practice post for 10-25

Class on Thursday was tough. Planks are not my specialty, but I do enjoy the challenge. I like being challenged to try something new. I like it when I see that my body is stronger than I think, or that it can move in a way I did not know possible. This weekend, I was thinking of how we only have 7 classes left ( :( ) and that I would like to try backbends. I don't know if my back could take it, but I am willing to try.
Speaking of my back, yoga has definitely helped ease my back pain. Usually, my back pain is just a silent, but constant struggle. I don't often mention it, but it typically hurts all the time. It has constantly been in the back of my mind for the last four years. Today, as I put on heels to wear to work (something I never even would have considered last semester) I realized that I hadn't thought about my back pain in a while. It doesn't constantly hurt anymore. I have my days, just like everyone does, but it is not that nagging, constant pain. That, for me, makes yoga a success.

Reading response 10-23

Throughout the Gita, I have found several instances where the philosophy is similar to Christian ideology. In the section we read for today, chapter 8-10, I found two examples in particular.

In chapter 9, Krishna ends by telling Arjuna, "fill your mind with me; love me; serve me; worship me always. Seeking me in your heart, you will at last be united to me" (9:34). This reminded me of Jeremiah 29:12-13 that says, "then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

Another similarity I found was in Chapter 10 in which Krishna tells Arjuna how he is in everything. He tells Arjuna that in everything he can be found. While reading this chapter, I was reminded of the book of John when Jesus says his seven I Am statements. He tells his followers that he is the bread of life (6:35), the light of the world (8:12), the gate (10:9), the good shepherd (10:11), the resurrection and the life (11:25-26), the way, the truth, and the life (14:6), the vine (15:5). The difference I found in these descriptions is that Krishna is a part of everything and Jesus is separate. Krishna is in everything. Jesus is the point of everything, he is the path to god, but he is not in everything.

I was surprised that the Gita is very similar to a lot of Christian ideas. While reading, I thought that if I was not a follower of Christ, then I would probably follow this Hindu tradition.

reading response gita 10-18

Bhagavad Gita:
6:24. Having abandoned vain desires and conquered all the indriyas,

6:25. gradually calming the consciousness, the Yogi should study the own Essence — the Atman — without distracting thoughts to anything else! 

Yoga Sutras:

I. 12 Practice and detachment are the means to still the movements of consciousness.

I. 13 Practice is the steadfast effort to still these fluctuations

I. 14 Long, uninterrupted, alert practice is the firm foundation for restraining the    fluctuations.

I. 15 Renunciation is the practice of detachment from desires.

I. 16 The ultimate renunciation is when one transcends the qualities of nature and perceives the soul.

While reading the Bhagavad Gita, this particular section, chapter 6, reminded me of the detachment sutras we discussed in class. In this chapter, Krishna is explaining to Arjuna the benefits of self-control in yoga. He details the detachment of yoga and the benefits of doing so. This particular passage caught my eye because it explains the whole purpose of yoga. At the beginning of the sutras, the author states that we are beginning the practice of yoga in order to dwell in our own true nature. This is what Krishna is referring to with the Atman. The Atman is the soul, the seat of everyone's divine true nature. The Atman cannot be harmed, and is not directly connected to our physical bodies. This is why, when we practice yoga, learn to focus our minds, and detach from the world around us, we can learn to dwell in the Atman. I also liked that the Gita refers to it as a "study" of our own Essence and the Sutras refer to it as "perceiving" the soul. 

Practice Response 10-18-12

This week I was thankful for a class where we could request poses. I also realized that it had been a while since I had a 'normal' yoga class. The last two classes had been meditation and pranayama. It was fun to do poses and have a bit of a physical challenge.
I asked for shoulder and upper back poses. I forgot that I do not enjoy most of those! :P  My shoulders and upper back always are sore and knotted. In particular, my left shoulder hurts to the point where sometimes I feel like something is wrong with it. The poses in class left me sore, but more flexible in my upper body. I was surprised when we did bound arms pose to see how well I could do it. At the beginning of the semester I could barely grasp below my elbow. Yesterday, I was able to grasp just above my elbow on both arms. I love seeing the progress, even when I haven't been repeating that particular pose over and over. I really do feel grateful to be practicing yoga.

Reading response Gita chapters 1-2

In the beginning of the Gita, Arjuna, our hero, is faced with a moral dilemma. He is about to go into battle against his family, against the very men who made him who he is. He did not want to go against them. He was afraid of how these actions fit with him dharma and would affect him in the after life. He asks Krishna isn't there a special place in hell for people who dishonor their family? (paraphrase (: ). He is asking Krishna to help him know how this is the right thing to do. 

