, and for sharing the way to pay homage to She who guides my keystrokes. It is a delight to find a brother in the love and remembrance of Shakta—of Devi. Thank you for guiding me to place the Divine Mother always at the helm of these endeavors.
07/03/10 by Vibhuti Jaya | blog, tykes & teens | 7 Comments »
This week, I taught Kali Natha Yoga’s Shakti"shakti symbolizes the female; Mother Shakti is the life force; She is your divine potential" Worship 1 Asana"is a body position, typically associated with the practice of Yoga, intended primarily to restore and maintain well-being, improve flexibility and vitality, and promote the ability to remain in seated meditation for extended periods" [Sanskrit] Series to one of my classes, we practiced it extra slowly, deeply and deliberately. My classes sometimes spontaneously take on the format of a posture clinic because many of these students are new to yoga (this is my favorite thing about them). Often, they seem to really benefit from the reinforcement of careful pacing, extra verbal instruction, and made-to-order modifications. I love that they have really stuck with the first round of classes, and we are now entering into our 6th week, so things are deepening as they each begin to relax into their respective practices.
This night, Shakti Worship 1 was led in about 30 minutes, a la “posture clinic” style, with lots of extra time for breaths in between each of the movements. Throughout these breathing rests, I coached them to become aware of sensations created by the previous movement. During those rests I spoke to them about shakti, explaining it as much as I could, and giving little examples.
We ended sitting, and without interruption we repeated Shakti Worship 1, with a little bit faster pace and texture. I led them relatively wordlessly, cueing intensely, with minimal instruction and strictly sticking to the asana by the numbers (just shortening the repetitions on a few things). As they sat in the last movement (#29) “feeling the space of Shakti“, I let them soak. Silently, I took attendance, rummaged for my tsing-sha cymbals, dimmed the lights and waited before"at an earlier time, previously" finally instructing them to take savasana – corpse pose.
During a relatively brief relaxation, I spoke to them about shakti again, this time remembering to share with them the “drink as you pour” teaching that is often spoken of by my teacher. They are therapists, social workers, school teachers and staff at an agency that provides care and community services. They are those whose job it is to give of themselves each day. Giving is their livelihood.
After"following in time, later" class, the most marvelous thing happened!
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07/02/10 by Vibhuti Jaya | blog | No Comments »
There is something truly transporting about giving myself over to the rhythm of some favored musical pulse. It seems to be even better when the sound is loud enough to fill the room, for then, the music possesses The Power. An enveloping sound scape can crowd out the worries that threaten to claim my tender thoughts. (This is why I recommend headphones for 20/20, so the students can connect to the interior of the shared experience). Breath connects to movement, music fuels the practice and can incite its grand crescendo.
Move! Groove! Dance to protect your thoughts! For as they say, “thoughts become things”, and we are certainly inviting and co-creating our own experiences to a large degree, aren’t we? Gabrielle Roth, with her 5 Rhythms, tells us we can sweat our prayers, and I believe her! Rolando Toro, with his Biodanza, taught us the poetry of human encounter through healing movement.
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05/29/10 by Vibhuti Jaya | blog | 1 Comment »
Two of the fill-in questions I like to present for pondering are the duo:
“My mind is ______________ . My body feels _________________” .
This pair of statements is a actually a slight revision of the journal questions generously introduced by Carol Hansen in her Lighten Up! workshops of the 1990’s. Together with her co-presenter, Victor Grey, Carol toured certain cities in the U.S. promoting the achievement of weight"a measure of the heaviness of a person" loss through the practice of unconditional love of self. Carol’s transformational workshops were hosted by Unity churches in a smattering of cities across the nation. Magically, Stuart, Florida happened to be a point on the map of that tour, and I just happened to be in that audience, (circa 1994) and tipping the scales at about 250+ pounds. I borrow the questions in homage to Carol and with a nod to the impact that Lighten Up! had on my own personal journey. I am grateful for the catalyst that was her work, and happily note that she is apparently still out there with her website, and her “5-minute a day process”. (Incidentally, she is now Carol Hansen Grey!)
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05/20/10 by Vibhuti Jaya | TNT, tykes & teens | No Comments »
Last night’s TNT class gave me an opportunity to see some old faces and to meet some new students! I LOVE THIS! I am so jazzed today, from the act of having been able to share some of the groovy magic that is yoga in a shared practice. It is still my favorite thing in the world. Thanks, for joining us guys! Things are happening for our group already. “Woo-hoo”, I say! Have a magnolia!!
