December Focus: What's a Dosha?

Thank you for joining us in November for yoga practice and discussion of the psoas muscle. The psoas is the only muscle that connects the spine to the lower limbs. It is the bodies center for movement. This triangular shaped muscle is believed to be linked to emotions, and habitual patterns of holding and is located behind the solar plexus. With greater awareness of the psoas, we are able to move more freely and gracefully through life.

This December we will explore the three doshas. In Ayurvedic science theory, health exists when there is balance between the three bodily humors known as : Vata, Kapha, and Pitta.



This month we will explore dosha and it's ayurvedic base. We will begin to identify our own dominant dosha and how it relates to food, lifestyle and yoga.

3 Mind/Body (Dosha) Types:

Pitta

Kapha

Vata

Psoas Muscle (pronounced: so-az)

- Psoas muscle is triangular in shape and not easily visible to the naked eye

- Psoas is the only muscle connecting the spine to the leg

- Psoas is known to be the center of movement for the body

- Top of Psoas attaches along (5) vertebrae bodies, starting a the last thoracic vertebrae (T12) + continues to attach to each lumbar vertebrae, terminating at the lumbar vertebrae (L4)

- Believed to be linked to emotions and habitual patterns of holding; located behind solar plexus

- Psoas resides where gut feelings are felt

- Psoas effects: structural balance, muscular integrity, flexibility, strength, range of motion, joint stability, and organ functioning

- Energetically contributes to fight or flight: curling into ball for protection or running in fear, which deeply effects emotion and habitual patterns of ‘holding’


References:

Liz Koch. The Psoas Book. Guinea Pig Publications, 1997.

Bandha Yoga : http://www.bandhayoga.com/keys_psoas.html

November: Psoas Muscle in Yoga Practice

Thank you for joining us in October for mudras. These energetic hand seals help harmonize the body and prepare for meditation. We often use mudras in yoga practice and hope you were able to take away a better understanding of their significance. This November we will delve into the Psoas Muscle and how it relates to yoga.

November Focus: Psoas Muscle

We will explore the Psoas and how yoga postures can help stretch, lengthen and strengthen this core muscle. The Psoas Muscle is often described as the center of energy, movement and balance. This muscle attaches to both the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and connects to the upper/lower body. Join us, as we take a closer look at the psoas this month.

Mudras

Mudras [mud:’ra] – Sanskrit meaning ‘seal’

- Spiritual gesture and energetic seal
- Found in Hinduism and Buddhism
- In Yoga, it is used with Pranamaya or breathing techniques to stimulate different parts of the body to affect the flow of prana

Five Element Theory, in relation to hand:

o Thumb Fire (nourishes the energy of the other fingers, absorbs excess energy and restores balance)

o Index Air (heart chakra, large intestine, and deep meridian of the stomach are associated with this finger, air element represents thoughts)

o Middle Ether (throat chakra, circulation meridian and deep meridian of gall bladder)

o Ring Earth (root chakra, deep meridian of the liver, rules the pelvic floor, gives stamina, staying power and power to be assertive)


o Little Water (second chakra, energy center of sexuality, interpersonal relations


Jnana Mudra (mudra of knowledge)



- Done by touching the tips of the thumb and the index together, forming a circle, and the hand is held with the palm inward toward the heart
- Symbolizes unification of individual soul with the universal soul
- Clears the mind, promotes memory and concentration

Anjali Mudra - (AHN-jah-lee MOO-dra) (mudra of offering)




- Place both hands in front of heart chakra, with small space between palms
- Coordinates right/left side of brain, brings forth silence balance and peace
- Namaste ( the divinity in me greets the divinity in you)
- Poses : Mountain, Prayer, Tree

Hirschi, Gerturd; Mudras: Yoga in the Hands; 2000

October : Mudras + Fall News

Hello Friends,

Thank you for joining us in September. We hope you were able to learn and refine your practice of sun and lunar salutations. Salutations can be a great way to begin and end your day.

Welcome to October! With this new season, we have some fall changes to announce. Lia Hall will be teaching a yoga class at a community health center, Third Root in the Flatbush neighborhood on Tuesdays, check out her lovely new class.

Dig Yoga would like to formally welcome
Zarah Kravitz and Katrina De Wees to our Tuesday night workshop style class in Ft. Greene. Zarah, a certified hatha yoga instructor of Dharma Mittra and a active nutrition counselor will share her love of health and yoga with us at the Irondale. Katrina, an interdisciplinary artist working in the mediums of dance, theater and video will be creatively helping Dig Yoga offline/on. Aspiring yogi, she brings her love of body awareness and wellness to the dig community. Welcome Zarah and Katrina!

We are pleased to share, Dig Yoga is working with Citizen Schools this fall and introducing yoga to middle school children at the Urban Assembly of Arts and Letters at 225 Adelphi Street. Students will learn yoga theory and asanas (postures) and present to teachers and family members this December.



In October, we will focus on Mudras. These symbolic hand gestures are often used in yoga classes to help harmonize and balance. Mudras are believed to effect the energies of the body and seal in prana (life force). We will explore different mudras this month and discuss how they effect the body.

Sun Salutations in September

Hello Friends,

Thanks for relaxing with us in August for Yoga Nidra.
We are happy to report that we are now able to supply you with a eco-friendly jute fiber mat for class in case you forget to bring yours. For the month of September we will focus on Sun Salutations or Surya Namaskar sequences.

Surya namaskar or sun salutations are a series of linked asanas and breath usually performed to introduce a yoga practitioner to the practice. The sequence is designed to move and warm the body and spine into postures that harmonize each other.
During the month of September we will discuss various aspects of this practice and why it is fundamental preparation. Each week will introduce various traditions of sun salutations including:

* Classic
* Surya namaskar A & B
* Shiva namaskar
* Lunar "chandra" namaskar

Yoga Nidra in August

Also known as yogic sleep, yoga nidra is becoming an increasingly therapeutic way to relieve stress and induce full body relaxation. Yoga Nidra works effectively on mental resolve, will power and resolutions. Using guided imagery and body scanning we will end each class this month with a session of yoga nidra. The subconscious mind is open and receptive, as this deep relaxation method helps breakdown old patterns.

Loving Kindness Meditation

 “Scrape the Old Paint Off the Wall”

There’s no universal love without purification, otherwise the gunk will show through

Mettā (Pāli) or maitrī (Sanskrit) is loving-kindness, friendliness, benevolence, amity, friendship, good will, kindness, love, sympathy, and active interest in others.

¥     It is one of the ten pāramīs of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four sublime states (Brahmavihāras).

¥     The cultivation of loving-kindness (mettā bhāvanā) is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism; it represents culmination of buddhist path.

Practice:

¥     Sit down. Notice awareness of impermanence from vipassana practice.

¥     Try to remain open even if you feel solid.

¥     Sense the tiny and effortless vibrations throughout the body.

¥     Let thoughts permeate qualities of goodwill and friendliness.

¥     Think about a circumstance or of people that generate this feeling, or contact intrinsic goodness; remember as a young child your natural beneficence; bring up all that is best within you.

¥     Inhabit gratitude, compassion, and forgiveness.

¥     Notice that goodness can be a felt sense; allow this feeling tone to percolate into movements and vibrations throughout your body and the space around it. Just as a concentrated drop of food coloring in water spreads and colors the water, your feeling tone can spread and change your perception of your environment.

¥     Sense a hint of a smile and watch the energy of the smile. Watch it spread to the forehead, scalp, throat, chest, lungs, heart.

¥     If you lose the sense, produce thoughts and associations just as you did in the beginning.

¥     Abide in a pure feeling of beneficence, goodwill, and friendliness.

¥     Goodwill becomes your mantra—there is nothing but this feeling.

¥     Smile through your body, room, neighborhood, city, and world.

¥     Think about the people with whom you have or will interact today and surround them with this smiling tone.

¥     Think about the people whom you have hurt or who have hurt you. Feel the hurt as a quiet place quiet place in the body and feel it being healed by loving state.

¥     Feel loving kindness on yourself. Forgive yourself in general. Bathe yourself in loving kindness.

¥     Now with each joy and connection you encounter, notice that there is some feeling tone of human warmth.

¥     Be ready to foster and spread this quality in every situation. Each time you encounter a new situation is a chance to deepen this practice. This doesn’t mean you are wimpy or ineffectual.

¥     Bring this meditative state into day-to-day life.

         Cultivating Loving-Kindness

Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I vow to cultivate loving-kindness and learn ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants, and minerals.  I vow to practice generosity by sharing my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in real need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of others, but I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk, peace activist, and refugee during the Vietnam War, explains that by recognizing a sense of “inter-being,” we realize that it is in our best interest to be mindful and compassionate toward others. “A tree reveals itself to an artist when the artist can establish a certain relationship with it,” he says:

Someone who is not human enough may look at his fellow humans and not see them, may look at a tree and not see it. Many of us can’t see things because we’re not wholly ourselves. When we’re wholly ourselves, we can see how one person, by living fully, can demonstrate to all of us that life is possible, that a future is possible. But the question, “Is a future possible?” is meaningless if we’re not able to see the millions of our fellow humans who suffer, live, and dies around us. Only after we’ve really seen them are we able to see ourselves and see nature.

When we look at a flower, we no it is always receiving non-flower elements like water, air, sunshine and simultaneously gives something back to its environment. Hence, just like everything, a flower is a stream of change. Every instant there is input and output; it’s always being born and always dying. It’s always connected to the environment around it. The components of the universe depend on one another for their existence.

         Yoga Asanas and Breath:

Use each transition and movement to observe a quality of friendliness toward yourself and others. How you arrive in the posture determines how you will be in it. Feel that each posture can be an expression of your “smiling tone.” You may even sense that this feeling, that you both generate and receive, radiates to those near you—setting the tone for the entire space around you. Acknowledge that those around you are breathing the same loving kindness.

References:

Thich Nhat Hanh. The World We Have: A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology. Berkley: Parallax Press, 2008.

--. Living Buddha, Living Christ. New York: Riverhead Books, 1995.

Shinzen Young. “Loving Kindness: Explanation and Practice.” Five Meditations. Audio Renaissance, 2004.

Vipassana Meditation

Vipassanā (Pāli) or vipaśyanā (Sanskrit)

Vipassana is the -  "vi-" and verbal root √paś is often translated to “insight” or “clear seeing, intuitive knowing”; there is no direct translation; basically means careful observation of moment-by-moment experience; liberating insight comes from it

-       In the Buddhist tradition, it means insight into the nature of reality.

-       Earliest of known Buddhist meditations, which also includes Zen and Tibetan Tantra

-       A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi (vipaśyin).

-       It is a way of self-transformation through self-observation and introspection.

-       Aimed at developing deep insight into the true nature of experience

-       Goal is to understand nature of impermanence (anicca); sufferings (dhukah); and non-existance (anatta)

-       helps one become more attuned to emotional states

-       one can watch thoughts rise and fade, and learn to react with calm detachment and clarity, reducing compulsive reaction

1. Sit and pay attention to sensations that arise in body. Observe objectively. Take an aspect of experience. Infuse it with precise attentiveness and allowingness.

2. Observe thoughts as a witness. Avoid getting lost in thoughts. Allow the ordinary operation of senses and thinking. Analyze each into components; note

ideas, thoughts, and images; note sensations arising at different times and different places. Allow them to rise and pass without interference—pure observation,

not pushing and pulling, but remaining interactive with life. If necessary, push and pull; you are not indifferent or passive.

3. Allow sensations to stay or move. When you infuse each experience with this awareness, painful sensations will cease to cause suffering and joyous ones will heighten your sense of fulfillment.  These insights are intended to release blockages, so that we can escape into the flow of life, rather than mask and repress our experiences.

It is normal to react to the vipassana practice. We may experience discomfort, emotions, vulnerability, and shaking in the body. This is considered to purify our stored process of pain. Eventually, with intensity, the sensation will disperse.  Try to stay with the practice maintaining continuity of awareness.

Origins of our sensations are: Physical / Physiological/ Psychological

We often avoid subtle discomforts that are felt in unconscious parts of ourselves. Here, we make them conscious. Watch them move feely from one place to another.

Noting technique: Say the name of place where you feel sensation to yourself (e.g. knee, chest, hands, forehead, upper body)

If you become preoccupied, say parts out loud; objective, matter-of-fact; tone of voice;

focus on fact that they are constantly shifting and changing – one experience to another; rising and fading; dwell in impermanence – the flow of nature. Like a surfer is in the moment; see how thoughts and feelings change. Rest in change. Movement softens and opens you up.

Monaghan, Patricia and Eleanor G. Viereck; “Meditation: The Complete Guide”Ospina, Maria “Meditation Practices for Health State of the Research”; Young, Shinzen. “Vipassana: Explanation, Practice, and Additional Tips.” Five Meditations. Audio Renaissance, 2004.

lia & tina dig yoga 7.14.10

July Focus : Methods of Meditation

Studies show that meditation can help humans relieve stress, focus, and cultivate a more peaceful frame of mind. Meditation is often related to a spiritual experience of enlightenment, nirvana, rebirth, and is practiced and defined differently across many cultures and religious groups. Modern medicine has discovered many health benefits of meditation practice.
This month, we will explore and guide each class in relation to a different form of meditation. These are some of the methods we will explore:

o Vipassana
o Mantra
o Mindfulness
o Loving Kindness

Free Yoga at the Bedford Public Library!

The Bedford Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library has kindly opened their auditorium for free yoga classes taught by yours truly.

Who:
You and I
Readers and Yogis alike

What:
Free "all-levels-welcome" yoga class

When:
Saturday June 26th and July 31st
10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Where:

Bedford

496 Franklin Avenue 

between Jefferson Ave. and Fulton St.

Brooklyn, NY 11238

t. 718-623-0012

How: 

RSVP  before the day of class at digyoga@gmail.com or call 347.542.8710

Take the C or Franklin Shuttle train, car, bike, foot, and sheer determination

Why:

Because it's free and it's good for you

*Please wear appropriate attire (clothes you can stretch in) and supply your own mats. If you absolutely cannot bring your own mat, please email me and I'll see what I can do. Also, be sure to hydrate well before class and do not eat at least two hours prior--small servings of fruit is probably okay.

What's New in June?

Back to the Tuesdays at the Irondale 

         

   We have some great news! We are back at the Irondale for Tuesday night classes. Again, we thank the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church for housing our classes during  the interim. 

June Focus: Systems

    A healthy environment depends on the integration of all systems functioning in harmony and relationship. We know that when we look at global environmental issues, it is necessary to observe how systems interact, rather than looking at problems only in isolation. For instance, how does geology affect the weather?

     Similarly, in many yoga classes, we talk about only a number of systems such as the respiratory (breath) and muscular or skeletal, but rarely see the effect of one upon another. We would like to expand and "yoke" the systems into a coordinated whole.

     In this series, we will survey and guide each class in reference to a chosen system that functions in the body, so that we can examine and experience the asana with a different kind of awareness than we are probably accustomed.

These are some of the systems we will look at:

• Respiratory
• Digestive
• Nervous
• Circulatory
• Reproductive
• