Further discussion on freedom from suffering by "Cultivating the Opposite", Pratipaksa Bhavana

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.

Cultivating freedom from suffering through Pratikpaksa Bhavana

"Yoga starts not only with the analysis of sorrow  

but also helps trace the root cause of sorrow."  

- BKS Iyengar, Astadala Yogamala, Vol.1

According to Yoga Philosophy, there are five klesas or afflictions that cause suffering that is either seen or unseen. First is avidya, ignorance, followed by asmita, egoism, raga, attachment, devesa, aversion and abhinivesa, clinging to life. BKS Iyengar states the afflictions 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.

I am going to focus on the third affliction Raga or attachment. It's all about what we want to have or hold.  It's about desire or expectation and the afflicted thinking that results. According to Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 2.33 Vitarkabadhane pratipaksa bhavanam, when we have what BKS Iyengar describes as an "arousal of thoughts" or Vitarka Badhane, we have to Pratipaksa Bhavanam. We have to counter that brain activity by contemplating what the heck is going on in there and doing the opposite.

Oscillating ruminations from lusting after or afraid of losing something or someone, expecting a raise to just being attached to a particular outcome in your yoga practice all cause endless suffering. They can only be countered by stepping away and getting a different perspective. As systematically stated in Patanjali's next Sutra 2.34. Vitarka Himsadayah Krta Daritanumodita Lobha Drodha Moha Purvaka Mrdu Madhyadhimatra Duhkhajnanananta Phala Iti Pratipaksa Bhavanam.  Iyengar explains this as "Pain are of three degrees - mild, medium and intense, caused by three types of behavior - direct indulgence, provoked and abetted. They are motivated by greed, anger, and delusion, and they have to be countered and corrected with right knowledge and behavior."

Jaganath Carrera's Inside the Yoga Sutras: A Comprehensive Sourcebook for the Study & Practice of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras explains that the path of yoga isn't for "passive bystanders on the sidelines of life." If we are striving to be free from the destructive tendencies (read afflictions) of the human condition to gain any semblance of a state of peace and tranquility, then we have to work hard to counter our 'unbridled' thoughts. 

Destructive thinking can become like an endless tornado. It spirals downward and takes us and everything else in its path with it. Therefore, we must understand the imperative to stop it. To stop it, we must make a habit of Pratipaksa Bhavanam, cultivate the opposite of harmful or destructive thinking.   

It's mentioned twice in Patanjali's pithy 196 sutras. Perhaps that's because it plays an important role in the what he deems the ultimate goal of Yoga: Citta Vrtti Nirodha, the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.  BKS Iyengar describes as "the cessation of all forms of thinking, whether internal or external, that sprout with or without volition."  

Our thoughts have the power to create or destroy. We want to counter negative thinking with positive thoughts. Ultimately, we don't want to allow a tornado of thoughts to begin at all so we can be free of them and create peace. First, we have to be a witness to our thoughts and actions. We have to begin to recognize how they are affecting us and those around us. From there, we can begin to cultivate right thoughts and actions. Yes, it's a lot easier said than done. But my teachers and mentors continue to stress Sutra 2.21 Tivrasamveganam Asannah, which Iyengar translates as, "The goal is near for those who are supremely vigorous and intense in practice."

I may be an idealist, but I believe we can change. However, I'm smart enough to know change takes a lot of effort. Oddly enough, most of us will avoid that effort and choose to endure unbelievable amounts of suffering instead. Some of us don't see the problem has anything to do with us (it's something or someone out there causing all my suffering). Transformation can't happen without first acknowledging our thoughts and actions have something to do with it.

Chip Hartranft in his book The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, A New Translation and Commentary says we've all developed bad habits in our thoughts and actions that we cling to because they are what seem to define us somehow. Therefore, we need a systematic way to purify our thoughts so that we can be free from suffering. He says, "The central human wisdom Patanjali teaches us, is that a pure awareness resides, impervious, at the core of each and every kind of sensation, thought, and feeling, whether we see it (vidya) or not (avidya). And the route to knowing this wisdom fully is yoga." I just wonder how much suffering do we all have to endure and cause others before we recognize it and decide it's time to learn how to stop it?

