Class Musings

Happy Happy First Days of Fall!
This week in class I've been very excited to share new poses, sequences, and mudras (hand gestures) as we transition into the fall season.  Happy New Year to all my Jewish friends and of course to all the rest of you.  September really is a time of new beginnings.  It just dawned on me that I've been teaching a new mudra this week called, "Ganesh Mudra" and  Ganesh is the Hindu God who symbolizes new beginnings. He is also the remover of all obstacles.  I have been guiding students into this Mudra after our centering and meditation at the start of class.

 GANESH MUDRA

This mudra helps us meet others with COURAGE, OPENNESS, and CONFIDENCE.  For instructions on how to come into this mudra please reference: Mudras, Yoga in Your Hands by Gertrd Hirschi. It's a little gem of a book I know you'll enjoy.

How do we achieve YOGA?
I also introduced the first 4 Verses of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.  I wanted to remind all of you what is really happening when you step onto your yoga mat.  The first verse states that "Yoga is Deliberately Stilling the Thought Waves of the Mind" and that in order to do so we must (Verse 2) "Practice"...and that Practice is "the steadfast effort to still these fluctuations.  Well, we ask, how must we practice our poses then?  What about effort?  Verse 3 states that "the Posture should be steady and comfortable."  Oh really?  You mean I don't have to painfully twist myself into a pretzel for the pose to be performed with "right effort?"  No, not at all!  According to verse 4: "Perfection in an asana (pose) is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached.

So it sounds like when we still the mind, time and space become irrelevant and we can then achieve this infinite "being" by relinquishing over efforting and surrendering into effortlessness.  BUT, remember, it all comes down to what?  PRACTICE.  Practice doesn't mean you seek perfection but rather that you show up on your mat day after day no matter how you feel.

The poem I've been reading in class this week is from Swami Vivekenanda about finding ourselves, not in "temples or churches" not in "earths or heavens" but finding ourselves as the "nearest of the near."  (Poem from "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self")

For the rest of your week, perhaps you can think about this posting.  Ganesh: remover of obstacles...what obstacles are you currently facing?  See if you can bring the power of Ganesh into your life this week and ask that something greater than yourself take care of these hardships.

Effort: Where in your life can you release this?  Find the balance between effort and ease.  Chances are if you are over efforting, you are making your own life difficult.  Remember: Suffering is an option.  You do not have control over what happens to you but you do have a choice on how you respond.

As always, I'll see you on the mat!  But,  remember! the work you do off the mat is where your real practice shines through.

Love and Light,
Natalie