AWAKENING SELF NEWSLETTER — June 2005

1) Announcements
2) Yoga of the Seasons: Yoga on the Outside
3) Class, Workshop, and Retreat Schedule
4) This month's article - "Practice, Not Perfection" by Connie Habash
5) Spiritual Quotes

1) Announcements

Aaahhh, yes - you may have noticed that my newsletters have been coming out a little later each month. The challenges of motherhood have put my timeliness on the backburner! But it's all quite worth it. I'm hoping to get the newsletter out closer to the beginning of the month for July! But, no expectations.... ;)

108 SURYA NAMASKARS (sun salutes)! At YIY in Mountain View, we celebrate each solar quarter with this special event - this time for the Summer Solstice. Beginning at 7am on Tuesday, June 21st. Come early or late, do 1 or 108, chant or meditate! By donation, with refreshments afterwards.

CHAKRA SERIES RETURNS! The Summer Chakra series returns to classes at YIY. Come explore the 7 energy centers in the body through your yoga practice, including breathwork, chanting, mudras, and visualizations for each other! Beginning JUNE 21ST (the first day of Summer) for seven weeks in Tuesday and Friday morning classes.

INTRO TO SANSKRIT comes to Moksha Yoga Shala in Walnut Creek on Saturday, Sept 17th, 2-5pm. Curious about Sanskrit, the sacred language of yoga? Love chanting mantras or the Sanskrit names of poses? Want to learn correct pronunciation? This workshop is for you! $40 by 9/10, $45 thereafter.

FALL YOGA RETREAT: "Balancing Body and Mind: Ayurveda and Yoga"
will be at Mount Madonna Center again on Oct 14th-16th. Special yoga classes for each body-mind "dosha", plus evening programs exploring the basics of Ayurveda.
Save $30 if you register by September 16th!

2) Yoga of the Seasons: Yoga on the Outside

     Spring has sprung, Summer has almost begun... what better time of year to bring yoga into nature! While the weather is still temperate, you can take your yoga outside. The energies of the natural world can truly enhance your yoga practice.

     Consider how many yoga poses are related to aspects of nature. Have you ever practiced Vrikshasana, Tree Pose, at the foot of a great tree? You can tune into the symbolism and energies of the yoga master, perhaps a great redwood, demonstrating the rooted feeling deep into the earth, and the extension skyward of the branches, inspiring you to embody those qualities. Gaze at a mountain range in Tadasana, slither like a snake in Bhujangasana, feel the inward energy of being a tortoise in Kurmasana - if you happen to have a tortoise nearby, you might also be inspired by their patience, too. And imagine what new perspectives on the world you might experience as you practice inversions in the
forest or your own backyard.

     I'll bet many of you have practiced Adho or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (downward or upward facing dog pose!) with your canine friends. Take them out to the park and have at it. Feel how good it is to your doggie friend as they lengthen their spine, open their chest, and ground through their legs, spreading their toes.

     Having your feet on the grass, sand, or loamy earth can bring new awareness to your practice. What do you notice as your feel the soles of your feet in contact with something other than your mat or floor? How does it feel to spread your toes into the sand or (if you're adventurous) deep into mud. What is it like to feel dewy grass underneath hands and feet?

   Perhaps the most wonderful nature-based experience in yoga practice is pranayama, or breathwork, during cool mornings. Bundle up and sit comfortably, maybe against a tree or with support on a meditation cushion. Whether you're doing simple breath awareness or a more complex pranayama practice, the freshness of the morning air can't be beat. It's filled with prana, the life force. And this is further amplified if you're near the ocean, deep in the desert, or high in the mountains. Follow this up with meditation and you may find
it easier to quiet and calm the mind.

     A few cautions about practice outdoors: make sure you're not in direct sun, especially during the midday hours. Practicing when it's very hot or very cold is not recommended. Find a level area - it can throw your sense of balance off (and even be dangerous) to be on a slope. And high elevations (above 5000 feet or so) may affect your oxygen intake, so go easy and avoid rigorous practice.

