AWAKENING SELF NEWSLETTER — October 2005

1) Announcements
2) Yoga of the Seasons: Autumn Health
3) Class, Workshop, and Retreat Schedule
4) This month's article - "Motherhood as Renunciation, Part 2" by Connie Habash
5) Spiritual Quotes

1) Announcements

SUBBING SUNDAY, 10/9 AT DEVI YOGA, 8:45-10:15am
Level 2 class (for Klaus). Come enjoy Devi Yoga's great new studio on El Camino in Menlo Park.

FALL YOGA RETREAT: "Balancing Body and Mind: Ayurveda and Yoga" will be at Mount Madonna Center on October 14th-16th. Special yoga classes for each of the three "doshas", or body-mind types, plus evening programs exploring the basics of Ayurveda, the health science of India.
*** I may have space for 1-2 more women at this retreat. Call me at (650) 996-2649 if you are interested in attending***
Information on this website, Click HERE

TEACHING BEGINNERS: A continuing education workshop for yoga teachers, will be held at the Yoga & Movement Center in Walnut Creek on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH from 1-4pm. Beginners have different needs than more experienced students. Learn to think like a beginner and develop skills to work with the myriad of new students that can walk into your class.
$40 if paid by October 30th; $50 thereafter. More information HERE

THANKSGIVING MORNING CLASS: The annual Thanksgiving morning class, "Yoga for Good Digestion and Gratitude", will be from 9:30-11:30am at YIY in Mountain View on Thursday, November 24th. Regular class fee ($14) or part of your series. Whether you're fasting or having a big meal,
you'll feel cleansed and your inner fires stoked!

LEVEL 1 SANSKRIT INTENSIVE: Whether a yoga teacher or a serious student, if you have been captivated by Sanskrit and long to learn more, I am teaching another Level 1 course in JANUARY. Learn to correctly pronounce, read, and write in Devanagari, the Sanskrit script. This course focuses on building yoga-related vocabulary and also includes chanting and singing in the Divine language of Sanskrit! Save $20 if registered by 12/28. Details are HERE

WOMEN OF SPIRIT Psychotherapy Group! At long last, I have decided to return to doing group therapy in my counseling office in Menlo Park. The Women of Spirit Group is a supportive, nurturing environment for women to work through issues where your spiritual path is honored. Small and intimate, the group will be bi-weekly on Wednesdays in the early evening (and possibly another group in the mornings). Initial consultation appointments begin in November for those who are interested. For more information, call me at (650) 996-2649, or look for details coming to my website soon.

2) Yoga of the Seasons: Autumn Health

     October has arrived, and the piles of dead twigs and leaves crunching under foot and clogging up gutters reminds us of the changes happening all around. Autumn is, in many ways, a delicate transition time from the warmth of summer to the cold of winter. It's important to take good care of ourselves as we meet the new demands of the season.

      Speaking of those leaves, one afternoon or weekend we're likely to find ourselves outside for hours, raking up the dead foliage covering over our lawns and gardens. It's easy to forget that this is demanding and challenging physical work, especially for our backs. Use your yoga practice to warm up and stretch those muscles that you'll be straining and twisting in ways you don't normally do everyday, as you rake, bend, scoop, lift, and carry heavy bags. To prevent back injuries, remember to bend your knees and squat to pick up loads. Including squats regularly in your morning routine, even if you don't do any other yoga poses, will make it much easier to lift heavy items in a healthy way. Squats are also known to help move the bowels - another great benefit! Follow up with a warm bath that evening and more yoga the morning after doing yard work to prevent stiffness and soreness.

     Also, be mindful of the dust, pollens, and mold that you may kick up in the process. A good wash of saline water with a neti pot through your nostrils and sinuses can go a long way towards preventing allergies and infections. Following it up with Kapalabhati (breathwork that involves an active exhalation through the nose created by a strong abdominal contraction) will finish the sinus cleansing process. For more information on jala
neti, or washing the sinuses, follow this link: http://www.healthandyoga.com/html/news/jalaneti.html

     Chinese medicine as well as Ayurveda remind us that Autumn is a season of dryness. Remember to drink water and if you're able to, a warm oil self-massage every morning greatly protects you from the season's elements. Brian Carter, an acupuncturist, reminds us that the emotion of Fall is grief; it's not uncommon to feel more sadness and sensitivity as the season deepens, the weather chills, and the trees become more bare. Maintain activities that uplift you (such as exercise, yoga, creative projects, and meditation) to keep depression at bay. One can focus on grief's more positive aspect of nostalgia and reflect on sweet memories of the past, but maintain your balance and also continue to enjoy the present.

