Day: January 3, 2015

Categories
Healthy Activities Healthy Living

Full moon tomorrow night… ahhh…sigh…the anticipation:)

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about for now. I wanted to talk about New Year’s Resolutions and Will Power. I have no New Year Resolution because I have no will power. I instead have a DAILY “resolution”…it’s not so much about goal setting for me but a daily reminder – it’s kind of like daily prayer or poetry reading for me so … not really a resolution is it? I have set very goal oriented and ambitious New Years Resolution before so I feel I can now speak about it with some frankness. Whenever we refer to New Year’s Resolution, the idea of “Will Power” comes up because the most popular and typical New Year Resolution for many is a challenge to lose weight and exercise more because of the average 2-3 lbs weight gain over the holiday season.

Therefore the local gyms might be packed … and I might implore to you that studies have shown that actually gentle yoga is effective in weight management… seems counter-intuitive but I know this to be true. Why? Because as recommended, it’s closest thing to mindful meditation so beneficial in that “goal” whether to curb your appetite or to let go what’s toxic or harmful to us. Unfortunately, the reason the current craze?, “mindful meditation” does not work or hard to engage in for many is that it’s too … goal oriented. People approach it the same mindset they approach their business or work – setting budgets or targeting revenue goals, etc. and wonder why it’s so challenging to meditate. It’s not the same..That’s right, counting the beans is not quite the same as counting your breath or paying attention. You are sitting there appearing on the surface to be serene in your buddha pose with the single goal to … achieve mindfulness – it’s a contradiction already. You have to let go of that “goal” … and a goal is a little different from setting an “intention”.

As far as will power… here’s an insightful TED talk given by our local yoga instructor and Stanford professor, Kelly McGonigal:

Categories
Yoga

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Yoga has changed. Have you noticed? (yes…) During my three decades of teaching (wow…), I have watched the yoga that we practice in the West become physically harder and harder. On one hand, that’s positive. It means that while many of us are seizing the opportunity to challenge ourselves, we are also enjoying the benefits of one of the most complete and effective forms of exercise ever developed. On the other hand, it causes us to make assumptions about yoga that are simply inaccurate.

We assume that the more we advance in our practice, the more vigorous and complicated it should be. Accomplished practitioners are expected to relish physical intensity, but according to yogic adepts, just the opposite it true. As practice evolves it becomes less, not more, physical. True adepts require less and less effort to attain the higher states of yoga. From their perspective, the most profound practices are ones that provide access to the subtlest dimensions of the self. Compared to asana, these methods link us more directly to yoga’s ultimate goal – self-realization. What are these techniques, and how are they organized?

Classic texts describe four practices – asana, bandha, pranayama, and mudra – that are arranged in a hierarchy; each builds on the ones before it. Asanas (postures) steady the body and mind, preparing them for deeper practices; bandhas (locks) help us retain vital energy; pranayama techniques (breathing practices) build and regulate energy; and mudras (subtle techniques of internal control) allow us to direct and channel it. Together, these techniques create an internal alchemy – transformation affecting every level of the self.

– Rod Stryker

Remembrance of what we learned through Sri (“RESPLENDENCE”) training … how can you ever forget the sparkles of knowledge here and there that leaves such an imprint. Always hungry for more – to know, to figure out. Then to soak it up… and then to empty and so the cycle continues…