Class extras for rexburgyoga.com

From Leslie:  Yoga means union.  Union of body mind and spirit.  Union of the shadow self with the enlightened self.  Yoga is a means of self discovery.

Then what? What happens after self-care, self-discovery and self-worth?  The purpose then is to be in the service of humanity.  Or to be in the service of God thru the service of humanity.  You first feel peace within yourself then you spread the goodwill and union to your family, community, then the world at large.

But – you may say-  I only care about the fitness and health benefits of yoga.  I just want to be more flexible.

My reply would be that discovering your best physical self as far as balance, flexibility and strength is the yoga path.  So if you practice to improve your health and fitness,  you are practicing for the right reason.  Enjoy your practice and your exploration of the question  -

We have many in the class with chronic illnesses of all sorts.  By coming to a yoga class you are taking  responsibility for your own health.  Sometimes a doctor might recommend a yoga class, but not often, so usually each person has to search out his own complimentary therapies and implement them without the extra motivation of a doctor’s prescription.

Here are some of the benefits of attending a yoga class, even if your physical condition makes it impossible to fully participate.  Each of these things lifts the spirit which is a pillar of good health:

1.  Social support.  Getting out of bed and joining a group of other people is strong positive medicine.   Each person contributes to the energy of the class and it’s fun to meet new people and enjoy laughter and doing something with other people.

2.  Deep relaxing breathing.  Most chronic illness is made better when stress levels are lower and deep breathing is a path to relaxation.  Shelly and Leslie have both said that if you only came to class and sat in a chair and did simple movements but were breathing deeply and consciously, it would be a wonderful yoga practice.  The benefits would be subtle but real.

3.  Learning something new.  Chronic pain and illness can shrink your world and your desire to try new things so kudos to those who are courageous and learning something new.  Brain growth occurs at any age every time a new pathway is made in the brain.  Learning new things like yoga and staying with it during the beginner (clumsy) stage stimulates brain growth.

4.  Belief is medicine.  Just like a placebo, if you believe you are doing something wonderful for your health, then you are.  Belief makes biological changes at the cellular level towards health.   Linking body, mind and breath is a definition of yoga.  Belief is the mind part of the equation.

From Leslie: Several times during the month of December we discussed making the Holidays a joyful time rather than a stressful time. This podcast from Living Dialogues has been a big help to me. It’s show number 076 with Ari Berk and they discuss the world/historical celebrations of the darkest season of the year. It was interesting, educational and inspiring. Enjoy.

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Enjoying the day involves remembering and appreciating those who have influenced us for good and has helped us to be who we are. 

Bring someone to mind that has been instrumental in your life.  How has this person blessed your life?  Ask yourself, what would I be missing if this person had not been a part of my life?  What could I do to show appreciation to this person? 

Being aware and acknowledging another helps us to enjoy the richness of the day.

From Leslie: Here’s the link for the podcast that discusses acceleration of time. Theatre of the mind
Look for the show that says Mayan code.
Click on the podcast button and listen to the show.

After listening to the show a second time, let me clear up some things I said at the end of class. The woman being interviewed is Barbara Hand Clow. She calls herself a student of human consciousness not a scientist. She has worked with and quotes scientists from the fields of biology, anthropology, geology, astrophysics and others. On the Theatre of the mind page is a link to Barbara Hand Clow’s website. Her site does contain alot of astrological information. If that doesn’t appeal to you then don’t visit. I think there is truth out there in all spiritual traditions and we can make use of it and just leave the rest.

The scripture I was trying to think of is from Matthew 24: And except those days should be shortened, there should none of their flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake, according to the covenant, those days shall be shortened.

So this talks about time being shortened, not necessarily quickened.

It’s interesting to study and think about but the bottom line that is put forth in this podcast is to refuse to fear anything happening, and stay in the attitude of love and faith. That’s what we want to support in our yoga practice.

What are we practicing?

Breathing consciously during difficult experiences

Treating our body/mind with kindness

Listening to internal physical cues

Peace and stillness

Moving with grace and balance

Leslie: Each month we will have a class where we cover the basics for our students who are just beginning yoga for the first time. Here’s the focus for Oct.

