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No asanas this morning, last night was very late. Looking forward to tonight’s Restful Yoga class where I get to be a student and not the teacher. Love it.
05:30 Japa mala—20 minutes
17:00 Japa mala—20 minutes
19:00 Restful Yoga—60 minutes
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Monday I wrote about pilgrimages and the pitfall of becoming a pilgrimage junkie. The reality is that most of us are or have been, at one point or another, junkies. We depend on something or someone to bring us happiness and peace. The joy and relief we receive from our pilgrimage highs last for a few days or even weeks but eventually they fade. As they fade, we begin to either seek out our next pilgrimage or we drift along aimlessly for a while. What can we do to change this? Should we avoid pilgrimages altogether? If pilgrimages aren’t the answer to our need for change, what is? First we need to realize that there are three paths of pilgrimage and all are helpful. The first path is the one I wrote about Monday: We run from place to place, event to event, teacher to teacher hoping all the way to catch a brief respite, a glimpse of peace. The second path looks very much like the first as we flit from place to place, event to event and teacher to teacher. The difference is that we actually take something away from our journeys and begin to use it for ourselves. Think back to the last pilgrimage you made, whatever shape it was. The third path is often the most difficult simply because it is quite impossible to see and because there is nothing to do, this is the pilgrimage inward. While there are many outward pilgrimages, there is truly only one inward pilgrimage. The inward pilgrimage is that of feeling and this is what all those outward pilgrimages are pointing toward. Happiness and peace cannot be handed out on a plate, they cannot be given in any form, they can only be felt and their wellspring is inside. Notice what you feel right now. Now, sit quietly for ten minutes, let your eyes close and your thoughts be still. Focus on breath, feel it move. Every time any distraction comes up, focus on breath. After ten minutes, notice what you feel. As you practice postures, feel each movement and make each transition deliberately. Make every moment—driving, eating, working, playing, I mean every moment—make it part of your inward pilgrimage, notice what you feel and life will become one continuous moment of meditation. Jai Bhagwan “Meditation is the language of the soul.” The Prophet David O. McKay
I did not want to gt out of bed and practice this morning, not because the hour was too early but because the house was freezing! Shanna, my wonderful wife, turned the furnace off Monday to air the house out and forgot to turn it on again. Thankfully, a few rounds of Surya Namaskar always warms up my body to a nice temperature. The nausea returned but this time during Virabhadrasana I. No stopping today as that desire to stop practice was not there at all. 05:30 Japa mala—20 minutes
When I came to standing yoga mudra, I just wanted to stop. I felt nausea along with a wave of futility but no actual pain or other warning signals that I needed to stop, I just wanted to stop. For a moment, I rationalized that I could move into Yoga Nidra and it would still be sadhana which is quite true but, again, I knew that this was simply a desire to not be in postures right then. I did not move, thoughts skittered here and there on the surface. I just felt the nausea and wanting to stop postures and it felt horrible. The thought of continuing was horrible and the thought of stopping was horrible; so, I waited. In a moment, something changed and postures were no longer horrible. 05:30 Japa mala—20 minutes
Pilgrimages come in so many shapes and sizes. Some involve sacred places; Jerusalem, Kayavarohan, Mecca, Nauvoo, Palmyra, Rishkesh, Rome and countless others. Others involve events; Temple of Sound, General Conference, Prana Awakening, Meditation 101. Yet others involve personalities; Amma, Thomas Monson, Eckhart Tolle, Amrit Desai, Bhagavan Das, your favorite musician. People make pilgrimages to be in these places, participate in these events or even go just to hear or be near these people. Why? People make pilgrimages in hopes of a marvelous change. While many do experience change, it is often a flash in the pan that does not last for long. The tendancy is to attribute the flash of change to being in that place, at that event or with that person or those people. When this happens, we quickly become dependent on the visionaries, the sacred destinations, the marvelous events to continually rekindle that spark of change or that fleeting euphoria neither of which lasts long. If pilgrimages to holy sites, sitting at a master’s feet or flitting from one event to another are none of them the answer to our need for change, then what is? First, what is the change that so many feel they need? Peace, happiness, quiet. “If I can just lose 10 pounds, then I would be happy.” “I just need a little peace and quiet at the end of the day.” Just a quick sidenote, have you ever noticed that peace and quiet go so very well together? Simply filling your passport with pilgrimages will not bring lasting peace, happiness or quiet; rather, it will only serve to increase your hunger for that which you seek. If you find that you are frequently looking forward to that next adventure on your spiritual journey or you look back frequently at your memories of the good times, chances are high that you are a pilgrimage junkie. The same is true if you have found yourself thinking, “Life would be so much better if I could only be there/with that person/doing that thing.” Take a good look at yourself, are you a junkie? Is there that thing that you do, those people you meet, that place that you go that is your source of happiness, of peace? If so, then you are dependent on that place, that event, those people and you are not free to be happy and at peace without that place, that event or those people. Jai Bhagwan p.s.
