by Connie Habash | Oct 5, 2023 | Autumn, Balance, Centered, Seasons
Autumn brings changes – from the thermometer to the inner self. At the Autumn Equinox, the point of equal days and nights that initiates the growing darkness of fall, we are called to look into ourselves and find a new inner balance.
While summer called for activity, play, and exuberance, fall asks us to let go and turn to more subtle past times. It’s a season for reflection, release, and quiet meditation. We may not be ready to leap into more inward practices yet, but it is time to find a more appropriate balance in our lives by letting go of some of the outward manifestation of summer and integrating more personal time for self-nurturance and introspection.
An appropriate pose to explore this sense of a balanced life is Tree Pose, Vrikshasana. Any posture that requires you to stand on one leg teaches you the intricacies of balance. What I love about Tree Pose in the Fall is the sense of steady grounding and centering in this simplest of one-leg balances, and of course the perfect metaphor for a season known for changes of foliage!
Stand in Tadasana, Mountain Pose. Feel your stability here before you shift your weight to your right leg. Steady your outer structure, like your outward activities, by stabilizing your foundation and rooting into the earth through the bones of the standing leg. Spread the toes, and hug in around the ankle, feeling a firmness that supports you. Draw the belly in, giving the back stability, too. Then, as you’re ready, slowly bring the left foot up to where you’re able – the calf, inner thigh, or even just lifting the heel while keeping the toes on the floor. Root the foot into the thigh, just as the standing foot roots in the earth. Then reach the spine tall and let the arms rise up, too, like the extending branches of a tree.
The outer balance comes from the actions of the muscles, joints, and bones – the inner balance comes from your focus. Steady the gaze of the eyes on a fixed point to enhance your stability. Maintain a smooth, deep, consistent breath. Feel yourself centered in the belly, where your gravitational center enhances steadiness. And keep the mind one-pointed on concepts of balance, such as: “I am rooted and tall like a tree.” “I am balanced and stable.” “Steady, still, and grounded.” While we need the outer work of the physical actions, the inner work of the breath and mind is equally important to find our balance – both in Tree Pose and during the fall season.
Through the changes that fall brings, find your center point. Imagine there is stillness within you, like the axis of a wheel, that remains steady as the leaves turn and your life unfolds. Stand firm in that place when thoughts begin to whirl like a dust devil, and know that you always have inner balance somewhere inside, even when you don’t think so.
by Connie Habash | Mar 20, 2014 | Awareness, Centered, Mindfulness, Now, Presence, stillness
I have this painting you see here on my stairway. It’s a print of a watercolor of my spiritual teacher, Amma. I fell in love with it a few years ago, and knew it would look lovely on the landing of our stairs.
Every day, as I descend the 7 steps at the top of our staircase, I pause facing her image. Her eyes are closed and she has radiance beaming from her third eye in the center of her forehead. She holds her hands reverently, just above her solar plexus, in some sort of mudra – similar to folding them in prayer, but the tips of the little and index fingers touch.
Every time I come down the stairs, I take a few moments to pause with her image. I, too, close my eyes, and take a mindful breath. I put my hands in the mudra, and imagine the light at my 6th chakra. I silence my mind, if only for a moment.
This practice gives me mindful pauses to become present throughout the day. As I am going up and downstairs, toting baskets of laundry, I stop and breathe. When I first come downstairs in the morning for breakfast, I pause and come into the moment. I am reminded of what is truly important. I feel refreshed.
You, too, can create a special place in your home to help you practice more presence and stillness. Find an image that deeply touches your soul. It can be a painting, photo, statue, crystal, or a candle – anything that stands out to you that you can put in a prominent place, one that you’ll pass by regularly throughout the time you are at home.
Make it a practice to stop, even if just for one breath, be still, and feel your Divine self. Let your thoughts wash away with your exhale. Allow yourself to feel free and open right now. Know that this moment is a good moment. Receive the Divine Light. This will refresh you and keep you focused on your spiritual path.
Where in your home can you create that sacred place to pause and be present?
by Connie Habash | Mar 5, 2014 | Acceptance, Appreciation, Buddha, Centered, Comparison, Depression, Happiness, Mindfulness, Now, Presence
The mind likes to do a lot of comparing. Am I doing as well as that person over there? My yoga poses suck. I am the best in the class! Their car is nicer than mine. It would be easy to write pages of this, wouldn’t it? It’s all too familiar.
In my years as a counselor, it’s become apparent to me that comparison is the root of depression. We wish things were different than they are, and we tend to focus on what we don’t have, or what isn’t happening right now. This is a sure-fire way to ruin your mood, and it does nothing for creating what you really want.
The Buddha might say that by comparing, you are creating more suffering, for you create the desire to be a certain way or have certain things. Patanjali, the father of yogic philosophy, would point out that Raga – attachment – and Dvesha – aversion – are two of the five causes of affliction, the Kleshas. When we get into comparison, it’s just another disguise for how we cling to what we want and push away what we don’t.
How do we get off of the hamster wheel of comparison? Pull all your attention back to your center. Be where you are. Don’t resist what is – when you embrace it, and learn to be with it, it will begin to shift.
Part of why undesirable situations continue is that we continue to resist them, which gives them more power in our lives. When you bring your attention back within to the Self, that which watches all these mental games, we begin to see things from a different perspective. Then, with clear perspective, you can choose how you want to respond, rather than be in reaction to what is.
One great choice is the practice of gratitude. It is scientifically shown in studies that gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to relieve depression.
Comparison is the opposite of gratitude – it takes us away from recognition of the good that is, and either makes us feel lacking, or makes us believe that we’ve got something that someone else doesn’t. Either way, it takes us out of the deep appreciation that comes from receiving blessings in our life and seeing others receive, too. The deepest practice of gratitude is when we can feel deep appreciation and celebration for what others have.
Start with the little things – gratitude for the sunrise in the morning, for the gas in your tank, the next door neighbor who picks up your mail when you’re gone. Perhaps you can feel gratitude for your next breath… or just being able to get out of bed in the morning.
How about gratitude for your underwear? A little sense of humor can take you out of that comparing mind into simple appreciation in the present. Laughter happens in the here and now, and when we laugh, the mind can’t stay stuck in feeling better or worse – it just is being with what is.
We take ourselves so seriously, and when you step back and think about it, there’s a lot of humor happening there. Like, why do I get so serious when flossing my teeth? Or why do a few ants in the kitchen make me behave as if the world has come to an end? And why do I still unconsciously avoid cracks in the sidewalk like I did as a child? Isn’t that silly?
You can ask yourself the same questions when you find yourself comparing. Why does it matter whether I did that yoga pose better or worse the other day? You’re in this moment, not the past. Who else is judging except you?
Don’t despair if you find yourself in “comparing mind”. Let go, be with what is. Bring yourself back to your center, the place where you’re watching what is happening, and recognize that it transcends comparison. Feel gratitude and appreciation for everything you can. And find something to laugh about, because the universe is full of absurdity, including how seriously you compare yourself to others. Then you can let go of comparing – I am not better or worse than; I just AM.
Autumn brings changes – from the thermometer to the inner self. At the Autumn Equinox, the point of equal days and nights that initiates the growing darkness of fall, we are called to look into ourselves and find a new inner balance.
I have this painting you see here on my stairway. It’s a print of a watercolor of my spiritual teacher, Amma. I fell in love with it a few years ago, and knew it would look lovely on the landing of our stairs.
The mind likes to do a lot of comparing. Am I doing as well as that person over there? My yoga poses suck. I am the best in the class! Their car is nicer than mine. It would be easy to write pages of this, wouldn’t it? It’s all too familiar.
