Challenge

Learning to Fly

Through instinct and practice we learn to walk, just as a bird learns to fly. Just as we cannot walk right away, many birds cannot fly right away and must wait for their muscule structure to develop but in order to survive learning to fly is envitable.

As a baby bird takes its first leap into the air, they are not overcome by fear and merely, awkward as it may be, are following their instincts. Since fear is a learned behaviour, a baby bird does not yet know to be afraid of jumping off the edge, as they watch their siblings take that leap and their parents flying overhead they know that that is what they are supposed to do. With many hard falls from nest to ground followed by an even longer journey home, the bird begins to learn, through their challenges and dissappointment, the mechanics of flight.

Day 29: Learning to Fly {Source: http://games-strike.com/games/577/learn-to-fly.aspx}

As they continue to practice, their falls to the ground become more controlled and with a little encouragement from their folks, they begin to leave the nest for longer periods of time as they learn more advanced techiniques on how to utilize the wind and begin to control their landings. Eventually all of these tools become instinictual and requires no thought or analyzation on how to get from Point A to Point B.

As we watch a bird soaring through the sky, and a few flaps of their wings as they play in the wind, diving and circling around we think how wonderful it would be to be able to fly.

In yoga, arm balances are often referred to as our chance to “fly.” But unlike a baby bird, many of us, for years have developed a fear of stepping outside our comfort zone. A birds body is made to fly, just like ours is made to walk. They are able to use their lungs, and their pectoral muscles to float through the air as the air below them keeps them afloat.

Our years of overdevelopment of fear causes us to be afraid to fall, afraid to learn through trial and error, whether from embarrasement or the determined words “I can’t do it!” As we watch the people beside us, with ease, jump into crow or handstand or even bird of paradise and stare in amazement “how do they do that?” 

To start, let go of the fear! Let go of the fear of falling on your face, you probably will at one point or another, probably in front of a room of people. It’s OKAY! Everybody else in the room was there at one point or will be in the future. Use your falls as way to learn what NOT to do next time. We learn to let go of fear and learn lessons from the challenges or falls every day, whether its taking a chance on a relationship and then learning from the mistakes to not repeat them in your next relationship or getting in front of a crowd of hundreds to speak.  Fear is constantly with us! Yoga Journal has a great article on the “Fear of Falling” and says;

“it’s time to consider another necessary ingredient for progress: mental discipline. Just as much as you’ll be excited by your first successes, you’ll be deeply frustrated and discouraged by your failures. Arm balances are therefore the perfect poses to practice persistence in the face of challenge, as well as non-attachment to the fruits of your labors.”

While I’m no expert on arm balances and continue to tackle this “fear of flying”, I’ve slowly come to realize that it is really only fear that is holding me back. If I take a deep breath, and not worry if I fall on my face and who sees me, it makes Bakasana that much easier to get into and perhaps even hold for a few breaths but there are still the days when my fear wins and I can’t for the life of me even take one foot of the floor. It’s an ongoing battle, this fear and me, I know it exists and try with every effort to bring it out in the open. Some days I win, some days the fear wins, but knowing that it exists is the first step to letting it go.

{source: http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-birds-learn-how-to-fly.htm)}

Chataranga Dandasana

My subject today is the dreaded chatarunga (dreaded by me, anyway).

Source: yogaflavoredlife.com

We all have poses that teach us about our limitations. For many people these are poses like paschimottanasana or other hamstring zingers. But there is the other side– the upper body strength poses– like chataranga. I have been blessed with flexible, long hamstring muscles, which makes yoga much “easier” for me. So my challenges are different. I can find full hanumanasana on some days, but I cannot do a sun salutation!

Chataranga continues to elude me.

I do yoga because of how it makes me feel, because of how it allows me to be in the world– the freedom I get from my practice both in my life and in my body. But there is a part of me that would like to be able to do a vinyasa properly. So I get up every morning and do my yoga and muddle through my vinyasas. My difficulty with chatarunga teaches me to be humble and to continue to experiment in my own body.

Strength and ease in chatarunga is different for me than it is in other postures, but just as worthwhile to explore. Every vinyasa is an opportunity to laugh at myself and let go of any expectations that I have. I aspire to do the pose like this guy:

Source: blog.ricecracker.net

Uncovering the Internal Drishti

As we stand in Vrksasana (tree pose), our bodies waver back and forth, our gaze turns to those beside or in front of us and we stumble and fall. Teachers remind us to find our “drishti point”, a focal point, to help with our strength and stability in a balancing posture and a way to bring our focus on ourselves instead of others around you. A Drishti point, is so beneficial to us in our balancing postures, allowing us to have that little extra stability that we need to get through, but how else can a Drishti help us?

{Source: http://most-interesting-pictures.blogspot.com}

Our eyes are one of our most powerful senses, giving us the ability to see the world the way we want, the colours, the shapes but are also, for many of us, a doorway to our soul. Our eyes control our brains, enhance our ability to concentrate and based on how the eyes “see things” we alter our emotions. When we want to be sincere, or show our concern or cares for another, we look them in the eyes. It is difficult for our eyes to hide our feelings or our emotions when they have the capacity to smile and show sadness.

Our Drishti can be in the literal sense, that spot on the floor or the mark on the wall that helps us to stay strong and focused on our balance postures, or the figurative sense; that point that is inside of us, our centre, our inner truth, our third eye point (Ajna) . But what does it all mean?

