Get Twisted

"We must always cleanse, renew and rejuvenate ourselves: otherwise, we harden" (Goethe). These are not the words of an Ayurveda doctor or a nutritionist or a therapist or a yoga teacher or a meditation guru, but of a man who simply understood the workings of the body/mind. Just like nature, we go through cycles; we are constantly cycling. Even a simple breath is a cycle. Each inhale nourishes and enlivens, each exhale cleanses and removes impurities. It is built in to our being. The cycle of taking in and letting go is the natural wisdom of our own being. Over time, we take in a LOT and not all of it gets processed or cleared. Toxic material, toxic energy, toxic emotions get "stuck" and if we don't do something, we will harden (physically, mentally and emotionally). Enter yoga. What is the yogic way of cleansing? Yoga acts as a balancing force for our daily lives; it helps to purify us of everyday build-up. We gather gunk each day and yoga clears it out. When we really need a flush, twisting poses come to the rescue. Iyengar says that twists have a "squeeze and soak" effect on the internal organs. The idea is that, when you twist, you sort of wring out your organs, removing stale blood and metabolic waste and allowing a freshly oxygenated supply to flow in. Twisting poses help to melt and mobilize the toxicity. Special breathing exercises and meditation practices help to purge mental and emotional wastes. Even chanting OM has a cleansing effect; the vibration of the sound loosens toxins that harden and condense within us. All of these practices help us to maintain a healthy and balanced bodymind.

It's hard to resist doing some kind of clearing out in the Spring. Everything around us is rejuvenating and refreshing itself. It's a natural impulse at this time of year. I offer seasonal cleansing workshops, but I could not resist offering a cleansing month this April. We will focus on twisting poses as well as cleansing breathing practices and visualizations. Come join me for a refreshing practice!

Experience is King

"Experience is the only source of knowledge." Some guy named Albert Einstein said this and I mostly agree. I was listening to a talk by Christopher Wallis, Sanskritist and Scholar of Indian Religion, yesterday in which he states that, in the West, "Data is King". I will ignore the grammatical error here (my university psychology professor was all over us about "data" being a plural noun and how nobody uses it correctly) and focus on the important bit that many people in the West need to know the facts and the research and everything relating to your mind before they will even consider trying something. In some ways this is smart; make sure you know what you're getting into, right? However, it is also quite limiting. The other side of this is what Christopher says tends to happen in the East where folks "Do in order to know". I'm calling this a state where "Experience is King". I find this particularly helpful when folks are considering trying yoga for the first time. They want to know all about it, the research related to the benefits and cautions, the reasons for doing it and so on. Usually I just say, try it and see how it is for you. You don't have to believe anything I say about yoga; just experience it for yourself. There are so many little adages relating to experience preceding (or at least greatly enhancing) knowledge. Here are a couple: 1) You can read about a mango, learn how to grow a mango, look at a picture of a mango, but if you haven't tasted a mango, you will never really "know" a mango. 2) You can read a list of alignment instructions about a yoga pose and see someone doing the pose, but you have to experience the pose to know what it's all about. Reading books and studying the research are a great way to learn and to know, but true knowing seems to come from experience. Yoga is about having an experience; it's about embodiment, revealing with your body your divine nature, your brightest light, the truest part of you. It's not something you can know just from data. Many things in life are like this. Love is the most obvious to me. Yoga is love (if I may be so bold). It is love with your whole body and mind and spirit.