Yoga Practice 109 - "Centering" to Access Your Higher Self

We exist in four spheres...Anatomical (Physical body), Physiological (Emotions), Mental (Thoughts) and Intellectual (Wisdom). The practice of Hatha (implies pair of opposites) Yoga (to Yoke from the Sanskrit word Yuj) is essentially to find equanimity in all these spheres and move from a state of duality to one of union.

"Centering Exercises"(a term used by my late mother Poonam but she refers to different exercises - Star, Light and Power) in the context of Yoga Practice, I believe, consist of finding balance in each of the four spheres mentioned above. These include (i) Asana practice linked with the breath which integrates the left and right sides of the body, front and back, upper and lower, outer and inner. (ii) Self Study or becoming a witness to our emotions moving from sympathetic (fight or flight) to parasympathetic (calm) nervous responses and; (iii) Patanjali's yoga sutras: Pratyahara (sense withdrawal), Dharana (attention), and Dhyana (meditation). Ashtanga yoga utilizes a three pronged approach as well "Tristana" alignment between breath, posture, gaze to achieve steadiness.

From the diaries of my late mother Poonam, these centering practices help us "to recover our own consciousness", surrender our ego and find limitless, unconditional love. I believe she was referring to accessing our inner wisdom or our "Higher Self" - a place where we experience "Sachitananda" the trinity of Truth, Awareness and Bliss...one which is permanent, immutable and constant like the Dhruv Tara (Pole Star).

It is accessing and being connected to this Higher Self that allows us to transcend dualistic thinking - good and evil, positive and negative, love and pain etc. She wrote in her diary "nothing is destroyed" "love conquers all pain, darkness, unhappiness, despair". Isolation, loneliness, insecurity on the other hand represent a lack of connection to our Higher Self.

My mother believed that "we choose our lives in order to transcend our own negativity, unhappiness, situations that are challenging for us, in order to "Learn" from them. That we must actively work on making our choices". She wrote that a "lot of our pain arises from dualistic thinking and evil is good flowing backwards..energy is one".

My interpretation of her belief in the context of transcending dualistic thinking is that one must experience darkness in order to appreciate light and experience states of depression and mania, of swinging from one extreme of being a victim to another of being empowered, in order to channel our energy towards the center - our Higher Self - the seat of Sachitananda.

And it is this Higher Self or Soul or "Jivatman" that must then find Union with the Divinity or Ultimate Reality or "Brahman".

I think I now understand what my mother was talking about in her diaries when she said that "Reality is beyond Duality" (Personally, I think she was enlightened)!

For my mother, divinity represented a place of "real love unending" and Meher Baba (http://www.meherbabainformation.org) was that "love", the whole that was always there, leaves nobody, and is the unity of all divinity (ie religious Godheads), representing Oneness of all. She was following the Yoga of devotion or "Bhakti Yoga", one of the doctrines (the other two being Jnana Yoga - Yoga of Knowledge and Karma Yoga - Yoga of Action) explained in the Bhagavad Gita.

For myself, I am drawn to the principles of "Tantra" (mentioned in Yoga Practice 103) as a means of transcending dualistic thinking. Practically that would mean using "centering exercises" to connect to my Higher Self which would then allow me to actively channel the energy (kundalini) positively and connect to the divinity that is embodied in life and live in abundance.

Yoga Practice 108 - Remember the 5 Observances or Niyamas

The 5 Niyamas or observances are Shaucha or cleanliness, Santosha or contentment, Tapas or discipline, Svadhyaya or self study, and Ishvarapranidhana or Self-surrender. I have briefly touched upon each of these in prior posts....Be Regular or Tapas (post 101), Be a Witness or Svadhyaya (post 104). I mentioned Shaucha in the post "In Search of a Teacher" and touched upon Ishvarapranidhana in post 102where I talked about the Namaste mudra...the aspect of surrendering the ego to the heart, the seat of the soul. If I think of Santosha or contentment literally, my Eastern upbringing suggests that it is as an acceptance of things that I don't like, but cannot change - accept it, it is your karma, destiny. But my Western life experiences contradict this view with a now popular belief "Yes, we can". So, I prefer to think of contentment as the ability to experience a state of calmness. I welcome your comments on this subject. Some additional thoughts I have about Shaucha is that cleanliness in a broader context to me means nuturing, maintaining and sustaining all spaces like one would a temple. From taking care of the body - teeth, hair, skin, nails etc, to your home, to the city you inhabit, the environment, planet earth and the Universe!