Getting to the heart of language and intent: Valentine's Weekend Iyengar Teacher Training with Kathleen Pringle

Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland character the March Hare inspired the ubiquitously quotable line 'Say what you mean and mean what your say'. Of course, how often do we say what we mean? We usually discover if we did or didn't by the outcome, right? Did you get the action or reaction that you wanted?

Language is a powerful tool; however, it can become a heavy and superfluous appendage to inter-relational effort when used carelessly. Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training is not like any other kind of  education. I recommend it for reasons that go far beyond a desire to teach yoga. Learning discrimination and refinement in our speech is an invaluable skill, and it's an enormous part of Iyengar Teacher Training. BKS Iyengar set up a system of teaching the mind and body through the science of yoga that is designed to work on us synchronistically from the outside inward.

"Yoga releases the creative potential of Life. It does this by establishing a structure for self realization [...].  The Light that yoga sheds on Life is something special.  It is transformative. It does not just change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees. It brings knowledge and elevates it to wisdom."  --BKS Iyengar, Light on Life

Kathleen Pringle has helped transform innumerable Iyengar students into more self-realized individuals and certified teachers. The Valentine's Weekend Teacher Training paired introductory level teachers with junior level teachers. What is so unusual about this particular pairing is an innate sense of respect for each other and openness to learning. Iyengar Teacher Certification involves a lot of training, even Introductory Level teachers usually have a solid number of them under their belt, and they still may not be Certified Iyengar teachers. Junior Level teachers are veteran learners. They always come with a beginner's mind. In this atmosphere, there is a comfort level that allows organic exposure of what needs attention. While the training involved lessons on a myriad of details in teaching and questions on syllabi covering a total of over 90 poses, Kathleen often brought it back to our words.

'Do your words follow your intent? The idea came up not only with our teaching, where we would use confusing words to solicit an action, but also in our general questions. When someone articulated a question, it would seem clear at first what was being asked; however, Kathleen helped us understand how it could be interpreted in various ways. While it could be just "a matter of semantics," it's important to see how the subtle differences in language can create confusion. The amazing caliber of learners in our group allowed the possible interpretations to be aired freely. The more I listened to the banter the more I learned about the imperative for clarity.

Having the opportunity to take classes and train with Kathleen on a regular basis, I have slowly  begun to develop an ear for the care she takes with her words. She has studied the words of BKS and his daughter, Geeta intently. She knows words are not thrown around lightly in Iyengar Yoga. They are carefully said or written to bring Light. Every word matters. When the words change, there's a reason. Developing a refined sense of what we want to say is a constant challenge.  However, discrimination and wisdom with our words keep teachers from becoming white noise in the heads of our students.

Interestingly, I experienced something like this firsthand today, albeit in reverse. I had to finish some copy for a project and a woman who is renting a room in my house temporarily stayed home.  Her job involves calling film production people, and though she worked in her room with the door closed, her voice carried. I found it impossible to work, so I had to leave and go to a coffee shop.  It struck me how I could work undisturbed in such a crowded place. I texted Rusty Cobb, a music producer who works with sound regularly, and I asked him how I could write at Aurora Coffee with all the noise and not at home with one voice talking?  He said, "It's all about clarity." Unbeknownst to my roommate (who is wonderful, by the way) her singular voice resonated clearly throughout the house.

Clarity gets our attention. Kathleen said in an earlier training that clarity can also come through the quality of our voice. Our tone plays a large role as well.  The dynamics of the voice can become like a prop to our students to encourage, motivate, and keep them safe. In teacher training, Kathleen also made a point that to be clear doesn't always mean we have to use words. There is power in silence. When we demonstrate observable actions without words, it becomes another language (think sign language), and the eyes, not the ears form the impression.

Patanjali, credited for codifying the art, science, and philosophy of yoga through his 196 Sutras or aphorisms also wrote a commentary on the importance of purifying our speech and grammar. The American Sanskrit Institute says on their website, "Patanjali so perfectly captured the essence of yoga in his Sūtras that there is virtually no difference between theory and practice. The text is the practice."

Yoga develops the discrimination and wisdom that brings about lucidity in our thoughts and gives us more precision in our words. Iyengar Yoga offers a systematic way for that evolution to happen. Refining our speech is what will create the educational system, the neighborhood, the community, the business, the government, the city, the state, the world --the life we want.

In my opinion, it's a skill worth learning.

Namaste.


