Steady Attention and Maintain Comfort

Yoga is about process, not outcome. But if there were to be goals in asana practice, they would be to steady one’s attention (sthira) and to remain comfortable (sukha) in the pose.  These qualities are what make yoga practice challenging and rewarding. Some poses are easier for some people than others. But every yogi can identify particularly challenging poses. Some of my students find savasana (deep relaxation pose) most challenging because quiet and total stillness is difficult and uncomfortable for them. Other students find eka pada rajakapotasana (pigeon pose variation) most difficult and uncomfortable because sitting so many hours in the day tightens the muscles around their hips and pelvis.

Often students seek classes that quickly move them from one pose to another. This might be right for their bodies some days. But it also helps them to avoid the hard work of settling into a pose and finding stillness there. I can’t help but wonder if these students are unconsciously avoiding the hard asana work of steady attention and maintained comfort while holding poses. It is in holding poses that yogis will be rewarded. Any action that is difficult brings greater rewards.

My role as their instructor is to create an encouraging and safe environment. Sometimes it means encouraging students to soften. In eka pada rajakapotasana I encourage students to breathe long, steady breaths to still their minds and soften the muscles around their groin and hips. Sometimes it means encouraging students to use props. Using props is a good thing in that they help students to attain sthira and sukha, providing students with greatest benefit from their practice. A blanket or block under the front hip in eka pada rajakapotasana may help the student to hold the position more comfortably, in turn helping her to sustain her attention rather than fidgeting to try to avoid the deep hip rotation that it requires.

There are no shortcuts in yoga practice. Reaping the true benefits of asana practice, steady attention and maintained comfort, requires settling into the poses. The discomfort can be assuaged by extending the breath and using props. But avoiding the hard work is never the answer.

Observing without Reacting

Observing without reacting: This is my most difficult lesson on and off the mat. Where does my mind go when I fall out of bakasana (crow pose)? Excuses like “these pants are slippery.” Where does my mind go when I don’t go as deeply into hanumanasana (monkey pose) as I know I can? Excuses like “the room is too cold” or “the teacher didn’t include enough prep poses in the sequence before going into this advanced pose.”

My habitual mind does similar things when complications arise off the mat. I tend to react immediately when another car cuts me off on the highway. I fret and worry about what has happened to our relationship when a friend neglects to wave from across the street. Reacting often seems to be my immediate response. I’d prefer to just observe.

My yoga practice has helped me to at least recognize when I’ve reacted to a situation. I am more often now to reflect on a missed opportunity to “just observe”. To take my practice to the next level I sometimes decide to work on this very lesson. This is when I work with challenging standing sequences. Moving from trikonasana (triangle) to ardha chandrasana (half moon) to virabhadrasana III (warrior III) to parivrtta ardha chandrasana (revolved half moon) to parivrtta trikonasana (revolved side angle) isn’t easy. It requires me to move mindfully and deliberately.  Working with this sequence also means that I am likely to fall out at some point. Practicing with this difficult sequence affords me plenty of opportunity to practice observing without reacting. I practice using my breath to stay in the present moment. I practice moving meditation by observing, “I’m unbalanced” and finding balance again. Without reacting.

It isn’t easy. It takes practice. I've practiced with this all week. And I'm grateful to my students for working on the lesson with me!

Checking in to Let Go

I just felt the tension – in the room and in my body. I was sitting in a business meeting that became more contentious than expected. Differing opinions were leading to terse words. The discussion was going nowhere because few people were listening. Hidden agendas became slightly less hidden, still subtle, but becoming more obvious. Overall the feeling was icky to me.

I found myself clinging to attachment to the outcome of the discussion. I became focused on finding the words and strategy to affect the outcome. Finally, mindfulness practice kicked back in. I turned inward to observe. I felt the tension through a clenched jaw. My shoulders were tight and elevated. I observed longer and noticed my breath was shallow as the tension and clinging seemed to tighten around my torso.

Observing the clinging through physical aspects of my body led to the second part of mindfulness practice: letting go. “Soften,” I thought to myself as I exhaled away tension in my jaw.  “Let go,” I told myself as I released tension in my shoulders and let go of my attachment to the outcome of the discussion. I lengthened the duration of my exhales. “Let go.”

I worked internally on letting go of my attachment to the meeting outcome as I breathed mindfully, lengthening my exhales. The meeting continued. I listened as an observer, without judgment. I felt better for releasing the tension and letting go of the struggle. I felt better for recognizing that there are things I cannot control. Mindfulness practice helped me to recognize that in the end the outcome will unfold as it needs to. I contributed to the discussion and can let go of emotion, tension, and clinging to the outcome.

