In my last blog, I explored the idea of pratipakṣa bhāvanā, "cultivating the opposite". I talked about the importance of using this concept to counter the afflicted acts or thoughts that keep us in an endless cycle of suffering. The klesas or afflictions are avidya, ignorance, followed by asmita, egoism, raga, attachment, devesa, aversion and abhinivesa, clinging to life. I focused mainly on raga or attachment.
In an effort to deepen our understanding of how to use this new counteracting tool, lets look at its application in prānāyāma - regulating the breath. BKS Iyengar, in Aṣṭadaḷa Yogamālā, Vol. 1 goes into great detail about witnessing the breath and noticing how we breathe without the interference of other thoughts. However, he says to do that we have to first establish silence. In the same breath, he explains that "breath stimulates and creates thoughts in the brain."
Do you notice we have two opposing things going on here? How can we find silence to breathe if breathing stimulates noise in our head? But that's life isn't it? Life is full of opposites. There's positive and negative, hot and cold, happiness and sadness, laughter and anger just to name a few. To cultivate silence in our head, we have to remember the Sutra Tivrasamveganam Asannah that Iyengar translates as, "The goal is near for those who are supremely vigorous and intense in practice."
We have to practice quieting the brain while witnessing the in-breath, the out-breath and the natural retention. If we don't discipline the brain to be quiet, it will suck all of our attention away. In my last blog, I describe a tornado of spiraling thoughts. To avoid thoughts from spiraling, the student "[...] has to learn to develop the sovereignty of intelligence and sobriety of brain so that the brain remains as a witness and not an actor. This is called pratipakṣa bhāvanā."
Once we find silence, we can begin to experience the wonders of our internal world. We can discover the origin of the in-breath. We can follow the breath and notice how one nostril or lung seems to engage in the process more than the other side. If the left side is active or pakṣa the other side is the opposite or pratipakṣa bhāvanā.
This week at Stillwater Yoga, we will be working on prānāyāma. Kathleen Pringle often asks us to notice the two opposing sides of the body as we breathe. We can strengthen the breath by bringing attention to the inactive side, which helps to balance our awareness of our breath. This is also a form of pratipakṣa bhāvanā."
Using the breath is also a good way to calm ourselves down when we are suffering deeply from any one of the five afflictions or klesas, which BKS Iyengar describes as 1. Nescience 2. Egoism 3. Attachment to lust or greed 4. Aversion, hatred or malice; and 5. Selfishness or fear of losing the joys of life. The breath enables us to step away from those negative sensations. Instead of painful noise, we cultivate silence and breath.
We build strength one breath at a time, moment by moment, countering debilitating thoughts or feelings first with the breath. We create space, silence and awareness of our internal world. It brings us closer to our true self. It gives us an ability to gain clarity --to think and act in a more positive way than ever before. I encourage you to learn about how the breath can help you develop a habit of pratipakṣa bhāvanā. It can become a strong force to fight the pains in our heart and head that keep us bound in suffering.
Namaste.
In an effort to deepen our understanding of how to use this new counteracting tool, lets look at its application in prānāyāma - regulating the breath. BKS Iyengar, in Aṣṭadaḷa Yogamālā, Vol. 1 goes into great detail about witnessing the breath and noticing how we breathe without the interference of other thoughts. However, he says to do that we have to first establish silence. In the same breath, he explains that "breath stimulates and creates thoughts in the brain."
Do you notice we have two opposing things going on here? How can we find silence to breathe if breathing stimulates noise in our head? But that's life isn't it? Life is full of opposites. There's positive and negative, hot and cold, happiness and sadness, laughter and anger just to name a few. To cultivate silence in our head, we have to remember the Sutra Tivrasamveganam Asannah that Iyengar translates as, "The goal is near for those who are supremely vigorous and intense in practice."
We have to practice quieting the brain while witnessing the in-breath, the out-breath and the natural retention. If we don't discipline the brain to be quiet, it will suck all of our attention away. In my last blog, I describe a tornado of spiraling thoughts. To avoid thoughts from spiraling, the student "[...] has to learn to develop the sovereignty of intelligence and sobriety of brain so that the brain remains as a witness and not an actor. This is called pratipakṣa bhāvanā."
Once we find silence, we can begin to experience the wonders of our internal world. We can discover the origin of the in-breath. We can follow the breath and notice how one nostril or lung seems to engage in the process more than the other side. If the left side is active or pakṣa the other side is the opposite or pratipakṣa bhāvanā.
This week at Stillwater Yoga, we will be working on prānāyāma. Kathleen Pringle often asks us to notice the two opposing sides of the body as we breathe. We can strengthen the breath by bringing attention to the inactive side, which helps to balance our awareness of our breath. This is also a form of pratipakṣa bhāvanā."
Using the breath is also a good way to calm ourselves down when we are suffering deeply from any one of the five afflictions or klesas, which BKS Iyengar describes as 1. Nescience 2. Egoism 3. Attachment to lust or greed 4. Aversion, hatred or malice; and 5. Selfishness or fear of losing the joys of life. The breath enables us to step away from those negative sensations. Instead of painful noise, we cultivate silence and breath.
We build strength one breath at a time, moment by moment, countering debilitating thoughts or feelings first with the breath. We create space, silence and awareness of our internal world. It brings us closer to our true self. It gives us an ability to gain clarity --to think and act in a more positive way than ever before. I encourage you to learn about how the breath can help you develop a habit of pratipakṣa bhāvanā. It can become a strong force to fight the pains in our heart and head that keep us bound in suffering.
Namaste.
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