philosophy

Life Situation or Life

Elizabeth Advice, Knowledge , , ,
2015-0817 blog image

2015-0817 blog image

A friend of mine shared a wonderful insight that has come to mind again and again over the summer. My friend’s insightful words center around a distinction he made between our “life situation” and our “life.”

Our “life situation” is just that – the situation(s) we find ourselves in: our jobs, ages, illnesses, losses, wealth or poverty, marriages, divorces, parenting, care giving, and so on, in other words, our activities, our health, our relationships, and our responsibilities. These things are ever-changing. But our “life” refers to something deeper – something abiding and unchanging within us.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra makes a distinction between the material, ever-changing aspects of our life and that which is eternal. The material aspect, prakriti, is synonymous with our “life situation” – our age, our physical and mental condition, our role in the world. That which does not change, purusa, is the eternal, unchanging aspect of ourselves, often referred to as the soul, consciousness or spirit.

The Yoga Sutra teaches that if we believe that our “life situation” is the only thing we truly are, then we will identify with those things in our life that are temporary and cause suffering. I often hear people say, “I am old.” Being “old” and the consequent changes in our physical, energetic, and mental systems that accompany aging create distress for many of us. Yoga teaches that believing our body to be who we are, rather than recognizing our spiritual nature as our essence, causes suffering.

This is not to say the body isn’t real or that suffering isn’t real. It is when we identify so strongly with the impermanent aspects of ourselves to the exclusion of anything else that we get into trouble. For example, if I tell myself I will only be happy if I lose 5 pounds, I tie my happiness to how my body looks.

Yoga is about coming to a place of clarity and understanding that we are more than this physical body whose natural course is to change over time. We grasp that our “life” is something much deeper than “I am old” or “I am overweight”. Then, the decisions we make start to reflect that clarity.

For me, the process of moving from making decisions solely based upon my life situation to those informed by purusa has not been easy. With consistent yoga practice and study over time, along with faith and the support of others, I find it a bit easier to trust in my higher self and am more aware of where my actions are based.

When we make decisions from a place of clarity, with a sense of peace, and a “settled heart,” then our outcomes are almost always positive. This is when we rest in purusa. This is when we are living our life.

 

Coming Home

Elizabeth Advice, Health, Mindset , , ,
Red Flower image

Red Flower image

I just got off the phone with my dear friend and fellow yoga teacher Lynne Graham. Some of you may remember Lynne from the lovely practices she taught the Yoga for Wise Women class as she was completing her teacher training.

Lynne is one of those people who continues to learn about and delve more and more deeply into the study of yoga. In our conversation, she explained she has come to see problems that arise in life as opportunities to motivate further study of yoga, knowing the philosophy and practices of yoga hold insights and healing for challenges we experience. It is a way to approach positively what might have felt like a large obstacle.

As she labored over planning for a yoga class, Lynne explained, she decided to give up her usual routine of drinking coffee, recognizing that coffee was not helping her, and perhaps making the planning process more difficult.

I understood exactly how unfocused the mind can become after having too much caffeine. Rather than connecting more deeply with the tasks at hand, my mind is on caffeine is like a fly, buzzing here and there, landing briefly, then buzzing off to alight on another thought. Even without caffeine, I have found myself, from time to time, distracted, thinking answers to my problem lie outside myself – in a book, if I find the right page, in notes if I can only find them, in a website – any place other than within me. This kind of search is usually fruitless, just another distraction, really, from focusing on what I need to do.

Breaking from her coffee routine, Lynne decided instead to do some chanting, a breathing practice, and meditation. What she found was that this new approach yielded a focus, a certainty of direction for the class she would be teaching.

Her insight – beyond the immediate planning for her class – was to realize she already had the knowledge she needed. And, the way to access that knowledge was to make space to go within. This is the intention of our yoga practice: letting go of the distractions of the mind. In doing so we can come to see ourselves more clearly. In observing ourselves with greater clarity, we come to know ourselves, which is the goal of yoga.

Our yoga practice, done over time consistently, illuminates a path leading us to look within. It is where we can find answers, as well as peace, and faith. It is a going home.

Thank you, Lynne, for this reminder.

The Anniversary Tree

Elizabeth Advice, Seasons , , ,
The Anniversary Tree

The Anniversary Tree

Last Sunday my husband, Jim, and I celebrated our twenty-ninth anniversary. We had married the end of April as I had wanted a spring date, thinking it the perfect time to start something new.

On the day of our wedding, my brother-in-law and family brought us a young weeping cherry tree and planted it in our back yard. Each year since, we eagerly have awaited the knots of delicate pink blooms as if they were our anniversary gift.

But over the years the tree has waned, the blossoms fewer and the number of barren branches growing. We consulted an arborist and fed the tree to improve its vigor. We had years when we thought it looked hardier, and some when we were certain it was in its last season.

After the cold winter last year, the tree failed to blossom at all, the buds tight before turning to leaves. My mind is good at wandering to seek meaning or read a sign into such events. So you can imagine the fears raised by our anniversary tree’s absence of blooms.