      Step outside your door and see what nature has to offer to your experience of yoga, or union. You can further connect with all that is.

Copyright © 2005 by Constance L. Habash

RETREATS:

FALL YOGA RETREAT
Balancing Body and Mind: Yoga & Ayurveda
October 14-16 at Mt. Madonna Center
Early Bird Registration (by 9/16) : $260-350 after 9/16: add $30
Print the registration form at http://www.awakeningself.com/FallYoga05.htm


WORKSHOPS:

108 SURYA NAMASKARS! 108 Sun Salutes to celebrate the Summer Solstice. Tuesday, June 21st, 7-9am (come anytime in the 1st hour).
At YIY in Mountain View, bBy donation, with refreshments to follow.

INTRODUCTION TO SANSKRIT WORKSHOP
Moksha Yoga Shala, Walnut Creek
Saturday, September 17th, 2-5pm
$40 if paid by Sept. 10th; $45 thereafter

TUESDAYS
9:30-11AM Iyengar & Vinyasa, Beginning
YIY, Mountain View

FRIDAYS
9:30-11AM Iyengar & Vinyasa, All Levels
YIY, Mountain View

4) This month's article: "Practice, Not Perfection" by Connie Habash

    Everyone makes mistakes. We all know this, but perfectionism, righteousness, and expectations often cloud our memory. Then we tend to come down hard on ourselves (or others) for the things we say, do, or think. Our previous ideals of who we are run smack into the wall of realization that we've blown it.

     Although being hard on ourselves isn't too helpful, it is important to recognize when we've erred. If we aren't willing to look at what's not working in our behaviors or choices, we're likely to continue re-experiencing the results of those mistakes. It's like watching the same scene - an uncomfortable and unpleasant one - over and over again at a movie theatre. That isn't a very fun or fulfilling way to journey through life.

     Perhaps this is why Patanjali, the author of the treatise on yoga philosophy, the Yoga Sutra, emphasizes two concepts in the practice of yoga. The first of these is Abhyasa - practice.

     We often say, "I practice yoga" or "I did a practice today", but are we really conscious of what that means? It means that we are in a state of continual application of our understanding of the practice. In hatha yoga, which is what most of us think of as "yoga", we're primarily practicing the asanas, or poses, and breathwork. Over and over again. Day in and day out. We're doing the old familiar postures and we're exploring new ones. Some days we do them well, and other days we're just getting by. It doesn't matter - it's the continual application, to the best of our ability, of what we understand each time we come to the mat that constitutes Abhyasa.

     Life is also practice. Every day that we wake up, we're getting on our "yoga mat" of life. If we are following a spiritual path, a path of transformative growth, then that means that everything is part of that practice, from brushing our teeth to talking to the teller at the bank.

     The problem is that we tend to forget we're practicing. We become grown-ups and assume that we have mastery over certain things. This can show up in relationships, at work, or in yoga class. We think that because we've done something a thousand times or
acheived a certain level of competency that we don't have to practice anymore.

     For example, in school we learn to speak the language of our country or region. Once we learn it, we unconsciously may believe that there's no need to pay attention anymore to what we say - we're"fluent". But it's in our very words, whether spoken, written, or even
in thought, that we tend to make the most mistakes.

     This isn't just in the simple, common-place problem of tripping over our words or forgetting some vocabulary. This is in the issue of communciating what we want to say clearly, kindly, and respectfully. Or at least clearly and respectfully! How many times have we fallen short on that? Probably more times than we can remember, if we're being honest with ourselves.

     Practice is about being conscious with everything that we do, and in that consciousness doing the best we can in the moment. Which means that, based on the circumstances of the moment, our best will vary. Usually the times that we have hurt someone's feelings or caused a misunderstanding have been when we've been unconsious of what we are doing or saying. We become reactionary instead of conscious. This isn't our best, and it will reap fruits that aren't so sweet.