My newcomers are special because they were not only new to me, but they were new to yoga as well. When students come to our practice who have never, ever “gone to the mat” before"at an earlier time, previously", I get so excited that I can hardly contain my giddiness. I love teaching first time students! As more and more Americans take to yoga, there are greater and greater chances that we teachers will encounter students for whom the practice of yoga is completely new—and perhaps also, completely alien. A lot of the time, it is their curiosity that finally leads them to us, and there is also perhaps some apprehension they have had to overcome in order to actually show up, pick a spot on the floor, and roll out that mat for the first time. To some, yoga seems really intimidating. (Teachers can forget this…) Yoga teachers can also seem really intimidating. (Teachers may not even realize this…)
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05/10/10 by Vibhuti Jaya | blog | 4 Comments »
Shame"a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety". Shyness"implies a timid reserve and a shrinking from familiarity or contact with others; disposed to avoid a person or thing". These two share the opening consonants uttered by sound conscious librarians everywhere (shhhhh!), but that’s not all they share. Both my shame and my shyness are connected to hiding. They are each associated with an aversion to being seen. More dangerously, they both have the power to prevent me from showing up.
Shame is an intriguing phenomenon that plays a pretty big part in the negative body image/eating disorders/obesity arena. Body shame in particular connects us to a never-ending cycle of comparison, dissatisfaction, and often a relentless pursuit of the perfect"being entirely without fault or defect, flawelss" body ideal. Interestingly, it can also be a set-up for a vortex of depression"a psycho-emotional condition marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies", binge-eating, self-loathing and then more depression. Read more →
04/28/10 by Vibhuti Jaya | blog | 2 Comments »
One of Sir Isaac Newton’s theories says something about a body in motion staying in motion, right? Well, there’s definitely something to the gathering of momentum"strength or force gained by motion". Momentum collects strength, and this power is what we are going to capitalize upon through TNT (our upcoming thick & thin"measuring little in cross section or diameter; not well fleshed" classes). Today, with holes still in my gums in place of the four (4) wisdom teeth that were extracted last Friday, I finally ventured forth to do the thing I affectionately call the “CampuStomp”. It’s a coupla’ mile (two, maybe?) circumnavigation of the campus, and it is nothing without the iPod and the sunglasses! It was an exhilaratingly beautiful day and I have to say that I loved every sweaty, wonderful minute of it. It was the kind of workout that makes me wonder why I shy from workouts the way that I still manage to do—even after"following in time, later" all this time—even after everything we’ve been through (“we” = my body and I).
So, as I mentally prepare for my new classes, and to be introduced to my new students, I ponder. I take a few extra days to let my mouth heal a little more before"at an earlier time, previously" the first post-surgical downward facing dog, and I wonder just exactly what is that “thing” that was different today than the rest of the days? What is the thing that made me move today, instead of sitting it out (again)? What was the animating factor that got me up (off the proverbial couch) and out to breathe, and move, and sweat, and to feel happy (instead of being unplugged from experience and exiled to my head)? What in me actually ignited the intention and “did the do” today?
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04/24/10 by Vibhuti Jaya | blog | No Comments »
Webster’s defines inertia"the tendency to resist motion, exertion or change" as “…indisposition to motion, exertion, or change”. It’s been my experience that motion (movement of the body) is incredibly powerful, exhilarating, and curative. I also know that sometimes it feels near-to-impossible to actually get moving.
Those of us who struggle with carrying extra pounds, eating as anesthesia"loss of sensation with or without loss of consciousness", or just simply feeling unhappy about what we see in the mirror can feel really stuck, really buried in our bodies. We are at times unmotivated to move, or unwilling to move even though we know it will make us feel fantastic if we do.
This is the inertia of which I speak. Sometimes I have the antidote"something that relieves, prevents, or counteracts".
One of the keys to igniting transformation"change in composition or structure; outward form or appearance; character or condition" is to acknowledge inertia and to listen in. Watch how the frozen self begins to thaw as you do your practice. But how do we get to the doing of the daily practice? Movement. Meditation. Yoga. What blocks our way? What stops us? -AND- What motivates us? What supports us to engage in self-care"any activity of an individual, family or community, with the intention of improving or restoring health, or treating or preventing disease"?
04/23/10 by Vibhuti Jaya | TNT, tykes & teens | No Comments »
Greetings and salutations! This opening entry marks the return of Vibhuti Jaya! We are pleased and happy to announce the latest offering of enlighten yoga (formerly known as “the Yoga Vartula“) in its weekly class format: TNT!!!
TNT stands for thick & thin"measuring little in cross section or diameter; not well fleshed", and it is the perfect"being entirely without fault or defect, flawelss" introductory exploration of the enlighten yoga process! Click here for more information.