    Additionally, Ayurveda, the health science that has evolved over thousands of years in India, states that the end of summer can cause an increase of Pitta, which causes heat in the blood. Mix this with the parching winds of Fall and the result can be skin irritations such as rashes, imflammation, dryness, and itching during the early part of the season. Again, oil massage in the mornings and increased fluid intake help tremendously. Additionally, the digestive fire, or jataragni, is known to be weak at this time, so it is suggested to eat light and easy to digest foods (such as cooked vegetables in season, rice, barley, and wheat). Then favor heavier and warming foods as the weather turns colder and wetter.

     Gently warming yoga poses, such as Bhujangasana (cobra), Salabhasana (locust), and Trikonasana (triangle), will help reduce Vata, the cool, dry energy that takes over once Autumn kicks in. Practice that is slower, more steady, and very grounding also keeps Vata in check and will sustain energy better at this more delicate time of the year.

     Many of us find Autumn to be one of our favorite seasons. Knowing that you have the tools to maintain your well-being will allow you to enjoy it to the fullest.

Copyright © 2005 by Constance L. Habash

RETREATS:

FALL YOGA RETREAT
Balancing Body and Mind: Yoga & Ayurveda
October 14-16 at Mt. Madonna Center
$290-380 depending on accomidations
Print the registration form HERE


WORKSHOPS:

TEACHING BEGINNERS
Yoga & Movement Center, Walnut Creek
Sunday, November 6th, 1-4pm
$40 if paid by October 30th: $50 thereafter

EARLY 2006:

WOMEN OF SPIRIT PSYCHOTHERAPY GROUP
Early evenings, every other Wednesday (and possibly a morning group as well) 1 1/2 hours, limited to 7 committed members
$45/session

LEVEL 1 SANSKRIT INTENSIVE
Five Saturdays: 1/28, 2/11, 2/25, 3/11, 3/25
12:30-3:30pm in Menlo Park
$255, including materials ($20 discount if you register by 12/28!)

FOUNDATIONS: A series of workshops on the essential elements of yoga at YIY in Mountain View
"Standing Poses" Saturday, February 4th, 2-4pm
"Twists" Saturday, April 1st, 2-4pm
"Relaxation" Saturday, June 3rd, 2-4pm
$30 pre-registered, or $35 at the door

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: "Motherhood as Renunciation, Part 2"
by Connie Habash

    Over a year ago, I had shared with my readers insights about the emergence of motherhood in my life in my first article, "Motherhood as Renunciation, Part 1". I figured that at a later time I'd have more realizations to offer post-partum. As my daughter recently made the milestone of her first birthday, it feels like the right time to reflect further on both the challenges and gifts of motherhood from the perspective of renunciation.

    In the yogic tradition, there is a word to describe one who has given up worldly comforts and pleasures in order to devote oneself fully to the path of spiritual transformation. This word is Sannyasin, or roughly translated into English, a renunicate.

     A renunciate typically gives up the traditional path that many of us follow - working at a job, partnering with someone in relationship, having a family, owning a home, etc. - in order to devote oneself fully to spiritual practices and the pursuit of enlightenment. He or she makes great sacrifices, including giving up their home and income, leaving those who are familiar for a life of wandering or an ashram, enduring the elements with only a simple cloth to wear, begging for food and at times fasting, and doing other austere disciplines that may cause loss of sleep, demand intense concentration, and physical endurance. All of this is done for the sake of deepening their connection to the divine as they break the conventional bonds to this physical world. The renunciate becomes less and less attached to the things of material existence with the intention of gaining enlightenment.

     Before marrying, I had considered the path of renunciation. It seemed noble to devote one's life to meditation, yoga, and other practices; to become fully focused on spiritual life.
But I knew I couldn't give up everything I was accustomed to in western life, and certainly not attachments to people. Relationships were and are very important to me.

