Waking Up

Waking Up

Many people say that yoga is just something they cannot do. They claim that their body is not made for it or just incompatible with what the practice of yoga entails. One thing that most of those people have is four working limbs. Matt, however, does not have this luxury. After being in a severe car wreck that killed his father and sister, he was left paralyzed and in extreme pain. Medical efforts were given to alleviate some of the pain in addition to spiritual efforts to rely on God. After his condition became increasingly worse, he said that he "trusts no one" (63). This was before yoga changed his life.

One thing right out of the gates that makes me relate to Matt is his inability to trust people. I trusted my parents and told them about my eating disorders, depression, suicide attempts, and self-harm after I had hid all of this from them for six or seven years, it did not go that well. I was told to just decide to be happy and get better. I went to see a psychologist to fix all of my problems, but I suffered a severe relapse and was trying to tell him about it. While I was divulging information about how my self-hard and eating disorders flared back up, he was literally nodding off. A professional that was trained in this field essentially betrayed any trust I had left in me. If someone in this field could not help me, then who could? Because of this, I relate with Matt’s issues to trust other people.

Going into this book, I was very intrigued as to how someone who suffers from paralysis could do yoga, and Matt amazed me throughout it. One of the most amazing things is that he notes that through yoga, “I grew in dimension as my entire body began whispering to me once again…Progress is what you make of it” (168). I also related to this. When I first started to seriously practice yoga, I thought that my body was a prison that I had a life sentence in. I hated it and everything in it. I thought that through yoga, I could begin to love my body, and I was right. I grew and continue to grow internally in my body as I accept it more and more—from the fold my stomach gets when I sit down to the stretch marks on my lower back.

These things that I am overcoming are minor things when compared to everything that Matt overcame, but I suffered from a different kind of paralysis, an emotional paralysis. Through yoga I too began to feel. However, it was not my body that I was feeling, like Matt, but my emotions that I had bottled up inside of it. One quote at the end of the book really resonated and has continued to echo in my mind after reading it “If nothing else, my life has taught me one thing: The mind and body that I have are the only mind and body that I have. They deserve my attention” (222). I only have one body and one mind, and, with the help of Matt’s memoire, I can one day wake up loving it. 

Yoga(t) Some Sutras

Yoga(t) Some Sutras

            The yoga sutras were one of my favourite readings that we covered in class. The only thing that might beat it is How Yoga Works just because I absolutely loved the storyline. I really miss going through the sutras in class together and getting to understand them at a deeper level. So, because I loved the sutras so much, I am just going to go through and explore my favourite verses and sections of them.

            My first favourite verse is the very first sutra, “With prayers for divine blessings, now begins an exposition of the sacred art of yoga” (1.01) (particularly the Iyengar translation). The reason I love this one so much is not only because I love to do yoga, and this marks the beginning of a yoga session. Rather, I love the deeper implications of this verse. This translation includes an emphasis on the reliance on the divine, which, for me, is God. This shows that yoga is to be practiced, at its most basic, with the desire to get closer to God and receive blessings from Him. This, in my opinion, demonstrates that yoga and Christianity are not mutually exclusive. For me, yoga is a way that I can glorify God through the things my body is able to do and focus my mind on dwelling in the peace He gives me.

            Additionally, there is another verse that confirms my belief that yoga can be also done under the scope of a Christian religion. “Īśvara was also the teacher of the ancients, because he is not limited by Time” (1.26) Through this verse, I see a direct connection to the Christian God. God is omnipresent, which is echoed by this verse when it says that  Īśvara is not limited by time. Also, when it says that He was the teacher of the ancients, I immediately think of the Bible, more specifically the Old Testament. The Old Testament is the earliest foundation of Christian religion, which was inspired by God. Therefore, this verse supports the Christian notion that God is transcendent of time and the divine inspiration of the beginnings of our faith.

            Finally, on a slightly different note, one of my favourite things about the sutras is that they say that it is okay to fail to still the oscillations of the mind. “At other times, the seer identifies with the fluctuating consciousness” (1.04). I frequently find myself getting upset if my mind is going, and I cannot stop it. As an instructor, I hold myself to a standard that I should be able to do almost anything in yoga so that I may demonstrate it to others. When I just cannot stop thinking during savasana, I almost feel like my entire practice was fruitless. The one thing that never changes in a yoga class or session is that there will always be a savasana. However, this sutra reminds me that yoga is not an all or nothing practice. Each and everything you do in yoga is planting seeds for future practice.