     The other day, I was having a conversation with a friend about something that was bothering her. I was relating what she was saying to a situation in my past that seemed similar to me, and so I kept interrupting her to insert what feelings I thought she was having, or to share what my experience was. After a couple times of doing this, I realized that she was a little upset and felt that I wasn't hearing her. I had been reacting unconsciously and not paying attention to either her or to my process of listening. I had to go back to the practice of listening with consciousness and attention, attempting to understand where she was coming from. This immediately shifted the interchange away from the tension created by my selfishness to a feeling of compassion and understanding between us.

     There are masters in our world who appear to be beyond practice. They have spent so many years of daily exercising their minds and/or bodies that they seem to embody perfection. They could be martial artists, engineers, or parents. They could be our teachers. Their actions seem effortless and always on the mark.

     The reason masters seem "perfect" is that their life has become their practice. They have no longer separated "now I will attend to my child" from their daily sense of being. There's no longer "I will now roll out my mat and practice yoga" - they stand in Tadasana at the market, they bend forward with consciousness to pick up a piece of trash, and they are, out of habit, kind and helpful to others. The philosophy of yoga, or good parenting, or creating excellence in a project at work has been absorbed into every cell, and they are constantly practicing. This is what is meant by Abhyasa - constant, consistent practice with
awareness that becomes second nature.

      You will notice that true masters do not stop their practice. Often, a master will continue practicing long after attaining mastery as an example for the students. But even if they are not doing "asanas" anymore, a yoga master continues her inner practice of awareness. The perfection comes not from an end-state in which there is no longer
practice but from an elevated consciousness of continually practicing.

     This is why the saying "practice makes perfect" is deceiving. We take that to mean that some day, if you practice enough, you'll be perfect and won't need to make the effort anymore. Perfectionism leads us to think that we can, at some point, be beyond reproach. If we ever convince ourselves of that, then we open ourselves to error through the loss of awareness that results from believing we've reached the goal.

     Perfectionism leads us to create further suffering within ourselves. Assuming that a perfect state, behavior, or pose exists, we continue to compare ourselves to that ideal and constantly fall short of the mark. If we can let go of perfectionism and consider everything as practice, then we can more easily accept our mistakes a natural part of the growth process.

     This is why Patanjali stated that practice, Abhyasa, was to be done in conjunction with Vairagya, or "non-attachment", in order to move beyond the reactions of the mind. Expectations, comparisons, perfectionism, fear of making mistakes all feed into the reactionary mind. They block the clarity and attentiveness needed to make our
practice effective.

     As it says in the Bhagavad Gita, another great work of yoga philosophy, we must act, or do our practice, without attachment to the fruits of our actions. We do practice for its own sake; it's the right thing to do. Being a good person, taking care of ourselves and
others, speaking kindly, and getting on our yoga mat, for example, are rewards in themselves, regardless of what results from those actions. Through non-attachment, we can even practice as a way of offering ourselves to something greater - to the Divine.

     During ancient times, in cultures throughout the world, it was common practice for farmers to give a portion of their crop as an offering to their deity of worship. Some years, their crops were great and they had much to give. Other years were so lean, they may
have had only a few grains to place on their altar. But they gave what they could from their hearts. There will be days when we may feel that our practice is worth three measly grains. No matter - if we offer it with our hearts, without attachment to what is or isn't, we can feel at peace.

     When we are unattached to our efforts, errors can be places where we start anew. Practice is becoming innocent like children, seeing ourselves and others for the first time, every time. Every moment is a new beginning and a new opportunity. Then, rather than seeking perfection, we start to see the joy of the practice.

  Copyright ©2005 by Constance L. Habash

5) Spiritual Quotes

"Do not forget to be kind to strangers. For some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it."
~ Hebrews 13:2

"Every person, all the events of your life are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you."
~ Richard Bach, "Illusions"

"Why does no one confess his sins? Because he is yet in them. It is for a man who has awoke from sleep to tell his dreams."
~ Seneca saying

Blessings,
Connie

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