     As I was bestowed with the title "mother" upon the birth of my daughter, it seemed like the complete opposite of renunciation - I felt more attached, body, heart, and soul, to this precious being than to anything else I had experienced in my life. It was as if my heart opened and Meera dived right in and consumed me. I couldn't imagine a day without her and nothing brought me more joy than her smile.

     Yet wasn't this much like surrendering ourselves to God? What was the Divine if it wasn't there in the bright eyes of this beloved baby? It seemed to me that the Divine comes to mothers (and fathers) through the innocence, love, and vulnerability of an infant. Bhakti yoga, the yoga of love and devotion, couldn't be more palpable than with this precious child. Like a renunicate, I was willing to give up sleep, food, personal pleasures, and endure austerities such as poop explosions and feeding every two hours through the night for the sake of toothless smiles and tiny fingers wrapped around my pinky. I had surrendered at the wee feet of my little one, and my heart had never felt more full of love and devotion.

    As a result of giving my heart so fully to that of my baby's, a well of compassion opened up in me that far exceeded what I had attempted to cultivate over years of spiritual practices. My heart broke for every child that became orphaned from the tsunami. I could feel the suffering of every innocent being I saw on the news. I couldn't watch many movies anymore for fear that I would emotionally fall apart at the thought of divorce, a parent dying, a child falling ill. People suffered in Africa, died on the streets of America, forests withered in the Amazon, and I could feel the despair wherever I paid attention. Previously, I had only been able to feel this for animals, and now becoming a mother allowed me to feel for all those who were lonely, pained, and despairing.

     At times it must have been hard for the Buddha, one of the great Sannyasins of history, to be able to feel the suffering of all beings, even though he was also able to transcend above that pain and see everyone's Divine, untouched essence. Far from being in that state, even though it often brings me to tears, I feel grateful for this newfound identification. For it not only connected me to the suffering on the planet; now, every baby and child I pass by, I smile at. I gaze at the mothers with fondness and familiarity. We understand one another. More than before, I see how I am like others rather than our
differences. I renounced my self-insulated world for a more expansive oneness with humanity when I stepped through the door of motherhood.

     Even with such a greatly-expanded heart, there are times when I feel at my wit's end in dealing with crying, fussing, spitting out food, and refusing to sleep at 4am. As much as
I would love to control my daughter's behavior so that days pass effortlessly and easily, babies aren't wired that way. And if they were, how would we as parents learn to deal with the greater challenges ahead in teaching morals, surviving hurt feelings, breaking a leg, or how to avoid dangerous situations?

     Just as a renunciate's life is subject to many difficulties as grist for the mill - wearing us down from rough and reactionary to refined and peaceful - so is the life of a mother. I have the opportunity through the challenges that Meera presents to learn to stay in my center and respond, rather than react. Through facing my fears and my frustrations, I can develop trust in the universe, my daughter, and myself as I do my best to instill and foster her own strength and wisdom.

    Children are a lot like water. You can't clench it or control it with your hands. It simply slips through as you close your fist. You can, however, hold it for a while.

      Cupping my palms, I scoop up my daughter and drink in her love and joy, and it nourishes me deep into my spirit. When I hold her lightly, she is safe, peaceful, and still - for a while. Then, like the water, she needs to be let go, or slowly will wiggle out anyway. I can contain her for a bit, like filling up a glass. But water is meant to be drained from a glass, not to sit forever lest it become stagnant. So I can create safety around her for now until she's able to be more on her own. She must eventually step out into the world and know she's capable.

    One of the only possessions that a Sannyasin carries is a bowl. It can be used for begging, eating food, and sitting out under a monsoon to catch enough to quench one's thirst. I endeavor to be more like the bowl: open to receiving what motherhood has to
offer, holding the preciousness that is my child, and pouring out the best of myself to nourish and support her. I may not have sacrificed as much as the renunciate for his spiritual quest, but the path I'm walking leads to the Divine, too.

Copyright ©2005 by Constance L. Habash

5) Spiritual Quotes

"In the end we can see this either as a world where we all eat and are eaten or as a world where we all have an opportunity to feed one another."
~ Jack Kornfield

"To see virtue takes a very calm mind."
~ Suzuki Roshi

"Spiritual warriors are courageous enough to taste suffering and relate to their fear...suffering is not seen as a failure or a punishment. It's a purification."
~ Sogyal Rinpoche

Blessings,
Connie

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