A big thank you to Kathleen Pringle for her time and insights. The tips on teaching inversions are invaluable. I'd also like to thank Nancy Mau for coming in on her anniversary and demonstrating exemplary teaching under our curious microscope.  Finally, I want thank my training peers, who will always and forever be my teachers, too.


*Source:  Yoga Sutras, The Practice by Vyaas Houston, M.A.
                http://www.americansanskrit.com/yoga-sutra-article

Happy Valentines Day To My Son

                                                                                                         February 14, 2015

Dear Cole,

I fell in love with you even before the tests proved you were there. Your dad and I had been creating TV, radio and print campaigns for years.  However, you will always be the greatest show of our creative abilities. They don’t give out ADDY’s or One Shows for that, but we didn’t care. Something bigger than fame, success, and ambition was developing. I felt an immediate connection.  You did make me sick at first, which made hiding your existence a little difficult. Not that we didn’t want to shout the fact from the rooftops. Your dad and I changed jobs to lower the stress of our work so that it wouldn’t affect your development. We wanted you in our lives. I talked to you every day. I read to you, too.  I couldn’t wait to meet you. You took your time. I waited weeks past your due date.  That was a bit too long. Luckily, we were in the right place at the right time, and though you came into this world with great urgency, you landed safely.  I will always be grateful for that.

Every parent I know describes feeling a love like they’ve never felt before.  It is amazing to me how every babble, blink, burp, or bm was a wondrous event. Reading “Pat The Bunny” to you again and again and again and again and again never seemed to bore me. A Blues fan from the beginning, the music that would settle you was The Cobra Record Story. I know every word of every song by heart. I even made up my own songs to the rhythms of those like,  “You get fussy at four, but I just love you more.” 

You smiled from day one.  Even though you had colic, and your system was very distressed, you could always summon a smile between pains. In fact, I’ll never forget we were in the doctors because you were running a fever, you were maybe 4 or 5 months and your dad started playing with you and your belly laughed so hard.  Here we were in the doctors because you were sick, and this infectious laughter came out of you for the first time.

Your whole being seemed to emanate joy. If you missed a day at daycare, the teachers would say that the children didn’t eat as well. Apparently, you walked around the tables and made sure every child “ate their colors”.  When I would pick you up you would squeal in delight. It thrilled me while at the same time making me aware of how much I wanted to be home with you. We decided to give it a try. 

I stopped working full-time and went freelance. That meant sometimes you sat quietly at my feet and played in the recording studio and occasionally, I’d have to take you to meetings. One meeting, while I looked for an address at King Plow, you decided to climb into the fountain to try to catch a fish. Luckily, your diaper held up to that; even the fish survived. When I brought you to New York while I helped Ogilvy & Mather with a client pitch, we spent a weekend at an Ashram. I remember you were pretty much potty trained by the end of it. Running around diaper-less long enough to discover the wonders of being a boy and urinating outside worked like a charm.

At home, the bottom drawers in the kitchen were all yours. However, the idea of sharing came innately to you.  One night we were all watching a movie, and you went to the kitchen, climbed up on a chair and got three plums.  You walked back and handed one to me, one to your dad, and kept one for yourself. You were like a magic fairy enchanting us all.  Of course, I do have fond memories of you utilizing the concept of sharing as a negotiating tool to get what you wanted as well,  “Mommy, would you like a popsicle?

Your first haircut, your first day at school, your first best friend, your first band concert, your first play, your first jujitsu competition, your first big idea, your first love, your first car drive – are all still vivid in my mind. Our first big trip together was to Paris. At only 11 or 12, you enjoyed going to museums and seemed so taken by the artwork. Your favorite at the time was Rodin. Getting the chance to see just how many times he sculpted a hand or foot to “get it right” fascinated us both. For your high school graduation trip, we went to Seville. It was such fun, from witnessing the passion behind the art, dance, and other crafts of the area to giggling over “monkey butt” remedies. Our most recent trip to India seemed daunting compared to our other excursions. I felt less in control on many levels. It became a demarcation line marking your independence. Though you’d already gone to college at Clemson, our trip made it clear to me that you were now your own man. I attended the Geeta Iyengar Birthday Yoga Intensive, and you found a Sitar teacher to study something you wanted to learn. Our days held vastly different experiences, but in the evenings we would share them along with an adventure together at a restaurant, a cave or museum. However, our connection felt more like two adults than mother and son.

