Ah, the joy of springtime... but life is full of changes and challenges, even in the Spring. The recent death of a close friend brought about reflection on an "un-springly" topic in this month's article, and one that we all must reconcile. Then, put some spring in your step with some fancy yoga footwork to open the feet in this month's "Seasons of Yoga" column. Enjoy the blossoms, and when they fade, know that your inspiration always lies within you, no matter the season.
THERAPEUTIC APPLICATIONS OF YOGA I (with AYURVEDIC YOGA) - for yoga teachers only
This continuing education course for teachers explores anatomy of the shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand as they apply to yoga postures, Pranayama level 1, and applications of Ayurvedic Yoga, level 2 - review of ayurveda basics, practice assessing the primary dosha for yoga clients and prescribing yoga routines, pranayama and meditation for the doshas, and more! FRIDAY, APRIL 23-SUNDAY, APRIL 25TH,
$500 for entire three days
at Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, San Jose
For information and registration, see the CSE website:
HERE
MEDITATION & INSPIRATION! a new drop-in group for spiritual awakening, EVERY THURSDAY,
10:45-11:45AM in Palo Alto! Immerse yourself in a weekly experience of returning to your center. With a spiritual message from the ancient wisdom traditions of the world, breathwork practices, chanting, sharing, and 15-20 minute semi-guided meditation, you'll leave feeling renewed and inspired.
BY HEARTFELT DONATION. At SUBUD Spiritual Center http://www.subudpaloalto.org
YES (Yoga Educational Seminars) - YOGA TEACHER TRAINING & ADVANCED STUDIES PROGRAM Begins May 2010
at Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, San Jose, CA
Joyce Anue directs this outstanding program, and Connie teaches Ayurvedic Yoga. Faculty also includes Julianne Rice, Ellen Grace O'Brian, Elise Miller, Samantha Shakti-Brown, Scott Blossom, and more. For more information, see Joyce's website: http://www.joyceanue.com/TeacherTraining.htm
I received the call on a Friday. My friend Vicki's number came up on the caller ID, and I answered in the traditional way I always used to: "Is this THE Vicki Allinson?!" with great enthusiasm and laughter. What surprised me was an unrecognizable voice on the other end -- not Vicki. Uh oh. Something was wrong, very wrong. Who is this? It was her friend Isabella, whom I had never met. "What's wrong with Vicki?" I asked, feeling tears softly well up. Liver cancer. She's expected to pass on this weekend.
It had been a strange week of deaths. That morning, I had just read about someone I didn't know on my parent's club list that had a stillborn child. That broke me down faster than anything. A student shared with me deaths among her family and friends. A client was dealing with a dying grandparent. Death seemed to be hovering around, amongst the newly blossomed flowers of springtime.
And I realized that in reality, death is always around. There is no life without death, and it is always here. Even though birds are laying their eggs and having babies, an earthworm that crawled out during last week's rain drowned in the gutter. A number of the ladybugs we released into our yard the other night lay motionless on the stone patio. Whether we know someone close to us that died this week or not, someone is always dying, and someone is always being born. Coming to terms with death is as essential to life as breathing and eating. Coming to terms with death is essential to being fully alive.
I recalled, back in my senior year in college, reading Carlos Castaneda's Journey to Ixtlan, a book that profoundly impacted my life. Castaneda's teacher, Don Juan, was an incredible trickster, always keeping Carlos on his toes and sometimes scaring him half to death. He would often tell Carlos that his death was just over his left shoulder,and if he looked around really quickly right now, he'd catch a glimpse of him. Carlos was never really sure if that faint flicker that slipped into a shadow was indeed his end, or just a projected fear of what he imagined.
Don Juan would look piercingly into his eyes and tell him that he should use his death as an adviser. When Castaneda freaked out, or worried about things, Don Juan would suggest he look over his left shoulder... if death didn't touch him yet, what was there to worry about? How often we get caught up in pettiness, worries, internal dramas that only create stress, anger, and anxiety, that are completely unnecessary. Nothing really is that bad until we are faced with our moment of death. Until then, we'd best be living our lives and feeling gratitude for what is here, now. We'd be better off giving our full attention to this precious moment than to get caught up in thoughts that aren't even happening. And some moments in life truly require our full attention -- by indulging in unnecessary mental folly, we end up less effective when a critical, powerful, or transformative situation arises.
But what about that moment when we DO actually meet with our death? I noticed myself going to bed, wondering about Vicki, what she was experiencing in her last moments. Was she meditating, chanting, focusing on the light? Was she afraid, or trusting? Did she see angels, ancestors, spiritual beings... or was there just one breath, slowing falling into the next, slowly feeling the morphine dripping into her veins and a gradual detachment from her body? I wondered what I would feel. Would I be prepared for those last moments? I prayed that I had a very long life, so I'd have enough time to learn to truly be present, trusting, open, and deeply connected to the presence of the Divine in those last moments. That's how I wanted to go, no matter the circumstances.