With that being said,

Until next time, my fellow yogis and yoginis,

Namasté,

Upward-facing Bear

Bhagavad Gita I atiG davagahB

Bhagavad Gita I atiG davagahB

(Get it? It's a reflection!)

Reading the Bhagavad Gita has been a very interesting and eye-opening experience. Whenever I saw that we had to read the Bhagavad Gita for the class, I was somewhat dreading it. I knew that, especially as a yoga instructor, I needed to read this text and have knowledge of it. However, I expected that I was going to have to struggle through very dense and confusing text. Philosophy has never been my strong point, especially with studying classic texts like Plato, so I figured that this was going to be the same thing. I was very pleasantly surprised. The text was not hard to read, and the concepts were not that hard to understand.

One of the things that stuck out to me while reading the Bhagavad Gita was something that reflected what is, in my opinion, one of the most central ideas in Christian theology. "Being devoted to loving God in loving worship leads to the performance of one's sacred duty" (9.30-31). This immediately made me think of my own Catholic faith and The Bible. This is very close to the verse of Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” In both of these it shows that we are called to love and serve our God, and that is our ultimate purpose. In my own walk with God, I have fallen in and out of an intimate relationship with Him. However, each time that I come back, I feel a sense of belonging and that this is my ultimate job. I feel that we, as Christians, are called to serve God and exonerate Him in everything we do, whether it is bagging someone’s groceries at the local Walmart or practicing as a clinical psychologist. Between these two quotes, it really became apparent how similar the roots of Hinduism and Christianity are.

While finishing the Bhagavad Gita, there was one thing that I cannot stop thinking about that made me doubt this newfound similarity between Hinduism and Christianity. One of the final warnings that Krishna gives Arjuna is about telling others about the knowledge that he has of God. Krishna says, “ “Do not share this wisdom with anyone who lacks in devotion or self-control, lacks the desire to learn, or scoffs at me” (18. 67-68).  Whenever I first read this, it was almost a knee-jerk reaction. This is basically the opposite of what we are taught as Christians. In Mark 16:15, we see God’s ultimate plan for us, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'” From here, we see that we need to spread the Good News to every person we come in contact to because the only way to Salvation is through God’s never-ending love for us and knowledge of the Scripture to guide our lives. Without knowing this, we cannot live to the full potential that God has in store for us. When following Krishna’s demand, we are possibly denying other people the knowledge of God. It might be that through being first introduced to The Bible, someone cleans up their act and reforms to follow Christ’s example. This is something that I do not fully understand in the Bhagavad Gita. 

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this text because it was an essential piece of yoga philosophy that I needed to understand both as a yogi and as a Christian. 

Until next time, my fellow yogis and yoginis,

Namasté,

Upward-facing Bear

For Halloween, I'm going to be....

For Halloween, I'm Going to be a Yogi

Actually, I was an old lady (my female friend was an old man), but that is beside the point. This week in class was a lot of fun. I absolutely loved working on handstands. To be honest, I was slightly uncomfortable with the idea of working on them because it was something I did not know I was already good at, such as headstands and forearm stands. To my surprise, however, I was a lot better at them than I remembered. I had had a lot of experience with them before from my experience as a cheerleader, but it has been many months and a surgery since the last time I was able to fully tumble. I knew that getting up in the handstand would be no problem, but it was the holding it without the wall that had me worried. It was a wonderful surprise to see that I could actually hold it off of the wall for a decent amount of time. This is something that I thought I was a long way away from. I guess that I had closed off my mind from the possibility of me being able to do it. This has made me even more excited to get back to working on those as well. I see that on the syllabus, it says that we are going to have quite a few Thursdays off, which is bitter sweet because the yogi in me wants to practice, but the student in me is grateful for any cancelled class, even if it is one of my favourites.