Centered Stillness

I start all my yoga classes and home practices with at least 5 minutes of settling in to center the mind. Last night several students seemed apprehensive, fidgety, and not completely sold on the idea of using their precious time this way. I got the idea that they thought the time “wasted”. Or perhaps they are unfamiliar, therefore uncomfortable, with the stillness. We are all used to doing and are less likely to spend much of our time being. However, yoga practice is intended to be mindful, to slow us down, to find stillness in movement. That is what makes it yoga rather than stretching and calisthenics.

Focusing on deep breaths helps to transition from whatever happened prior to practice to time on the mat. Centering helps to still the mind and body, releasing any emotion - from anger and frustration to fatigue and elation - so that we can be completely present for our practice. Being centered prepares us to move mindfully. It can prevent us from being careless; something that often results in physical injury.

Centering is a yoga practice that I take with me into my life off the mat. It helps me to focus and be present for the activity I am about to start. A few breaths are all I need to transition from one emotion and place to the next. What would happen if you took time to center yourself before beginning a meal? How might your gym routine benefit if you transitioned from a stressful day at the office before starting weight training? How might a confrontational meeting with your spouse or teenager differ if you took time to center and find stillness breathing deeply for several minutes before the discussion?

Maybe with practice you can come to value time used to center and prepare your mind and body as you transition to the next activity. Maybe you can become more comfortable with stillness.

Final taste of summer

I am enjoying the change to autumn weather. The cool mornings and evenings are a welcome contrast to the hot days. As the season changes, though, I already mourn my favorite part of summer: fresh berries. I was able to get one last batch of raspberries this week at the farmer's market. I brought them home and began to greedily eat a handful of berries (my habitual attack), enjoying the bursts of sweetness in my mouth.

Then it occurred to me that this will be the last batch of fresh berries until next June's strawberries. I realized I wanted to make sure to take time to savor each one. So I sat down with no other distraction so I could mindfully enjoy each berry. One at at time. I closed my eyes and used each of my sensory systems to concentrate on the redness (yes, at that point they tasted red). I felt the juicy, soft texture of each berry. I inhaled the fresh aroma of each berry. One. At. A. Time.

These may have been the best batch of raspberries of the whole season. Simply because I mindfully put all my effort into tasting each one.

Observing multiple perspectives

Perspectives - every one of life's issues/ challenges/ problems/ miscommunications/ ... is multifacited with many different perspectives. Moving and contemplating mindfully helps us to reserve judgment and recognize some alternate perspectives we may not have considered when we move through life with our regular habits and biases. Perhaps we do not need to run but to stay. The glass might not be half empty but half full. The rumor we heard at the office may not have much truth when seen from another perspective. A problem that seems impossible to solve may be easier if we take off our blinders and look "outside the box" from another perspective.

In yoga practice, twists help to notice and acknowledge multiple perspectives. Revolved parsvokonasana (side angle), revolved bakasana (crow), revolved trikonasana (triangle), and a multitude of revolved poses and twists in sitting or laying down all help us to observe things from another viewpoint. Who knows, after an asana practice that includes lots of twists, a stroke of insight - an aha moment or an eureka moment - might follow us off the mat. That solution to the seemingly impossible to solve problem might just make itself available. All it took was considering an alternative perspective.

Learning to trust our breath to lead the way

My yoga students worked with a challenging balance vinyasa in class this week. We moved from ardha chandrasana (half moon) to parivrtta ardha chandrasana (revolved half moon) and back for a total of four of each pose on each side. There was much laughter as several people fell out of the pose and returned to the challenge. Finally, several students learned the lesson I hoped to convey: trust your breath to lead the way.

These students found that when they focused their attention and moved one component at a time, using the breath to lead the way, they were able to enjoy a dancing flow, they got "into the zone" and were less likely to wobble. Move with your breath: Inhale, arm up gaze up; exhale, arm down gaze down; inhale arm up, gaze up; exhale, arm down gaze down...

I invited the students to set an intention for the rest of the week: trust your breath to lead the way. They will take their practice with them off the matt and into their life if they use their breath to let go of struggle and move mindfully, as a dancing flow, whatever challenge life offers. At first glance, the yoga vinyasa or life challenge might appear impossible or overwhelming. But to break it into components, trusting breath to lead the way, it all becomes possible and even fun.