Archive for ‘Inspirations from Class’
Receptivity
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
I’ve been observing the concept of receptivity lately, pondering its power and gifts. Teaching Yin yoga gifts me with the opportunity to explore receptivity, as it is one of the wonderful elements of Yin nature. Receptivity is the ability to be open and fully receive which allows us to live life in limitless ways, including well-being, ease, and prosperity.
As I am teaching I notice the great ability of many of our students to push through, to resist, to go up against with such tenacity. All of this is wonderful in its nature of Yang expressed physically, yet what about its counterpart? What is your ability to be whole and fully engaged in life like? Take a look at your receptivity ability.
Are you able to openly receive? Savasana is a wonderful pose to check in with your receptivity. Are you able to be alert or do you shut down during it? Check in the next time you are doing savasana and feel your sensitivity in the pose. As you settle into the pose invite your whole body to be receptive to the floor supporting you. Relax into the support and steadiness of gravity holding you to Earth. Receive each breath with ease, allowing a sense of flow to be dominate. Unravel the nature of Yang that may be showing up wanting to push away, shut down, or be active. Lie in the stillness and openly embrace it. Or at least watch the desire to get up and run!
Receptivity simply allows. It is the quality of life that embraces a friendly, approachable nature. It is inviting and allowing life. When we live life in its wholeness we can flow from Yin to Yang as each current situation or moment dictates. In clear awareness we can be blending our receptive nature with our ability to repel. Being or doing, it’s your call every moment of the day. May you explore receptivity today, and discover its innate nature and gifts.
Tags: recepetivity, savasana, Yin Yoga
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Samskara
Monday, March 7th, 2011
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we are not really living. Growth demands a temporary surrender of security.”
Gail Sheehy
As a teacher I find it a gift to share concepts and philosophy along the yoga path. Recently I have been inviting students to explore the path of transformation, as they find themselves in Samskara.
Samskara in Sanskrit means acquired subliminal impressions, or habits. I like to call them ruts. The vision for me is that we find our way that works for us in a given moment, and then travel it day after day. In the beginning we do it with some awareness and because it benefits us at that time. Slowly we start to just do it because we have been.
After a time we stop being aware of the reason we initially choose to do it, eventually the rut gets so deep that we can’t even see that there might be another option, or that situations have changed. The ruts become valleys over our awareness. Life becomes dim.
One of the many gifts of yoga is the time we spend reflecting on ourselves. We gift ourselves with this time to simply see ourselves, free of judgment. We notice things and begin to see a pattern, Samskara.
It could be a breathing pattern, a way we react in a given situation that might not always be in our best interest, or something that continually causes us suffering. Moksa! In that moment of awareness we find the crack of light that leads us to Moksa (freedom/liberation).
Liberation begins when we see the Samskara. In the light of that awareness we start to see that there are other possibilities. Maybe we breathe a deeper breath. Or we might try a new direction. Just as we do in our asanas (poses), we attempt something new and discover the joy of flexibility. Don and I often refer to this experience of the “yummy of living.”
Take your yoga practice off the mat this month, and stretch yourself in your life patterns. Go ahead try something new, and see what happens. Lokah!
Tags: yoga, Yoga Philosophy
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We are Well
Friday, February 4th, 2011
By: Don Bartolone
As a yoga instructor and Thai Yoga practitioner, I am awed by the resilience and well being of the body. I have observed how some people become focused on what they perceive is wrong with them, which negates the well being that is inherent in their health status. It is such a privilege to serve as a guide on this journey back to this connection to their health and well being. As I meet each person I see their light and their wholeness. I believe this gets communicated on some level and thus we begin each session.
When we initiate mindful breathing and body alignment in class or in a private session, I begin to see almost instantly their recognition of their own life force. Moving toward new possibilities for “feeling good,” they expand their awareness of what may seem like some dormant inner strength coming to the surface. Moving into yoga postures or receiving an adjusting touch to open or lengthen in the body, calls forth this sense of energy that has been minimized with the spot light being on the “problem.”