Outside of class, I have had a decent amount of practice. I actually had my first ballet class last Monday. I never realized how much yoga would help. Obviously, the flexibility that I earned doing yoga was a huge benefit. After the class, I talked with my ballet instructor, and she was in awe that I had never taken a ballet class before. She had said that I caught on very quickly, had a lot of natural flexibility, good posture, and natural turnout. Now, not all of those are from yoga or beneficial to yoga. The largest problem is my natural turn out. It makes many yoga poses harder because I have to focus on correcting my turnout in many of the  yoga poses that call for straight hips. Other than this, I had a wonderful class that I taught on Tuesday. Everyone seemed happy to be there and excited to practice yoga. That was one of the best classes that I have taught in a while. We had a very intense class where we worked on abs for several different poses and then had both an inversion session and a challenge pose arm balance. People were very enthusiastic to try poses that were outside of their normal comfort zones. Everyone was just excited to get one last good session of yoga in before the long weekend!

The Bhagavad Gita continues to surprise me as I am reading it. Much like several others, I keep drawing comparisons to my own faith as a Catholic. While reading, I thought of the Just War theory in Catholicism that acknowledges that sometimes war is necessary to combat evil or corruption in the world. This is seen in the Bhagavad Gita when Krishna is advising Arjuna to fight and fulfill his job as a warrior. Another part that I believe there is much similarity between Christianity and the Bhagavad Gita is the level of devotion that it requires to be united with the ultimate being, or God. Both in the Gita and in Christianity, we are called to live out our faith in the most extreme manner we can. When this happens, we become closer to God, or Vishnu. While the Gita does speak about being detached from all things in live, there is a difference between being detached and being on autopilot. While being detached from the world, I believe that a person can still be wildly and immensely emerged in everything it has to offer. It only becomes a threat to detachment when you are unwilling to let go of what you have. In this, I believe it is very similar to our call, as Christians, to drop everything we have and follow Christ when called to do so. The similarities between the Gita and The Bible give me chills because it raises much deeper questions as to why our religions are so similar, and, all the religions of the world. 

Until next time, my fellow yogis and yoginis,

Namasté,

Upward-facing Bear

Bhagavad Get me out of here

Bhagavad Get Me Out of Here

This last week was one of the hardest and possibly worst weeks of my semester. Nothing necessarily bad happened, but I'll get back to that later. This week's reading for the Bhagavad Gita was a very interesting one when I thought about it in respect to my Catholic faith. One of the most interesting things that Krishna told Arjuna that one of the best ways to practice yoga was to think about who Krishna was. That sounds an awfully similar to something that I was taught to do in my Christian faith. Many times I've sat down and pondered who God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit were and are. This leads me to a deeper understanding in my faith and brings me closer to my Lord. 

Another interesting part of the Bhagavad Gita that we both read and discussed in great detail was the idea that one will reach eternal joy by abandoning our senses. Hunter brought of the point that it seemed like this was not a selfless act, like foregoing one bonus for a bigger bonus later. However, I think that it is not this simple. I think that this reflects a Christian teaching that says that everything we do should be a way that we are glorifying God or some trait about Him. Through this, we have to detach ourselves from our senses, which will lead us into sins of gluttony and others, and think about our overall goal of reaching salvation. From this perspective, I think that it is very similar to what Christians are called to do in their faith, much as Hindus are called to do in theirs.

This week's in-class practice was a mixed experience. Tuesday, all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball while simultaneously studying, sleeping, and crying. I had had a giant Biblical Heritage midterm due that day, a Psychopathology exam that day, and a Psych Stats test the next day. For those of you that do not know, psych stats is just about the single hardest class that a psychology major has to take. This class is hard not only because of the hard material, but also because the professor is well into his 80s and becoming more senile by the minute. Many times he will ask us why the example he started on the board was not working or tell us the same stories multiple classes in a row verbatim. I digress. I was stressed out of my mind for this test and everything else I had to do, so I didn't feel like I had time for yoga. After the practice on Tuesday, however, it did help a ton. Thursday's practice was warmly welcomed because I had finished all of my exams and whatnot, so I was more than ready for a yoga session where I did not have to worry about anything. Finally, one thing that was almost a rude awakening was that my right split was basically flat, but it was nowhere close to being aligned correctly for yoga. For gymnastics and ballet, it was not considered that large of a deal if the hips were not squared. In yoga, this could not be more wrong. Needless to say, I now have something I can practice on. 

