Advice – Page 4 – Yoga 4 Healthful Living

The Right Time

Elizabeth Advice, Knowledge February 4, 2014February 5, 2021discipline, experience, knowledge

“The conditions right now are the conditions we need for our work. It is not a matter of waiting until the conditions are better, when the situation is calmer when we have more time, or more information. Now, in the midst of our daily life, engaged in our professions and households, we can and should undertake the practice of yoga. If not now, when?”

– Ravi Ravindra
The Wisdom of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

When I meet privately with a student interested in personal practice, we discuss health issues. Then I ask two questions.

What time of day do you want to do your practice?
How much time do you want to give or do you have to do your practice?

Often the student’s answers are questions. When is the best time to do my practice? How long should I practice?

To answer these questions the student and I must look at several factors together. First of all, the yoga practice must be appropriate for the needs of the person. For example, a person asks for a practice to help with sleep issues. Obviously, then, it would be logical to have a yoga practice to do before bedtime. Another person may find their energy is low, and it is difficult to get started in the morning. Then a morning yoga practice would be logical.

The student’s life is another factor to consider in finding a time to practice. A stay-at-home mom who must be up to make breakfast and see children off to school might find 10 am to be a good time for yoga; another person might find early morning or after work to be a better time; another might find evening, before bed, to be ideal.

A student must also think realistically about the time available to do a practice. It does not benefit a person to have a practice taking 30 minutes to do if realistically they have only 15. Remember, the real benefits of yoga come only over time, but require consistent practice.

The great yogi Krishnamacharya is said to have preferred a student to do five minutes of yoga everyday over a two-hour practice once a week. So the consistency of the practice is very important. Yoga Sutra I.14 tells us our yoga practice, first of all, must be appropriate for us and then be followed consistently over a long period of time.
Yoga is meant to fit our lives. Just as we would not force ourselves into some idealized yoga pose, we do not need to twist our lives around in order to have a yoga practice. But, if yoga is to serve us and become part of our life, then we must commit ourselves to a consistent practice.

So, if you believe yoga can benefit you and support you in living a healthier, more focused, and peaceful life, what is keeping you from starting now?

If you would like to talk about having a yoga practice tailored for your needs, please contact me. I am happy to meet and talk about yoga and explore your interest.

Salad Meditation

Elizabeth Advice, Education, Health January 6, 2014February 5, 2021knowledge, meditation, yoga sutra

Salad I love designing salads. As paints are for an artist, the colors of lettuces and greens, carrots and beets, scallions and persimmons, olives and peppers, corn and peas, tomatoes and cucumbers, apples and oranges, strawberries, nuts, dates, raisins, and cranberries are my palette. I think about how their tastes and textures, as well as colors, create a beautiful, delicious, and healthful balance. But the salad is never complete until I have decided upon the perfect combination of vinegars and olive oils, enhanced with garlic, herbs, salt and pepper, to impart a glow to the greens.

As a painting may fall short of the painter’s intentions, my salads do not always succeed in achieving the qualities I hoped for. But the designing of a salad is still a creative act for me. I lose myself in the possibilities of combinations and how each vegetable or fruit might enhance the flavor or beauty of the others and complement the main course. My mind is so engaged in the creation of my salads, I am not aware of the passing of time, as my husband has reminded me as sits at the table waiting for me to finish.

I came across a wonderful quote in a daily meditation book. “Creative activity immerses us fully in the here and now,” the writer explains, “and at the same time it frees us. We become one with the activity and are nourished by it…We learn who we are in the very process of not thinking about who we are.” (Italics are mine.)

I was struck by how this description of creative activity also describes meditation. Patanjali, in the Yoga Sutra, explains the levels of connection between ourselves and the object of our focus, culminating in deep contemplation or samadhi. First, the senses leave their usual focus on the activities around us; this state is called pratyahara. By eliminating distractions, we can enter a state of concentration, known as dharana, as we focus on an object. As concentration becomes steady and prolonged, a deeper state or meditation, known as dhyana, may evolve in which an interplay exists between what we are focusing on and ourselves.