It’s so rewarding to share this type of awakening whether we’re working within the physical, emotional or mental bodies. If they are feeling sad about something, they are not really just sad nor are they depressed people. I love helping them to realize that in most instances, there is also a part of them that is OK, if not great. It’s the same with the physical body.
I recall the day that a woman in a wheel chair planned to watch our yoga class. She was rehabbing from a knee injury and responded that otherwise she felt fine. She opened to my invitation to join the class and after the class she shared that she felt great. It was a gift to all of us, her willingness to open to the experience, as we witnessed her finding her way through class with a connection to her well being, while honoring her knee’s fragile condition.
I am so grateful for this reminder that we are neither our illness nor pain of the day. Although we may fluctuate in moments of other sensations, thoughts and emotions this well being is alive and well within each of us. We are a tremendous reserve of wellbeing.
Posted in Articles, Bodywork, Inspirations from Class | 1 Comment »
Well Being with a Boo Boo
Tuesday, January 4th, 2011
Last week I had a little accident on my bike. I give great thanks for my yoga practice, as I slammed down on the pavement with my elbow jamming into my ribcage. My first response was to find my breath and breathe through the pain, and there was some great pain. It took a few moments of focus, and intention, to find a full breath but when I did I felt the pain lessen. With the help of my friend I found my legs, and got back up.
I probably have a crack or broken rib (or two) as any movement in that area continues to be painful 5 days later, but what I am most aware of is the well being that is everywhere else in my body. I give great thanks for the strength, flexibility and awareness of this body. I can still move, walk, and yes even bike ride. And yes I am doing yoga. Everything is done slowly with awareness and focus on the breath, as I honor what is in pain, and what is still well in me.
From my yoga practice I have learned that I am not my pain, nor my story. My connection to nature teaches me the essence of flowing and accepting. This lesson on the asphalt reminds me of the healing and resilient nature of life. I am celebrating it today as I bike to yoga, slowly, with deep breath and great awareness.
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The Art of Yoga
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
Recently I was pondering the concept of Art. My mind jumped with questions. What is considered Art? Does Yoga fit into that concept? Why am I thinking of all this?
When I first think of Art I think of paintings, drawings, museums and past Art classes in school. The beauty of color, form, light and shadow arise in my mind. Immediately I find myself thinking of music, the vibration and sound of instruments calling out creativity. Then I see dancers moving, expressing, and flowing with the beat and rhythm of that sound. I hear the clacking of a keyboard as a writer pulls together words that evoke emotions, sensory experiences and stories.
I think of Art as the expression of life that uplifts spirit. That brings me to yoga. The beauty that can be felt, expressed and savored during a practice uplifts me each time I step onto my mat. There is a fragrance to my practice (and it is not my mat), one of sweetness, transformation, nature and spirit. As a teacher I am double blessed, as I get to be the player and the audience as I watch others in the Art of Yoga, and the transformations that are inspired.
My teacher created a style of yoga that I continue to teach called Alchemia. Alchemia is the feminine form of alchemy, the art of transformation. We use breathe to help guide the transformation with yin nature allowing energy to move with the breath. The artist in me sees it in others as their expression shift from fear, confusion, exhaustion, or uncertainty to one of discovery, expression, joy, and bliss. Countless times a student walks into our studio, on the beach dragging with them their woes, worries, stress and concerns. I then bear witness to their recreating their thoughts, feelings and physical expressions as nature, and yoga inspire creation in them.
The Art of Yoga is one of creativity and transformation. It touches people deeply and uplifts spirit. For many who feel fractured, disconnected and limited yoga has been an elixir that bathes them with life force, connects them to source and leaves them feeling whole. Yoga as Art? I say absolutely, with a touch of magic as spirit leaps forth.
Tags: art, yoga
Posted in Articles, Inspirations from Class, Spirit, yoga | No Comments »
