The Eight Limbed Path

In yoga teacher training we were recently give the assignment to write about what yoga is to us. Yoga is the deepest spritual, mental, and physical awakening I have ever experienced.  It is the moving meditation that grounds me, that encourages me to show up on my mat, and to show up in my life. Yoga is my inspiration to express gratitude, kindness, compassion, and love in my daily life to everyone around me.  It's far from just a form of physical exercise.  Yoga is my way of life.  Some people have a set of religious values that they follow and worship. I have never been a religious person.  Then all of a sudden yoga and I collided and I would say that yoga has become my religion. 

The eight limbed path is a holistic approach to a yoga practice.  However, this approach is carried off the mat and into a yogis daily life. 

1. Yama :  Universal Morality
2. Niyama: Personal Observances
3. Asanas: Body Postures
4. Pranayama: Breathing exercises
5. Pratyahara: Control of the Senses
6. Dharana: Concentration and cultivating inner perceptual awareness
7. Dhyana: Devotion, Meditation on the Divine
8. Samadhi: Union with the Divine

In the next few blogs I intend to go through this eight limbed path in more detail.  The first two limbs are ethical precepts called yamas and niyamas. Yamas are suggestions on how we should deal with the people around us. Niyamas are suggestions on how we relate to ourselves inwardly.  For me the appeal to this way of thinking is that it's not a list of do's and don'ts.  They guide us into following our fundamental nature, which is compassionate, kind, and understanding. 

Asana is the practice of physical postures.  Which is what people generally think of when they think of yoga. Pranayama is the measure, control, and directing of the breath. Pratyahara directly translates to "to withdraw oneself from that which nourishes the senses." Which implies to withdraw the senses from attachment to external objects.

Dharana translates into "immovable concentration of the mind". Generally meaning to hold concentration or focus of attention in one direction.  Dhyana means worship or profound and abstract religious meditation.  Finally Samadhi means union with the divine or to bring together. 

Now this blog has turned out to be a more technical blog than normal.  In the next few blogs I'd like to delve further into this eight limbed path. Maybe together we can figure out how these concepts and guidelines can fit into our daily lives.

Divine Vessel's

How many of us look in the mirror everyday and wish we could change something about our physical selves?  Oh my nose is crooked, or my thighs are too big, etc..  It's normal to feel the pressure from yourself and society to look a certain way on the outside.  Part of what drew me to yoga in the first place was the things it did for my outward appearance.  How would it change your ideas of self-care if you began to look at your physical body as a vessel for the divine?  Whatever the divine is for you of course.  How would it change things for you if you started thinking of your physical welness and spritual wellness as interconnected?

I had the amazing opportunity last week to attend an anatomy class at a Cadaver Lab.  The thing that became obvious to me is that for the most part we all have the same muscles, ligaments, tendons, organs, etc...  The way these things function may be different for some of us.  But we're all composed of basically the same things. Our bodies are built to function like machines. There is a give and take for everything. Everything is balanced.  Then for some of us after years of abuse functions within our bodies move out of balance.  We wonder why we can't eat certain things without feeling bad afterwards. Or we wonder why we aren't as flexible as we used to be, or can't run as fast as we once did, etc... 

This made me examine some of my habits.  This made me think about perfecting my body from the inside out in order to feel well. And when I feel well I can then begin to focus on using my body, my vessell, for a greater purpose.  The message I'm taking away is to worry less about perfecting my body on the outside, but to perfect my body from the inside out.  Bringing awareness to the things my body needs. I want to make decisions for my body that are based on overall wellness and balance as opposed to giving in to cravings, lustfulness, and addictions.  Things can be as simple as bringing awareness to the fact that that extra cup of coffee is going to give you a stomach ache.  I'm not talking about knowing everything there is to know about the human body and its systems. I'm talking about listening to your body and becoming aware of what you really need.  Easier said than done though!

To me the key to this concept of wellness is moderation.  If I spend all my time focusing inward I will easily miss important things outside of me.  If I tell myself NO all the time, I will beat myself up for every moment of weakness.  I just want to figure out a way for my physical body to feel well and function well, so I may focus attention on my mental and spritual well being as well.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think that I can really focus on one thing at a time...it's all connected. 

There's an old fable of an astronomer who would wander around the town each night studying the skies. One night while he was staring up at the heavens he fell into a deep well.  The neighbor who finally heard his cries said "Why probe the skies when you can't even see what's here on earth?" 

I feel like you need to find a way to ground yourself in your physical well being in order to be able to see what else is out there!   

Everyday Yogi

I stand, lay, sit on my yoga mat on a regular basis.  I clear my mind and align with my breath when my teacher tells me too.  I immediately notice how much more relaxed my breathing makes me.  I listen to my teacher when they tell me things like "honor your body" and "just respect where you are today in this practice" or "honor the teacher within you".  I let my day go within the first few minutes of practice.  I send love to myself and to the people in my life who need it in that hour or hour and a half of practice. 

Then it comes time for me to step off my mat and go out into the real world.  I'll feel peaceful sometimes even blissful leaving the yoga studio.  Loving myself, loving my life with just a general positive attitude.  I'll get in the car and my mind begins to race. I start thinking of all the things I need to do that day or evening.  I'll remember that thing that happened at work that upset me.  My negative self talk begins.  Someone cuts me off and I begin to cuss in my car. 

So I wonder to myself how to bring my yoga practice off my mat and out into the real world?  How can I find that mini yoga instructor that will come with me in my travels and tell me to breath and let it all go?  This is what I've been contemplating lately.  Who doesn't want to feel serene and blissful all the time?!  I've been reading so many books lately to try and get on this path in my daily life.  This blog will be about my attempts at self care and finding an everyday healthy outlook and attitude.

The word advaita in sanskirt means the connection of an individual spirit to the greater spirit. Which always makes me think about the connection between all of us.  We are all one and must be good to one another.  Please post any thoughts or responses to these blogs!  We can all grow together :)