As you delve into your yoga practice you begin to hear more and more about inner truths, centres, still points that sometimes leave us wondering “what are you talking about?”  But ultimately causing us to take a bigger look at ourselves, who we are and what we want to be and how we see the world around us. This can be overwhelming and a huge lesson as we begin to take a deeper look at how our internal drishti changes based on our perceptions as we try to find “balance” in it all.

So, what do we do? While training our minds to find this drishti point during our yoga practice can sometimes offer a challenge as our curiousity about others gets the best of us, it is even harder to find this internal drishti. How do we deal with what is there, what if we don’t like what we see, how do we change what we don’t like?

First off, nothing is a bad as it seems, our minds have a way of telling us that things are worse than they actually are, since our minds are ruled by our emotions. For many of us, we may learn a lot about how we interact with the world, and how others can be cruel and unkind to others that perhaps we never really noticed before. This internal drishti will ultimately change how we interact with those around us and cause us to associate with those with similar qualities and let go of the ones in our lives that don’t. We may come across our inner truth that what we are doing and how we are living our lives is not what we really want, its not our dharma.

The internal drishti can uncover a “wow” moment or a “what am I doing” moment but whatever comes up take a deep breathe! Look at what you want to see and where you want to be, what little things can you change to ultimately live the life you imagine? How can you make small changes in your life to be kinder to those around you, to make a difference in somebody else’s life and in by doing so making a difference in your own life? Don’t be afraid of what you uncover, it is there to help you, to make you even happier and even to learn a thing or two. Remember, the simplest thing to bring even more happiness into your life and those around you is to smile!

What have you uncovered about yourself in your yoga practice and what did you end up doing to make a change?

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

I have been doing a lot of hard (power) yoga classes. My yoga practice has been really strong. If I don’t press up into urdhva dhanurasana (wheel) at least once per class then I don’t feel as though I’ve really been on my mat. Which is wonderful. My practice is whatever I need it to be– when I need to work hard, I work hard, and when I need to rest, I rest. Wanting to be “better” at yoga than I am is not one of the ego problems that I am working on– or if it is, it’s at the bottom of the list.

So I’ve been sweating it out. And I feel great.

I’ve always been attracted to a powerful style of yoga practice, and vinyasa is what makes my heart sing. But for years I took it easy because of injury. I’ve been taking little forays into power classes and staying there longer and longer (which means 5 or 6 classes a week for me right now– I work from home).

Source: penelopesoasis.com

What I’ve found is that instead of working harder, I’m actually letting go more, finding ways to float through my practice. My body is strong and knows where to go, but it’s more that I’m training my mind to flow. The other day I tried Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana (two legged inverted staff pose) for the first time. Instead of thinking “there’s no way I can do that”, I thought “why not?” It wasn’t easy, but it felt easy.

Of course training my mind is a lot harder than training my body. But little by little I make progress.

Little by little I let go when it counts.

Oh Lordy, Yoga For Forty Part 3

wellsphere.com

When dressing for work, I noticed my pants’ zipper went up a little easier. Really? I thought. So I did what I very rarely do…I went to the mirror. Oh… what the hell. I lifted each arm and flexed my biceps – whoa, they look bigger. Not bulky, just leaner. One could call them pipes.

Pleased with my results, I lifted my pant legs to my knees, turned around, looked over my shoulder back into the mirror, and went up onto my tiptoes. I have calve muscles? And they’re defined?

Then, I went there. Hesitantly, but I was on a roll. I lifted my shirt to just above my hips and went for a grab at the sides of my waist – the forbidden exposure of the muffin-top. I couldn’t grab as much as usual…I couldn’t grab as much as usual! I have less to grab there! I would’ve never thought.

Running upstairs is easier and I sit up straighter. I can finally relax my shoulders more and touching my toes is a breeze. I feel more comfortable in spandex, less concerned about my future, and just plain better all around.

Sure, on April 21st, that final fortieth day after my fortieth class, I went home with a list of things I had to catch up on. My taxes, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping – the usual. I went away for the weekend and gave my body a long rest. But it felt weird. My joints were cracking, my neck stiffening, and my shoulders tensing. I need yoga. I miss yoga, my Kula. So after getting out of my yogic routine, I now cannot wait to get back into one…not every day, but steadily.

For some, forty days of yoga is minimal and part of their regular practice. For me, it was a challenge. A real challenge with much dedication and motivation needed along the way. But I did it and so did many others and it makes the daily challenges in life seem a little more bearable.

After all, if we can hold chair pose every day for forty days and come out feeling strong, I’m convinced we can handle most uncomfortable situations patiently with focus and come out stronger. All it takes is movement, momentum, and breathing. As one of my favourite teacher’s Ara Cusack always says at the end of each of her classes, “remembering that’s all that it takes.” I now understand what she means. Namaste.

Yoga Aid Challenge In Vancouver

For the first time in Canada, Yoga Aid is happening in Vancouver, BC (among other cities) on Saturday, September 18th – at Jericho Park.

The Challenge is a special, 2 hour yoga practice held in hundreds of locations worldwide. The Vancouver event will bring together Vancouver’s leading Yoga leaders including Alli Warnyca, Andrea Spiegel, Daniel Clement, Danielle Mika Nagel, Eoin Finn, Erica Blitz, Kristin Campbell and Nico Luce. Registration from 8.00, the Challenge begins at 9am.

By registering for an event near you, you are helping to create strong communities based on giving. Practicing with some of most influential yogis is an added bonus!

The event is free but the Challenge is to fundraise for their Canadian charity partners:

There’s still time to register! Click here.

Are YOU attending this Saturday at Jericho?

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