Needless to say, it’s still an adjustment for me. We did do a few walkabouts together in India, and I cherish those. They have been our ritual since you were very little. Our first ones began as an adventure and a time to use our imaginations. We created a parade of dinosaurs that followed us. Every walk we made up fun stories where a dinosaur got out of line or had an issue where we helped them. When you got older, our talks changed. You shared your ideas about a software company, which you later began in 5th or 6th grade developing software games. You told me about your ideas for inventions for everything from cars and rail systems to an intriguing plan for a better educational system (one that teaches based on the student and not a one-size-fits-all curriculum - I wish you had that available to you now). 

I’ve watched you become such an amazing guy. You have an analytical mind, a creative soul, and a warm heart. You have so many talents you enjoy already from barista, banjo, guitar, and sitar playing to cooking inventive gourmet. I know that no matter what you do or where you go you will make a difference in the lives you touch.

My most profound moment with you was when you were just a toddler and unfortunately caught me crying after I’d experienced a great loss. You patted my knee and said, “Mommy, don’t lose yourself.  Don’t lose yourself.” You were only two and a half and your wise words resonated so strongly with me, I shifted immediately to a better place. For that reason, every Valentines Day I want to send those beautiful words back to you. Don’t ever lose yourself, because as you can see you are a precious, magical soul, my dear King Cole and you are loved very much.   

Happy Valentines Day! 

Love, Mom 

                                                                                                                          

Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions by Applying Constant Abhyāsa and Tapas

"The yogi knows the paths to ruin or of salvation lie within himself." - BKS Iyengar Light on Yoga.

As the new year gets underway, our resolutions begin to wane. As stated in the January 28, 2015 article in Women's Health entitled "Beware: The Date Most People Ditch Their New Year's Resolutions to Eat Healthy is almost here," by Ashley Oerman.  Oerman says, according to data collected by GrubHub, February 2nd is the day keeping your healthy eating resolutions begin to get more difficult. 

I'm guessing healthy exercise initiatives get more difficult after the first week in January. We are all gung-ho in the beginning. We inevitably push too hard and end up with aches or pains that give us the perfect excuse to take a day or two to rest. A day or two turns into three or four and before you know it, you are on the couch with a bag of potato chips. 

We are all familiar with Newton's first law of motion:  "A body at rest stays at rest, and a body in motion stays in motion, unless acted on by an external force; inertia is the direct result."* Keeping that New Year's Resolution momentum means staying in motion. Perhaps in yoga we'd say the key to that is mastering our ability to deal with our state of consciousness, which is based on a predominance of one of three attributes or guṇās.

In yogic philosophy, the three guṇās or qualities: rajas (firey, mobile, active), tamas (dark, inert, retraining), sattva (illuminating, clear, serene) have a direct effect on the quality of our physical state. For example, if we have a dominance of tamas, we are dominated by a heavy earthiness, laziness, inactivity, delusion, and torpor. In such a case, moving from a resting state is quite a feat. However, remember Newton's law. Once even a tamasic person begins to move, they can keep moving. In yoga, we know to keep our tamasic nature moving we have to apply constant abhyāsa, practice and tapas or discipline.

According to BKS Iyengar in Light on Yoga, the student "...learns which thoughts, words, and actions are prompted by tamas and which by rajas. With unceasing effort [the sadhaka, student] weeds out and eradicates such thoughts as are prompted by tamas and [...] works to achieve a sattvika frame of mind. When the sattva-guṇā alone remains, the human soul has advanced a long way towards the ultimate goal.  Like unto the pull of gravity is the pull of the guṇās. As intensive research and rigorous discipline are needed to experience the wonder of weightlessness in space, so also a searching self-examination and discipline furnished by Yoga is needed by a sadhaka to experience union with the creator of space when he is freed from the pull of the guṇās."

As one of my teachers, Kquvien DeWeese says, "don't give up on yourself." Keep your goals in motion by ridding yourself of inhibiting thoughts, words, actions, and 'external forces'.  

Namaste.

*Source: Boundless. “The First Law: Inertia.” Boundless Physics. Boundless, 14 Nov. 2014. Retrieved 07 Feb. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/physics/textbooks/boundless-physics-textbook/the-laws-of-motion-4/newton-s-laws-46/the-first-law-inertia-236-10947/