The out of class practice was also a challenge. Because I felt like I had no time, I was not able to practice yoga until after my exams had ended. The only exception to this was pranayama. I have had anxiety problems for a very long time in addition to having very large reactions to basically anything. Also, I was known to occasionally fall into a small spurt of depression or feel like I was on top of the world. Throughout the course of last week, I had four anxiety attacks. I had two Sunday, one Tuesday, and one Wednesday. This made me realize that it was time to talk to my doctor. The end result is that I suffer from bipolar II disorder with anxiety tendencies. I have been put on two mood stabilizers and an emergency medication for anxiety attacks. This could not be more helpful. I feel more leveled and even now, and my thoughts are not racing through my head all the time. The only thing that mildly helped through my anxiety attacks this last week was controlled breathing. Usually, with my attacks, it is just a waiting game until it's over. This, however, was how I was kept up until six in the morning the morning of my psych stats exam. I had a cover for my class on Tuesday, but then picked up someone else's class Wednesday and my own on Thursday. It felt so wonderful coming back to them and being able to teach unrestricted with no boot. Once everything slowed down, I was able to actually enjoy my practice of yoga, which was a wonderful feeling.

Until next time, my fellow yogis and yoginins,

Namasté,

Upward-facing Bear

Karm{at} me

Karm{at} me 

This week's in-class practice was a mixed experience. I was very glad to have a full week of yoga, having class on both Tuesday and Thursday. However, I was pretty sick this whole week. All I wanted to do was sleep and eat soup. College classes don't allow time for that. I ended up having to get subs for my Wednesday cycling class and my Thursday yoga class I teach. I was very refreshing to have a bit of a break and get to rest. Tuesday's class was wonderful. I loved having a class to dedicate to just restorative poses. This is something that I really needed. After class, I felt very rejuvenated and simultaneously ready for a nap. 

Thursday was a little hard for me to get through. Still feeling sick, I just wanted to savasana for the entire class period. However, I made myself participate. It didn't help too much, but I can at least say I did something. I am just getting over everything and feeling a whole lot better, so I cannot wait to come back full force. This also was my last week in my boot, so next week, I will be able to participate again fully. I've missed being able to do all the poses without worrying about my limitations. My first practice without a boot is going to be a very freeing feeling. 

My practice this week was also very limited. I only taught Tuesday. Of course, instead of making my life easier, God sent the difficult woman to my class again. This class just confirmed what I thought she was going to do and what her attitude was. Tuesday, I taught a small warm-up flow followed by a very short inversion session. For over half of the class, we were doing restorative poses. These poses were very simple and easy to do. However, she refused to do any of them. She would dramatically try the poses with very poor technique, all the while I was explaining them as slowly and simply as possible. No one else in the class had any difficulty with the poses. She was an exception. She seemed unable to do anything other than savasana, and even that seemed like a struggle for her, constantly moving around. As an instructor, I have no clue what to do with her. I strongly believe that anyone can do yoga if they have an open mind. I have even told her that she needs to open her mind to the possibility of yoga. Despite this, she still will not try or do anything. It would almost be better if she would stop coming to class because she is disturbing the other students. What should I do with her, other than try to scare her off with difficult poses, which would not be the right thing to do? 

The reading this week was very interesting. The Bhagavad Gita originally sounded like it would be a very difficult and dense read. This was not what I found to be true. The literature was fairly simple to read, despite it's highly philosophical content. One of the most interesting concepts was the idea of dharma. This is the idea that everyone has a certain calling to fulfill. At first, this idea drove me up the wall. I thought it was incredibly limiting, negating all human potential for change. After talking about this concept in class, however, I began to see this in a new light. To me, it now means that it is one's calling in the cosmic universe. Dharma is where your passion meets the world's need. This means that it is our ultimate calling in life, what God intended for us. Seeing it this way, it made a lot more sense. God has an ultimate calling and plan for each and every one of us.

The next idea that was important for me understand is the way for humans to come to be united with the Lord. In order for this to happen, one must give up all selfish desires. The Bhagavad Gita goes so far as to say that one must absolve all instances of "I, me, and my." This shows the ultimate goal of selflessness that seems nearly unobtainable to me. This idea goes so far as to suggest that there should be no concept of self, that we are just a part of the cosmic energy created and destined to be united with God. This is something that I have a long way to go before I reach anything near this level of dedication to God.