In my own life, I can't say I've ever been going to battle against my family, but sophomore year I did have a similar experience as Arjuna. At the beginning of Sophomore year, I was planning on leaving Baylor and transferring to another school. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Well, the school I was planning on going to was a bible school that did not offer Bachelor's degrees, only certificates. My parents were adamantly against me doing this. I can remember hours that I sat in my room turning to Jesus (my Krishna figure) and asking him what was the right answer. How was staying at Baylor, or leaving Baylor, going to be following his will and obeying God. During that time, I learned so much about what was the purpose of my life and about the commandment to honor your father and mother. Obviously, I chose to stay at Baylor and I have never regretted a moment of it. :)

practice blog

This thursday Yoga was exactly what I needed. Last week was busy and I was feeling a little overwhelmed by Thursday afternoon. I need a reprieve, a chance to focus in and forget what all was happening around me. The breathing exercises we did gave me just that. For one hour, i merely focused on my breath and the comfort of the positions we were in. I laughed at trying to do (and semi-succeeding) lotus pose. I relaxed onto my bolsters at the end and forgot about my to-do lists, the hundred things I need to do before the semester is over and focused on my breath. In and out. In and out. In and out.

practice post

This has been a rough week for me ever since yoga Tuesday. I am incredibly sore in my legs and groin from the stretches we did. My back has also been hurting, i think because of the soreness and tightness in my legs. I was actually sad that we didn't have yoga on Thursday because I knew that it would help with the soreness. When I don't do yoga, I see the effects that doing the practice has on my body. I was busy yesterday and unable to do home practice, but I wish I had. Maybe this weekend I will spend some time doing some poses at home.

waking post 3

As I finish reading Waking by Matthew Sanford, I am overwhelmed with emotion. I know that this sounds dramatic, but if you read it, I am sure that you know the feeling.  I am finding it hard to express in words the emotions that are coursing through me at the moment. I wish that my sentences would flow the way Sanford’s do. His writing, even his prose, is poetry. It is beautiful, melodic and captivating. Reading about the death of a child was raw, painful, and beautiful. He captures his feelings, the moments, the whispered words and silent thoughts. I felt as if I was in the room with him and Jennifer, allowed a glimpse into the most painful and wonderful time of their lives. I am grateful for the way that he opens the doorway of his life to his reader. Sanford holds nothing back; every emotion, good and bad, are laid out for the reader to examine. He bares his soul to the reader. Because of that, this book was more than I expected. I anticipated a boring book about yoga, maybe with some interesting facts about the recovery from a paralyzing trauma. Sanford delivered so much more.

            Silence. This is a word used frequently throughout the book by Sanford. This is the word Sanford uses to describe the lack of feeling in the bottom two-thirds of his body. Silence is what Sanford must come to terms with and also learns to listen through.  For years after his accident, the Silence falls to the background; it becomes the fate of his life. His body will live in Silence for the rest of his life. This is what the doctors tell him. Never will he be in contact with his body again. This is the lie that Sanford is trapped in for years. Not until he begins the practice of yoga does the idea that he can “feel” his body even enter his mind. He is surprised to learn that he can do things with his lower half that he never thought possible.  Yoga helped him hear through the Silence.

            Yoga philosophy manifests itself in this section through Sanford’s body memories and how he feels the energy passing through his paralyzed body. Sanford describes his body memories as his “body bearing witness to what [his] mind could not” (180). He describes the feelings of terror and trauma that his body “feels” from the accident in his youth. His body retained the feelings of being broken, even if he mind does not remember it.

            Sanford also describes how he can feel the energy passing through his body while he does yoga. Honestly, this concept was difficult for my mind to grasp. I cannot begin to imagine what it is like to have no feeling in your lower half, so it was difficult for me to understand how he can “feel” anything. When he talked about doing yoga backwards, I began to understand what he meant. Instead of doing a pose and then understanding how this affects his inner being, he concentrates on the energetic level of his being and then works to translate that to his physical body.

            Another important part of his yoga journey involved one of the concepts from the yoga sutras. Sanford has a large encounter with the importance of one of the limbs of the eight-fold path. Early on in his yoga practice, he gets cocky and anxious to do more. This haste, or what he calls “violence,” results in a broken femur, surgery, a metal rod in his leg, and over a year of no yoga practice. He mentions the importance of non-violence in his life. He says that the violence in his life came from an inability to fully believe what he was experiencing in yoga. In order to overcome it, he must be willing “to sit still long enough to feel the silence, to accept how vulnerable it made [him] feel, how broken” (213).

            In Iyengar’s translation of the yoga sutras (taken from the BIC yoga capstone blog) discuss non-violence in this way:

II. 34 Uncertain knowledge giving rise to violence, whether done directly or indirectly or condoned, is caused by greed, anger or delusion in mild moderate or intense degree. It results in endless pain and ignorance. Through introspection comes the end of pain and ignorance.

II. 35 When non-violence in speech, thought and action is established one’s aggressive nature is relinquished and others abandon hostility in one’s presence.

Sanford’s violence came from delusion about the condition of his body. It also came from a greedy desire to move forward too quickly. He pushed his body too far. And the result was pain and ignorance. And, through introspection, Sanford is working to overcome this violence in his life. When he chooses to sit in the silence, to face to truth of his state and learn how to “feel” in his paralyzed body, he overcomes to violence in his life. And the reward for this will be that others will approach him without hostility as well. What a beautiful representation of yoga philosophy at work.

            Overall, I loved this book, in case my posts did not say that enough. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed reading it. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is thinking about practicing yoga, or even someone looking for a good book to read. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. I look forward to class discussion and reading everyone’s blogs about the books.