Asteya

It’s been a while since my last blog…... 

Life has a way of happening, doesn’t it - Lyme Disease, work, gardening,….(which, by the way, after much money spent on plants, seeds, fertilizer, etc. and time, has been decimated by rabbits, chipmunks and whatever eats tomatoes, swiss chard, green beans, beets and zucchini!!) Oh well, we all need to eat, right?

So moving along, let’s discuss the third Yama—Asteya – or non-stealing! (Did you hear that my rabbit and chipmunk friends??? - non-stealing!!) Humm,… I doubt they care.

So, you say,” I don’t steal,  I would never steal.” Hummm…….no? A sticky note pad here, a pencil or a pen there, tasting the grapes at the grocery store or candy from the bulk bin….???, but stealing? Technically, yes! I am sure we are all guilty of having taken some little  token at some point in this long and beautiful life of ours, and, most of the time, not even giving a thought to the realization that this IS stealing.

But how, you wonder, can we relate stealing or non-stealing to our yoga practice?

 

You would probably be surprised to learn that you probably steal from yourself during each yoga practice.

How many times during a practice have you thought: “is it almost time for savasana?” “How much longer are we going to hold this prose?” “I can’t wait to get home and eat, I’m starving.” “I really should be home doing my homework/housework.” “I could be home resting.”

All normal thoughts that all of us have had during one class or other. In fact, if you told me you NEVER uttered any of the above statements, I would have a hard time believing you. We’re human. We have active minds that think and wonder and wander, get bored, tired, anxious, frustrated…..

“But, how is this stealing from our practice,” you ask?  Rather than taking the time to experience the pose, or exploring how one might go deeper into the pose, often we take the easier way out, and in doing so, “robbing” ourselves of the glorious experience of discovery. "I'm afraid to go deeper, I might pull something." "I know this is my max." (Is it?) Familiar is so much safer then exploration.

Do we watch other students in the class or the teacher, criticizing ourselves because we can’t quite get into the pose like they do, instead of staying focused on our own mats, and our own bodies? How many times in class or in our daily lives, are we discontent with who and where we are rather than living in and accepting each and every precious moment for what it is. 

Instead, practice each pose as if it were the first time you were experiencing that pose with wonder, deep awareness and an open mind, oblivious of anyone else in the room.

Outside of your practice be aware of each moment of each and every day and experience those moments with pure joy and discovery.

We spend so much time wishing or wanting—that we “rob” ourselves of the now. “Now” is it! “Now” is reading this blog. This is all we’ve got! Enjoy it! “Be” in it. Don’t waste time (rob yourself) on what is yet to be or, for that matter, what may never be!! 

Mary Oliver wrote a poem entitled:  When Death Comes.  It is a beautiful poem speaking about living and experiencing life fully. For me, it is a poem about Asteya, or non-stealing from oneself. Below are the final verses in the poem, which for me, say it all: 



....When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made all my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

Peace..

Satya

The second ethical precept set forth in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is Satya. Loosely translated Satya is a Sanskrit word that means truth. When we think of the word truth most of us probably think of “telling the truth.” - or not telling a lie. Actually living one’s truth goes much deeper than simply telling the truth. It is the deepest level of self-discovery.

Ask yourself this question: Do you live your truth or your authentic self, or are you living the life that others (parents, friends, spouse) think (or thought) you should?

At our moment of birth we are our truth. From then on, as we become influenced by our "teachers." Our parents teach us what [they believe] is right or wrong. We go to school and our teachers do the same. Their beliefs or truths become ours. If we had different parents or teachers would our view of ourselves and our world would be different from what we currently believe?

How do we get back to that truth? How do we discover who we really are? I believe that as yogis, we continually rediscover our truth. Through our practice (meditation and asana) we continually delve deeper into self-discovery. We learn to trust in our "inner voice" and begin to question what we hold or don't hold to be true. Eventually it becomes a mindset and we suddenly find ourselves peeling off layers of “shoulds” or “should nots” and free ourselves of the stuff that we came to hold on to as our own beliefs.

I recently experienced this very thing. As some of you know, I posted a site on Facebook asking you to vote for me in a pose competition. To all of you who did, thank you - very heartwarming! However, I need to explain how this experience became “my teacher” for which I am grateful.

When I saw the email announcing the contest from Yoga Journal, I thought “what the heck! I am proud to express how I came to my yoga and how it fulfills me, and if that posting, along with a picture of me in a pose, gets me a new yoga wardrobe, yeah!" When I got the email that my picture DID make it onto the site - after the initial embarrassment - I became excited. I posted the site onto FB and asked my "friends" to vote for me. I thought: "humm, if I post it daily, will that annoy my "friends?" I asked some of my friends to repost it to their sites. The competition had begun!! About a week into this madness, I suddenly was reminded of how I felt in 2002 when I returned from my first Yoga Journal Conference. From the gymnastic performance at the opening of the Conference, to the expensive yoga clothes and jewelry for sale, hundreds of people crammed into classes where "famous" yogis taught impersonal exhibitions, I wondered, “what does this have to do with my yoga, my truth?” I vowed I'd never go to another Yoga Conference again.