Until next time, my fellow yogis and yoginis.

Namasté,

Upward-facing Bear

Being Limber

Being Limber

The eight limbs of yoga are something that I have always been somewhat interested in. I became familiar with them some years ago when our World Cultures I class toured a Hindu temple. However, something that I just recently came to know and understand are the yamas. These five somewhat simple principles hold the key to leading a fulfilling life that impacts the world. Without realizing, I had been practicing the yamas (or trying to) for nearly my whole life. These were originally guided by my Christian beliefs and personal beliefs. 

The first and possibly most important yama to me is nonviolence. This is the largest reason why I went vegetarian in the first place and why I am transitioning into a vegan lifestyle. I believe that humans are put on this earth to care for and nurture it and its inhabitants. To do that, we must be inherently nonviolent and merciful. Next, one that I have chosen to practice from a very young age is celibacy. My Christian faith teaches me that I am to save myself for my future spouse. This is something that my fiancé and I have completely agreed on, which, in my opinion, has been one of the reasons why our relationship has worked out as well as it did. The renunciation of unnecessary possessions is something that I think the entire world could benefit from practicing. In Christian homes in North America alone, we have the funds to solve extreme global poverty, which is when someone is living on less than $1.25 a day. Currently, if everyone were to go on a vegetarian or vegan diet, we would have enough food to feed everyone. The problem is the way the food is distributed in excess to some populations while others have none at all. Overall, the yamas have proven to be one of the most interesting and important concepts I have learned through the yoga sutras

Class last week was great and greatly missed. Not having the class Thursday did free up a large chunk of my time, and I was able to go back to my apartment and take care of my cat at three rather than at 5 only to run back to campus in an hour to teach my yoga class. So, having the extra time was greatly appreciated. However, having this time to practice yoga, not teach, but practice, is something that I look forward to all week. You truly never realize how much you  enjoy something until you no longer can do it (which also applies to the cursed boot). 

The day we did have class was very enjoyable. The new twists are greatly appreciated, seeing as I have a naturally tight back that thoroughly enjoys being stretched out. Also, the longer savasana was wonderful. I really enjoy having time to meditate and still everything in my body to come to perceive the soul. There truly is no other feeling like that. One thing I would like to see in class is maybe some guided meditation, but mainly leg work to work towards getting in the splits. I have recently decided to follow a dream I always had of being a ballet dancer after having that dream thwarted at a very young age by my parents with staunch gender roles and ideas. My splits used to be beautiful and effortless while I was still cheering. However, since I have stopped cheering for a while, they have gotten a lot harder and not as flat.

My personal practice has continued to flourish thanks to this class. Every class I teach, I let the students ask any questions they have either about yoga or me. I have had more and more students asking questions about the origins and philosophy of yoga. After having taken this class, I feel like I can give my students a fuller experience that they would not be able to receive elsewhere. 

Also, in one of my classes, I had a woman greatly try my beliefs in nonviolence. While I was in the middle of teaching my class, she rolls up her mat and gets up. I was thinking "Okay, she must have somewhere to go or be, no biggie." However, she proceeds to come up to the front of the class where I am, in front of all of the students, and wait for me to finish what I was saying to talk to me. I finished instructing the students for the immediate poses and then dealt with her. She immediate came off very hostile and aggressive, asking if this is the structure of all of my classes because it was just "way too hard for her." The segment that she was protesting was an option of 3 different arm balance poses and preps that ranged greatly from beginner to expert and headstands that also included the preps. She was incredibly hostile telling me that I was not a good teacher and that she was leaving and not going to return, despite me offering to even give her a basic flow to go through one-on-one. She was apparently "years away" from doing any of the preps even. 

This woman was very impressive however, because she was able to judge how well I teach and what each and every class I teach will look like after coming to only two of my classes, not consecutively. Keep in mind that I had three first timers in the class that she said was too hard for her, and she had been practicing for a few months. So, needless to say, I had to focus on practicing nonviolence with her. It was very inspiring, however, to have many of my students apologize on her behalf and say that they would not have been able to handle her in such a good manner like I apparently did. There is a silver lining to everything.

Until next time, my fellow yogis and yoginis, 

Namasté,

Upward-facing Bear