As I studied in preparation for teaching about swadhyaya for a workshop last month, I found a very powerful statement: We must not turn away from our sadhana no matter what. As part of my commitment to my own sadhana and sustaining my connection to the Guru, I will post here every day and write what my sadhana has been for the day. This is not another of those 30 day challenges. This is become part of my own sadhana, reporting to you about my sadhana every day. Folks, if I don’t write it here, it didn’t happen. My challenge to you is to do the same whether in a simple blog, on facebook, as an email to me or another person, as a comment to my own posts, anything. If you want me to follow you on your sadhana journey, just leave a comment below telling me where to read about your own practice. Until tomorrow’s post, Jai Bhagwan! That is likely not a title that you might expect on a blog titled, Everyday Yoga, now is it? Why on earth would I use such a title? Well, yoga does exactly that: It sucks what we have buried down deep right up to the surface. When our crap bubbles up to the surface, we have three choices: Push it back down again. Let it go. Wallow in it until we can’t stand it anymore and THEN push it back down or let it go. Our normal tendency is to either push what we don’t like back down or wallow in it for a while and then push it down again. Why? Do we really think holding onto those things that bring us misery and suffering will somehow, someday, bring us joy and happiness or do we, for some reason, feel that we deserve to suffer and so hold onto our miseries to suffer another day? The best part of this process is that everything always seems to happen at once. Car breaks down, spouse stops smoking, the boss lays you off and your mother-in-law moves in with you. We both know this didn’t just happen to you but I’ll bet you can feel your buttons being pushed just reading that list. That’s life bringing up your crap. How about when you realize that you are insecure, petty, close minded and co-dependent? That’s yoga bringing up your crap. Why on earth would anyone ever want to practice yoga if it’s going to bring up stuff like that? Isn’t life rough enough without yoga doing that to me? Life pushes our buttons whether we are ready for it or not. Yoga pushes our buttons when you need them pushed, when we are ready to let them go. Let me be honest, I do not like having my buttons pushed whether by life or by yoga but more especially by life. It’s uncomfortable. I know, however, that when I recognize a button being pushed, I have recognized an opportunity to let go of the button. I would rather not have life push my buttons willy-nilly but I cannot change that. I would rather that yoga bring them up when I am most ready to learn and grow from them. The best part of it all is that although life continues to push my buttons, yoga has already taught me how to let go of them—if I am willing—and being free of my own buttons is the most wonderful gift I can give myself. Are you brave enough to face yourself on a yoga mat? Are you brave enough to find freedom? Jai Bhagwan Demons, we all have them. They lurk in our minds just waiting to jump out at us and yell, “BOO!” Only, they don’t yell boo, they tell us how horrible we are. They tell us that we are not good enough, that we are bad and wrong. I have been wrestling with my own demons for the last four days, I didn’t recognize them until today though. Events happen that strip away our blinders and show us who we are and it is then that our demons leap into action What to do when they appear? Stop judging yourself. Trust that your demons came up because you are at a point where you can face them and let them go How to let them go? top judging yourself. Jai Bhagwan Some of you have asked for help learning the Asatoma prayer. Here is a copy of an MP3 of me chanting the Asatoma prayer. Here is a handout with the words and a brief overview of Yoga. The audio is not the best and the handout needs reworking but not tonight. Jai Bhagwan |
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Did you return home with something that you now use to keep the spirit of that event alive? Did you learn or were you just entertained? Learning, experiencing and continuing to practice what you experienced is the journey of the second path. Simply ask yourself, “What can I take home and use in my own practice?” and then use it. This applies to pilgrimages that require you to travel far across the globe as well as those that happen in the yoga studio or Sunday School class.
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