Returning to my example, the salad is the object. My pratyahara is the honing in on making the salad. My senses are engulfed completely by the colors, textures, smells, and tastes of my ingredients, which elicits a state of concentration or dharana. Dhyana is not only linked with what I have created physically and aesthetically, but also with the nourishment, healing and quality of health that is derived by eating it. It is almost as if the salad communicates with me, making the link more intense.

The deepest level of focus is contemplation, samadhi, in which we lose all sense of ourselves so only that object of our focus remains in our mind.

Frequently I have found many people thinking that meditation requires being seated on the floor in a lotus posture, eyes closed, sitting perfectly still and emptying the mind. Yet, you can see that while meditation requires clearing the mind of distractions, what it really requires is coming to such focus that we have a deep connection, a link, almost an integration with whatever is our chosen point of focus.

Seeing

Elizabeth Advice, Knowledge September 2, 2013February 5, 2021discipline, experience, knowledge, mind and body, observation, philosophy

Tomato Horn Worm Larve Today at my family’s Labor Day picnic, my niece, an avid gardener, showed me a tomato-devouring hornworm. Bright green, about three inches long, and fat from having feasted on my brother-in-laws tomato plant. He was big enough to see even the detail of his mouth and the aphids that had taken up residence as parasites. I loved seeing him in all his brilliant green detail even while hoping my tomatoes would escape his attentions.

Last May I read Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. What struck me most in Dillard’s memoir was her attention to observing. Noticing. Seeing. She loved paying attention to the small things – observing insects, frogs, tadpoles, minnows. She loved the detail as it required being present, fully, to even notice this glut of life.

Sometimes this idea of seeing comes up for me in ways I don’t expect. In the spring I take my bonzais to a workshop at Nature’s Way. I admit to being a fearful pruner, a hesitant shaper, always afraid I will make a mess of my trees. This spring my patient bonsai teacher placed my oldest juniper on a counter about eight feet from where we stood and instructed – look at the tree. Where is the front? Where are the blocks of growth? What is the deeper shape of the tree to be revealed? That is what guides the scissors. Seeing.

In the spring I was struggling with the details of proper pronunciation of Sanskrit and the rhythm of Vedic chants I am studying. I called one of the teachers to ask for help. She went over three chants with me and told me to work only on those. As I followed her instruction, I saw more deeply into the letters and their pronunciation, recognized syllables and how they built the lines with their rhythm. The more I explored the same chants, the more I discovered, not just about them, but about chanting, and about myself, as I noticed my reactions. Focusing on less, more was revealed. And I saw it.

Often, though, I am not really seeing because I am taken up with speculating, or worrying. I imagine how a new class might turn out or anguish over whether a granddaughter will like a birthday present. When I am so caught up with these thoughts, I am not present. I am not seeing, let alone seeing deeply. The beauty of yoga practice is the awareness it brings so I recognize where my mind is loitering and choose to let go of the fruitless wanderings.

You may not be interested in the details of insect anatomy or bonsais or Vedic chant, but I think all of us seek to live fully, which requires being present to see the world in which we live. As we learn to be present in our yoga practice, we become aware when our mind wanders, as well. Then we can bring ourselves back to the moment. Present, we have the chance to see, to notice, to observe the hornworm and our heartbeat, the tree shape and our suffering, the rhythm of the chant and the ones we love trying to garner our attention for just a minute. Yoga practice gives us the foundation and practices to live fully.

Yoga and Grief, Part Three

Elizabeth Advice, Health, Knowledge August 26, 2013February 5, 2021energy, grief, healing, mind and body

Yoga and Grief Yoga is about being present for our experience, whatever it might be – a yoga pose, a conversation with a friend, an emotion. This is not easy. Our minds tend to wander. We often judge our own behaviors and vulnerabilities and seek to escape from our discomfort.

When we are sitting with someone we love who is dying, our emotional discomfort is at its height, and our minds may increase that suffering. “How long will this go on?” “What will happen to the family?” “Why is God letting this happen?”

And, the mind may journey to the past. “Why didn’t I spend more time with him or her?” “How could I have spoken so harshly?” “I would do so many things differently if I had a second chance.”

These projections and ruminations increase our suffering and keep us from experiencing the painful emotions that are a direct part of the loss. Our inability to stay present steals the time we can be with our loved one as we are more in our heads than in the reality of the present.

Being present with the reality of our grief is key to accepting loss. To do this we need to experience a tender, gentle attitude toward ourselves, without criticism.
This allows us to move toward acceptance and healing.

In yoga we are asked to observe the “effects” of our practice. Are there any areas of tension or openness? Is my breath long or short? Is my mind active with thoughts or quiet?

We are training to free ourselves from the judging mind. Without the judging mind, we don’t have to feel bad about what we notice. We don’t have to compare ourselves to others. This freedom can allow us to see and accept our vulnerabilities. It allows us to have compassion for ourselves.

When we begin to be present with our pain, treating ourselves with compassion for our suffering as we would treat a child in pain, we can begin to accept our loss.

Bringing compassion to the brokenness we feel in our grief can help us connect with the love we have for the one we have lost. We can come to recognize the love that bound us that still lives on within us. When we reach this place, we have moved to a deeper healing and sense of peace, and a profound honoring of the one no longer with us.

A five week “Yoga for Life, support for those who are grieving” begins Thursday, September 5^th. For more information, you can read a description of the class. If you or someone you know is grieving and would like to explore the healing potential of yoga, please contact me by noon, Tuesday, September 2^nd at eterryyoga@gmail.com or call 717-645-0067.

Yoga and Grief, Part Two

Elizabeth Advice, Health, Knowledge August 19, 2013February 5, 2021energy, grief, healing, mind and body

Yoga and Grief We know intellectually that all of us at sometime in our lives suffer loss and the trauma that ensues. When this happens, our entire being experiences grief. Our mind and heart, as well as the cells and systems of our body respond to loss. Physical symptoms may include headaches, insomnia, digestive problems, a feeling of heaviness, fatigue, and depletion. Mentally we may have difficulty thinking clearly, making decisions, and remembering things. Emotionally, we may feel anguished, anxious, depressed, powerless, or angry. Spiritually, we may sense a loss of meaning or purpose in our lives.

So how can yoga help us to heal?

Yoga sees healing as “a change in mind, in perception, in attitude” so that “mental, emotional, and physical suffering are alleviated,” and the person’s quality of life improves.¹ One reason yoga is effective in healing is because of its holistic vision of the human system. Everything is interconnected.

Try this experiment. Stand with your hands resting on your heart; slowly open your arms out to the side as you breathe in; slowly bring your hands back to the heart as you breathe out. Do this 4 or 5 times. Then mentally focus on the word “peace” as you breathe in and open your arms; focus on the words “in my body,” as you breathe out and bring your hands back to the heart. Next, mentally focus on the word “peace” as you breathe in and open your arms; focus on the words “in my mind” as you breathe out and bring your hands back to the heart. Finally, focus on “peace” as you breathe in and open the arms; focus on “in my heart,” as you breathe out and bring the hands back to the heart. Repeat this series with your mental focus on the words two more times.

Now sit down in a chair and take a minute or two to notice – without making any judgments – how you feel. Does your body feel more relaxed? Is your breath slower? Is your mind quieter? Do you notice any sense of peace emotionally, even a twinge?

Another way in which yoga encourages healing is in the practice of observation and acceptance. Yoga develops our awareness by requiring us to observe the effects of what we do in our practice, just as you did in the exercise above. Our observation is without judgment. It is a training in learning about ourselves, and accepting where we are at a particular moment in time. This practice of non-judgmental observation and acceptance prepares us to deal with change, and our struggle to accept our loss.

The vision yoga gives us of our human system and the practices it gives us to touch all dimensions of our being with awareness and acceptance empower us to begin our journey from suffering to healing.

If you or someone you know is grieving the loss of a loved one and would like to explore the healing potential of yoga, please contact me. A five week “Yoga for Life, support for those who are grieving” session begins Thursday, September 5^th.

¹ Desikachar, Kausthub. “The Yoga of Healing: Exploring Yoga’s Holistic Model for Health and Well-being.” International Journal of Yoga Therapy. No. 15 (2005) 17.

Yoga and Grief, Part One

Elizabeth Advice, Health, Knowledge August 12, 2013February 5, 2021energy, grief, healing, mind and body

Yoga and Grief Grief is a response to change. And, all changes, whether positive or negative, involve loss, explained Jennilu King. As a grief counselor, Jennilu helps others deal with loss and has her own insights and wisdom on the subject.