Yoga Practice 107 - Practice all 5 Restraints or Yamas

The 5 Yamas or Restraints are :- Ahimsa or non-violence, Satya or truthfulness, Asteya or not stealing, Brahmacharya - refrain from sexuality outside of that which is an expression of love for a partner in a monogamous relationship, and Aparigraha or not grasping as mentioned in Yoga Practice 106. The other day, I went to the post office to mail out W2s and payroll stubs for a friend of mine. As I walked away from the counter I realized that the postal clerk had made a mistake and gave me ten extra dollars in change. I admit, I was tempted to walk away and pocket the change but a voice inside me that was much stronger than my thought made me turn around and go right back to return the money. The reaction from the postal clerk and also how I felt was priceless, worth much more than the $10!

Yoga Practice 106 - Let Go and Make Space

Clutter can be a drain on your energy and a real deterrent to the creative process. Clean out your physical space, donate/sell/throw things that you haven't used in years - make space to journey inwards. Let go of attachments "Aparigraha" (non grasping) to money, relationships, the lover, material possessions - only then will you begin to see that we have all these things within us.

A couple of days ago I was having some serious IT problems...I was in an emotional state of panic and felt very anxious that I would not be able to resolve the issues on my own. I could see myself grasping for anyone who could help me...my virtual boyfriend in Cambridge, my friend in Larchmont, my cousin who happened to be in Ecuador, my neighbor who is currently in Hyderabad, my business associate in Paris....but I could not reach anyone, no one was there...my panic deepened. I felt helpless and completely alone. I decided to stay with the feeling and kept telling myself that I am there for myself and I will know how to fix the problem. Sure enough, two days of browsing blog forums, $53, and 5 phone calls to Apple Tech Support corrected and resolved all of my IT issues!

Yoga Practice 105 - Kick the Habit

Change is often difficult. It is especially hard for me. I complained loudly to the fitness director at my neighborhood gym about their yoga classes being non-traditional because I had become accustomed to practicing in styles taught by more traditional schools of yoga. I even called some of the classes "yogarcize". But eventually I gave in and settled into a rountine practicing 5 days a week. I was fortunate because the proximity of the gym made it easier for me to be regular and I was lucky to find at least two teachers that taught in the traditional styles - one Ashtanga and the other Iyengar. And then it happened again - change. The club cancelled my anchor wednesday morning 7 am Ashtanga class. I was very upset because it shook the ground beneath my feet. I knew that I had to start anew....brand new teacher, different location, new faces. I reflected on my strong reaction to this event only to realize that it is in my nature or rather "conditioning" to become attached, to be fearful of change, and anxious about new experiences.

I am "kicking this habit" and many other patterns of behavior that keep me going around in circles like a hampster on a wheel. You can only change something if you are first aware of its occurrence....the witness I talked about in my earlier post 104. My suggestion of honing into this awareness of Self through the practice of yoga is to practice at the same time at least 3-5 times a week, same style, same teacher - preferably Mysore Style or Self practice so you can begin to observe subtle patterns held in the body and slowly begin to connect the dots.....

Yoga Practice 104 - Become the Witness

At the beginning of my Vinyasa Yoga class yesterday I heard a tune that I knew. I started to hum and the words came to me...."Prabhuji, daya karo; Maan mae aan baso." ie O'Lord have mercy on me, come reside in my heart. And that was my thought and inspiration for my practice that day. I had an amazing experience: It felt as though my Yoga teacher remained connected to my thoughts even after the brief conversation I had with him at the beginning of class, telling him that my shoulders felt very tight. (euphemism for I want to open my heart, the seat of my emotional wisdom).....somehow he knew that my body wanted to move into Vashishthasana to Ushtrasana to Purvottanasana. It was as though I connected to the teacher within me - my higher Self - my inner wisdom and then connected to the teacher in the room. This is a rare occurrence even for me but my sense is that it is possible to access the teacher within by becoming a witness - to your thoughts, to your movement - noticing the ease/discomfort you experience when you move from one asana to the next, and keeping your attention on breathing comfortably all along. Sort of like putting lessons 101-103 together. TRY IT OUT for yourself.