The Sanskrit word ‘yoga’ is derived from the root verb which means to join. In our Yoga Practice which goes on 24/7 as we are joining ourselves with all other humans to God. That’s the spiritual practice. First and foremost yoga is a spiritual practice.

One way to approach the spiritual practice is through our physical bodies. In a physical yoga practice, like a class – we are joining body, mind and breath. We keep our mind present in what we are doing by noticing how we feel, noticing the effect of the postures, noticing our breath. We keep the breath conscious, active, deep, full and sometimes with sound. The breath is the never-changing part of the practice whether the physical movement is small and subtle or challenging and sweaty.

The next question that a beginning student might ask is: Why? The deep breathing  is important in giving the body new fresh oxygen and clearing out toxins with the exhale. Why does it matter that I am mindful in the movements? There are many reasons, and I invite you to register with the blog and post your own reasons. I will provide one answer that is particular to beginning students. We might have unconscious habits of standing and moving that are out of balance. When we are mindful in the yoga practice, we notice those habits and begin to correct them and build new ways to stand, sit, move and breathe with more balance, grace, poise and health.

Author:  Leslie

When I teach we begin and end the class with singing or chanting the word *home*.    Where did I come up with that?  I had been to a yoga class where chanting the primordial OM began and ended the class.  It was beautiful and it united the class in a very unique way.  So the idea of singing or chanting is something I wanted to do, but in a way that fit our class.

One Sunday I was at choir practice and we were singing a familiar song about love at home.  We held out that last note and we were all singing the word home.  It was in beautiful harmony and I realized that was the right word for our class.

Home is where we all came from.  And all of us came from the same spiritual home, and we are sharing the same big blue marble home.     If you took an apple pie and cut a piece from it and took that slice outside, you could ask – What is this?  Where did it come from?  What is it made of?  No matter how far the piece of pie is from the rest of the pie, it still IS apple pie.  Even if the pie got dropped off the plate and squished a little, it is still apple pie.

We all come from the same spiritual home.  We came from God who is perfect peace and abundance, love and  acceptance.  No matter how far we go or how squished we end up – we still are a piece of that place of perfection.  That’s what we are.

Home.  It’s where we all came from, it’s where we are going,  it’s how we want to feel in a new community or group, it’s how I want you to feel in your body.

Yoga ED

I recommend listening to any or all of these yoga peeps episodes. I learn something from each one. A lightbulb moment from this episode with Leah Kalish is that we eat or act from our state, not from our knowledge. For example. We all know that we need a variety of natural foods and preferably whole foods and lots of nice pure water. We know all that. But if our mental emotional state is fractured or frustrated or anxious, do we eat like that? No. We eat junk or high fat and high sugar because it fulfills an emotional need.

If we have an avenue to bring about a peaceful state, then we just naturally gravitate to healthy eating, sleeping, and acting. It doesn’t require any will power.

So yoga can be the vehicle to the peaceful state

What distinguishes a beginning yoga practice from an advanced practice? Let’s be clear that an advanced practice does not have to include holding the splits while in a headstand. Let’s compare body, mind and breath and how it might be for a beginner and an advanced student.

A beginner is still learning where her body is in space, still learning the proper alignment and how to safely practice.

An advanced student knows his body and honors any limitations. He can modify any posture and understands how to be properly aligned in the modification. He knows how to safely explore the edges.

A beginners mind wanders and is distracted with many racing thoughts, new ideas, frustrations, fears and yet can also be still and peaceful.

The mind of an advanced student is focused on the here and now, focused on body sensations and the movement of each breath. Quiet accepting and alert is this mind.

The breath of a beginner is changeable. Sometimes she holds her breath unconsciously or cuts off a deep breath in search of a deeper stretch.

The breath of the master is the same as her mind;  steady. The breath surrounds every movement and the deep, slow ocean breath seems almost automatic through the entire practice.

On any given day and during any given practice we all could be a beginner or a master. Both are acceptable and both can be our teacher and a means of self-discovery.

And then a favorite quote I have been using lots this year: Your body is the instrument of learning about yourself. Yoga is tuning the instrument. Your teachers give you guidance but you must take charge of tuning your own instrument.

LN