Remembering that experience I began to look at my intention for entering the pose contest - a contest....about a yoga pose....and expensive yoga clothes.....??? Discomfort began to seep into my bones, and I asked myself: "What does this have to do with my yoga, my truth?" Nothing! Nothing but judging my own worth by the number of votes I could muster up which would, if I ever got enough votes to become a finalist, make me somehow more important or more popular than all the other yogis out there practicing yoga? NOT! 

I happen to enjoy purchasing my yoga clothes on ebay and at "Salvo (Salvation Army)!!" I don't need expensive yoga clothes and besides (and most important) something that makes me uncomfortable certainly is not an expression of my truth.

So I've decided to back out of the "contest." No more posting of my picture, no more soliciting votes. I am simply letting it go and feeling much better about myself for doing so, and I thank my internal "teacher," for another lesson learned. A little slip on my part, but: "hey, we're not perfect, right?" Isn't that what we yoga teachers teach--there is no perfection; there is no end goal. There is no perfect pose.

Yoga is a continual journey of discovery. Oh, how thankful I am on that path!!

Ahimsa

The Yamas and the Niyamas were set forth some 2,000 years ago in Patanjali’sYoga Sutras.

On one’s spiritual path, the yamas and niyamas are the spiritual foundation of one’s practice – ethical principles to live by.

The first Yama is Ahimsa, or non-violence. Most of us think of non-violence as towards something or someone: other people – wars, animals, bugs, etc.. But do we ever think about practicing non-violence towards ourselves? How many times do we beat ourselves up silently or aloud. For example after dropping or breaking something or doing something out of the oridinary, do you say, “That was so stupid, or I’m so stupid!” It is/was not “stupid.” Perhaps  you had been working all day or watching your children and you had dinner to make and chores to do and you were simply too tired and/or rushed. Why not replace, “I’m so stupid,” with “wow, I guess I’m really tired. I think I need to simply stop and breathe for a few moments.”

In your yoga classes, do you ever look at someone and think:

I can’t do that, or I will never be able to do that.

I’m too heavy, or

I’m not flexible, or

I’m too old to try that.

Why not replace that with:

This is my first day, week, or month or year! Gosh, what an amazing journey I have before me.”

Try changing your auto reaction of self-criticism/negativity into a positive.

When you find yourself in difficult situations instead of the “why me syndrome,” try looking at the situation with open eyes and an open heart. What can you learn from this experience? Then say: “Thank you teacher. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to open my eyes wider.”

Do you like to read?

I love to read! While I like a good family saga or a juicy romance, I do read a lot of books related to or about yoga.
Recently I saw a posting about two books that a fellow yogi wrote, so sight unseen I purchased her two books. I met Ruth about thirteen years ago when she was an MFA student at the graduate school where I work. Ruth was teaching yoga then and she would occasionally offer a class to anyone who was interested. So I bought and received the books:  An Offering of Leaves and Sweeping the Dust. The books are a collection of her own "dharma talks." Each "talk" is only two to four pages long. You can pick it up for a quick fix and then move on to whatever you were doing. Maybe it's her subject matter or maybe I'm simply "conditioned," but each time I pick up her book and begin reading, I am transformed into my quiet mind. When I put the book down, I actually feel like I've taken a yoga class or just sat in meditation.
Love and kisses to all,
Namaste!

The journey of my life.

Do you ever wonder where the journey will lead you? Beyond what is here, I mean. Everyday you wake up and experience your day: boring, exciting, sad, happy. You meet the experiences head on. Sometimes you are fulfilled sometimes left wanting.
I spent half of my life wanting. Always trying new things, taking this class or that one, want to be this person or that one....yet never found contentment, fulfillment. Never having gone to college in my youth, I thought the BA would give me fulfillment...not. A year later started my Masters...finished and guess what....not. However, pursuing my Masters and reading Eastern Philosophy is what introduced me to yoga. I practiced many years and a friend finally convinced me that I should look into teaching yoga. Well guest what? SCORE! The day I began teaching yoga was the day that I finally felt completely fulfilled. NO MORE WANTING! Sometimes I wish I could have started my journey when I was younger, but then I remind myself that all of what I had lived brought me to that place..the starting point. Everything needed to be just as it was. And it is....And it is amazing.
Peace, Sramana!