“Grief is the heart’s natural healing process,” she told me as we sat at Panera recently talking over breakfast and coffee. “It needs space, time, care, and attention in the same way as when you have open heart surgery. After surgery you come home with support in place, information about diet, and therapy appointments. You rest. All of this is part of the recuperation process that is about healing from physical trauma. Our heart needs these same things to heal from loss.”

Unfortunately, our culture doesn’t give people space and time to heal from loss. Not meaning harm, a concerned friend or relative may tell someone experiencing loss, “you need to get on with YOUR life,” as if there is only a designated time to grieve and then it is time to move on.

Those who are grieving, however, need to take time to nurture, nourish, and accept themselves and their lives. Yoga creates this time and space.

Yoga is about healing from suffering. The purpose of yoga, according to the yoga master TKV Desikachar, is “to reduce disturbance and return an individual to his or her inherent peace and power.” For those suffering loss, the physical postures of yoga help ease the physical effects of grief and improve energy. Breathing techniques support the connection between body and mind and help create a sense of calm. Sound and meditation support focus, healing, and the movement to a space of peace.

In the context of the yoga class to support those who are grieving, the tools of yoga offer techniques to help participants cope with grief, find compassion for the journey they are on, and honor their loss. All of the practices help to create space and balance in the body, breath, mind, and emotions.

Some Revelations on Astaya

Elizabeth Advice May 8, 2013February 5, 2021discipline, ethics

Bracelet No, I am not a thief, but…

When I completed my 500 hour yoga teacher training, I, along with five others, received a wooden mala bracelet from our teacher. For me, this bracelet was a symbol of two years of work and dedication and the acknowledgement by my teacher of this accomplishment. I wanted to wear this bracelet when I taught as a reminder of what stood behind me as I worked with students. The bracelet, however, was too big for my wrist and would drop off if I wasn’t careful. I was fearful of losing it.

I took it to a jewelry store and asked if they could make the bracelet small enough to stay put on my wrist. When I returned a week later, I was dismayed to find the mala knot and bead in a little plastic bag and the beads restrung on a piece of clear stretchy plastic. The woman who had restrung the beads explained there had been no way to shorten the bracelet and still preserve the head bead and knot. While I could now wear the bracelet, I was unhappy with the reconfiguration, feeling that it had now been cheapened. I left the store without paying.

In spite of my initial reactions, I found myself starting to wear the bracelet. In fact, I wore it everyday I taught. And I wore it when I went away to study yoga. And, I found when I wore it I still felt its reassurance, its reminder of everything and everyone at my back as I took up new yoga-related endeavors.

While it might appear a happy ending, in the back of my mind I was remembering I had not paid for the work allowing me to have this connection. “I have to pay for it,” I thought. But I felt embarrassed to go to the store and tell them what had happened. The memory continued to nag at me.

“Asteya” is the third ethical principle or “yama” in the Yoga Sutra. It directs us to avoid taking or receiving something without agreement or compensation. It prohibits stealing. While most of us do not think of ourselves as thieves, practicing this principle requires greater awareness and subtlety than appears at first.

When, without planning to do so, I found myself driving past the jewelry store, I swerved into their parking lot. I entered the store, and the sales clerk greeted me, asking how she could help me. I explained what had happened two years earlier and told her I wanted to pay that bill. The clerk looked surprised, smiled, and told me that she was sure it was fine and not to worry. I insisted. I told her I felt badly about not having paid them, and I really wanted to make this right. She spoke with the manager, who came out and also told me not to worry. Finally as I continued to insist, she said, “We will not take your money. Just come back again when we can serve you.”

While I didn’t leave having compensated the store for my old outstanding debt, I had tried to make things right. That is what the practice of “asteya,” and the other yamas or ethical principles help us to do. They help us to keep things “right.” When we slack on how we live, our hearts and minds cannot be a peace, nor can those of others we might fail to treat ethically. When we practice living with compassion for other beings, being truthful and honest in our thoughts, our words, and actions, we keep things right. With things right, we can live with settled, content hearts and minds. Living the yamas is a path to happiness.