Not knowing what to expect of the tree his year, we were full of hope for its rebirth as pink buds covered the branches. Our hopes were met with a number of knots of pink blossoms, even more lovely as goldfinches sat among them, waiting a turn for sunflower seeds. Even so, most buds remain tightly closed and many branches barren. Much will go when we prune the dead wood.

Sometimes we have things in our lives we cling to as they represent something important, something deeply significant and dear. We become so attached that to let go feels almost like a betrayal. In the case of our anniversary tree, as it blossomed it reminded us of our pledge to one another, our relationship. To see the tree age and fade reminded us not only of our own mortality, but also of the fragility of relationship.

I know we will miss our tree when we finally take it down. As with so many things now gone, we will still talk about it, perhaps frame a picture. But there comes a time to let go, to make room for something new.

Already we talk about replacing our wedding tree with something strong and hardy. Perhaps a red bud. And we don’t need to have a big tree, thinking we may not have the years it might take to grow it full and large. As I told Jim, instead we will plant with faith in something new to come. And, also hold in memory the starting point of something lovely, beloved.

Heart of Yoga

Elizabeth Informational , , ,

The yoga I practice, train in, and teach adapts to the need of the individual – no matter age or condition.

Spring Flower

What yoga promises is a chance for transformation – to have a life of greater peace, joy, and freedom from self-defeating attitudes and behaviors. How this happens is through our personal practice, done over time, with a positive attitude.

But how do we know what we need to practice? What is it we need to work on? What patterns and actions block our way to positive change? For this we need guidance to focus on what is limiting our growth, to practice utilizing the appropriate tools of yoga for our situation, and to sustain us in our goal.

To have a practice we can turn to that fits into our life, that supports our bodies, minds, and emotional lives, and that helps us grow, we need the help of a teacher. My job as a yoga teacher is threefold. First, it is to hold up a mirror to help you see where you may have patterns and behaviors you may even be unconscious of that may be causing you problems. Second, I work with you to design a practice you can do on your own using the appropriate tools of yoga to support you in creating positive change. Third, I am available to continue to work with you to make changes in the practice and give you feedback, as needed and/or desired.

When you contact me for a private session, I will ask you to complete a confidential health form, which provides a starting point for our initial conversation. Our conversation allows us to begin to build a relationship and establish goals for the practice. I guide you in a practice to be sure you can do it on your own at home. Then I draw up the practice for you to refer to at home, or, if you bring a recording device, I will record the practice for you. Usually we set up another time to meet so I can observe you in the practice and make any changes needed.

My goal is to empower you to take the tools of yoga into your life to discover something new. I guarantee you will find something. And, you will not be alone.

INDIVIDUALIZED YOGA PRACTICE –
SPRING SPECIAL

3 CLASSES FOR THE PRICE OF 2: $140 (NORMALLY $210)

To set up appointment for your individualized yoga practice or for more information, please contact:
Elizabeth Terry
717-645-0067 or
eterryyoga@gmail.com

Seeing

Elizabeth Advice, Knowledge , , , , ,

Tomato Horn Worm LarveToday 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.

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Yoga and Religion

Elizabeth Current Events, Education , ,

Young Person YogaOn July 2 a San Diego County Superior Court Judge, John Meyer, ruled that the teaching of yoga was not religious indoctrination as taught in the yoga programs in Encinitas, California schools. As a result, the Encinitas schools can continue to teach yoga to its students.

The ruling is the result of a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the parents of two children attending Encinitas schools. The suit maintained that the teaching of yoga in the Encinitas schools violated a provision of state law outlawing religious teachings in public schools.

The question of whether yoga teaches a particular religious agenda has been raised before, mainly by various Christian denominations objecting especially to chanting and meditation, which they perceive as advancing Hinduism.

In his book Religiousness in Yoga, TKV Desikachar takes up the question of yoga and religion.

Although yoga has its source in Indian thought, it neither dictates that a Hindu must practice it nor that a non-Hindu is prohibited from such practice. Yoga is universal in that it is the means to attain a desired new condition. If we want to be happier and we find the means to that happiness, that is yoga.

Yoga is one of six darsana or schools of thought offering ways of seeing and knowing our selves more deeply. It is rooted in the Vedas, an ancient record of Indian culture. The Yoga Sutra, as the most important work on yoga teachings, is about the mind and how we may come to a calmer, more focused mind. To do this we might have already a belief in a Higher Power, but it is not required. Or if we find as our mind becomes more peaceful that we want to use that peacefulness to draw closer to a Higher Power, we may choose to do that. However a person perceives that Higher Power is up to each individual.

The LA Times reported the Superintendent of Encinitas schools saw the yoga program as “worthwhile in teaching healthy exercise and eating habits,” and “he hopes that teaching yoga to students will decrease instances of fight and bullying.” For those of us who practice yoga, we can cheer on this program, knowing from our own experience the change that is possible.

Unfortunately, we probably have not heard the end of this case, as an appeal is likely. But it is worth leaving you to ponder Judge Meyer’s thoughts on yoga to ponder: “Yoga as it has developed in the last 20 years is rooted in American culture, not Indian culture…It is a distinctly American cultural phenomenon.”

If you have any thoughts on this case or Judge Meyer’s thoughts on yoga, please leave a comment.

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