As I imagined her passing on, I wondered if I'd get any sign, a visit, or a dream with her. And I began to feel fear. How surprising! With what I believe about life, God, the spiritual realm, and the nature of our soul, how could I feel fear of the spirit of a friend I dearly loved visiting me? Was I still buying into the old movies about ghosts? What was I really afraid of, and why?
I sat up in bed and inquired about this fear. It had to do with the dark. Night had fallen, and somehow that translated to a fear of death. This is a common reaction for many of us --fear of the dark and fear of death both stem from the great unknown. The unknown isn't really the problem: it's the fact that we tend to project bad,scary things in our imagination on that unknown, rather than tapping into a deeper knowing within. We can't know the mystery of death, consciousness, and the life of the soul with our sensory-oriented, three-dimensional, intellectually analytical mind. No, the knowing of the mysteries of life and death comes from an understanding far beyond the ordinary intellect.
In yoga philosophy, Sage Patanjali asserts that there are five causes of suffering, or afflications, at the root of every fear, worry, and stress. The first and foremost -- the root of all the others -- is Avidya, ignorance. This is not the ordinary definition of ignorance; say, someone who doesn't know the customs of a country she visits and does something inappropriate. The ignorance that Patanjali refers to here is ignorance of our true nature. The root of all suffering, he states, is not knowing that we are Divine. The "I" that we refer to is not the temporal experience of the body, nor even the personality, but that which is witness to all that, and all the experiences we have in this life. That witness, our Divine Self, is eternal and unchanging.
When we gain true knowledge, overcoming Avidya,then we also overcome all the other four causes of affliction, including the fifth: Abhinivesha, the fear of death. There is nothing to fear when we know, deep within ourselves, that as we let go of this body we continue on in consciousness. And when that consciousness that we call our Self (as distinguished from our self, the individual ego) unites with the consciousness of all of existence, there is joy beyond description. Nothing to fear.
In remembering this, I calm down. I recognize that the darkness and the light that I perceive through my eyes are not different in the realm of spirit. It is only my perception and my reaction to the perception that brings up fear. When I penetrate beyond my sensory-oriented thinking to my inner wisdom, there is a peace there about death. A knowing that is beyond my intellectual understanding; some part of me just feels it. I go off to sleep, sensing that my friend Vicki is where she needs to be, and it is a good place, beyond my comprehension. I trust that.
I have a long way to go before I'll be able to face my own death with that kind of trust and ease. But for one moment, I was able to embrace my friend's death with the same joy and trust that I did awaiting spring's arrival. Death in the season of rebirth reminded me that they're really one and the same... while her friends here perceived Vicki passing away as an end, for her it's just a beginning-- one that only she will know.
The intellect always cuts and divides like a pair of scissors. The heart sews things together and unites like a needle. The tailor uses both. ~ Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma)
There is so much good in the worst of us
And so much bad in the best of us
That it would not behove any one of us
To find any fault with the rest of us. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. ~ E.M. Forster
YOGA TEACHERS - ADVANCED LEVEL THERAPEUTIC YOGA WITH AYURVEDIC YOGA - APRIL 23-25, with Joyce Anue and Connie Habash, explores anatomy of the shouler, elbow, wrist, and hand, part one of Pranayama, and a special segment on Ayurvedic yoga for teachers, including basic doshic assessment for yoga, working with the "seat" of the dosha, meditation and pranayama practices for each body-mind type, and more! This is a step up from previous Ayurvedic yoga workshops. For more information, see the flyer HERE
To register, visit the Center For Spiritual Enlightenment website: HERE
MEDITATION & INSPIRATION - EVERY THURSDAY 10:45-11:45AM in PALO ALTO! January began a special group to support your spiritual growth.! Join me for weekly renewal through meditation, breathwork, chanting, an inspirational message, and community sharing. Location: SUBUD spiritual center, 330 Melville Ave (near the corner of Waverly), PALO ALTO, just off Embarcadero. By Heartfelt Donation. Topic for April: "The 5 Niyamas, or inner practices of yoga" http://www.subudpaloalto.org/
Yoga Teacher Training in SAN JOSE
YES Advanced Studies and Yoga Teacher Training begins again in MAY. Directed by Joyce Anue, the outstanding faculty includes Connie Habash, Julianne Rice, Elise Miller, Scott Blossom, and many others. For more information, see Joyce's website: http://www.joyceanue.com
LOOKING FOR A SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY? One that meets the needs of young and old, families and single people? Envision a quarterly or monthly group that would include yoga & movement, spiritual inspiration, chanting or singing, meditation, and sharing. Co-create it with me! Join an online visioning group, committed to seeing this manifest, that will share ideas and solutions for how this kind of community can work. If you're interested in helping me envision and build this community, please email me at Connie@AwakeningSelf.com !
Also, you can download any of the 5-week Yama series from last year's exploration at YogiChocolate,
There's so many DOWNLOADABLE YOGA CLASSES on Yogi Chocolate, I can't list them all here! Not just yoga classes, either - I have lectures on Sanskrit and Yoga Philosophy, too! Check them out here: http://www.yogichocolate.com/teachers-bio.php?u=1149
FREE MEDITATION CLASS on my website...
Check out the 30-minute meditation class ("Meditation Class #1") from Awakening Self! You don't have to download it - just click, play, and listen on my CD page HERE.
WOULD YOU LIKE CDS OF MY CLASSES, INSTEAD OF DOWNLOADS? Email me and let me know... I may have them available for the Chakra series soon! Connie@AwakeningSelf.com
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The Seasons
of Yoga:
Spring in Your Step (Yoga for the Feet)
Today, after days of rain, the bright sunshine peaked into the room through the edges of the shades, and my daughter wanted to spring right out of bed into the beautiful blue skies. At this time of year, we can't help but feel that desire to dance and delight in spring's magic.
Our feet, however, may not be quite up to the task! Being a little more sedentary in the winter, we may notice the ankles grow stiff and weak, the toes cramped from being in closed-toe shoes, and the soles of our feet in need of a good massage. These are common effects from the accumulation of Kapha, which can lead to stiff, puffy joints and excess water retention. A few simple yogic practices can make a big difference and put that spring back into your step.
To wake up those feet upon rising, massage your thumbs the soles of the feet, and stretch out each toe with your fingers. Then, extend out the legs with your feet apart and do ankle movements: flex and point the feet, then rotate them for a few rounds in each direction. Spread the toes, then curl them in, back and forth several times. You have now opened up the circulation and prepared the foot and ankle muscles for more stretching.
For further release on the tops of the feet, sit in Vajrasana, the thunderbolt pose. This is a simple kneeling pose with the heels under the buttocks. If you have pain in your knees in this position, place a folded blanket between the upper and lower legs, right behind the knee joint. Sit here for several breaths and let the tops of the feet open. To alleviate pain on either the top or bottom of the foot, roll up a hand towel and place it under the front of the ankles. If your feet are pretty comfortable you can go for a more intense stretch: lean back and slightly lift your knees off the floor. Only do this if there is no pain in the knees or feet. You'll really feel the stretch with this one!
Then, open the bottoms of the feet. This is a favorite of Zhander Remete's, the founder of Shadow yoga. It's the same position, but with your toes turned under. You can approach this from all fours, with your legs and feet together, then curl your toes under (so that they point towards your hands and you feel the stretch on the bottom of your toes) and slowly lean your weight back into your heels. If you are able, you can sit up on the heels and breathe deeply into the stretch. Lean your weight forward onto your hands if you can't bear too much! I love to call this pose "Yoga Coffee", because it's sure to wake you up! Go easy with it, and over time you'll work up to sitting in it with relative ease. It is very healing for the feet, and actually affects the health of all the internal organs.
Now, come up to standing to integrate this newfound flexibility and vitality. Stand in Tadasana, mountain pose, with your feet together, heels slightly apart. Lean back into your heels and slightly lift the balls and toes of your feet off the floor; hold for a few breaths. Then rock back and forth, from the heels to the balls of the feet, trying to move slowly and steadily. You'll feel the muscles of the lower legs, ankles, and feet warm up.
To strengthen these muscles, as well as improve your balance, return to Tadasana and stand still. Feel the lift of the arches creating a lightness in the middle of your sole, while feeling grounded and rooted in the heel and the ball of the foot. Imagine a firmness embracing the ankles, giving them support. Hug the muscles of the legs into the bones, while you draw in the belly and rise up through the spine. Then, on an inhalation, lift your heels slowly and balance on the balls of the feet. Draw the ankles toward each other, feeling their firmness. Let the eyes remain steady, as well as the breath and mind. Hold for a few breaths, then slowly lower down as you exhale. Repeat at least two more times, feeling the strength, flexibility, and stability of your feet, ankles, and legs.
Finally, from Tadasana bend your knees into Utkatasana, the powerful pose (also known as chair pose). As you inhale, bring your arms up overhead, and breathe into your strength. Let your weight fall into your heels, and bend your knees enough to feel the intensity in the thighs and the stretch in the achilles tendons (below the calf muscle). Enjoy the warmth that this pose fills your body with for several breaths. Then rise up and release on an inhalation.
Now you're ready to roll! Whether you're embarking on a hike, out to weed the garden, dropping your child off at school, or heading to work, let your feet do the talking and bound out into your day. Celebrate spring in your step!
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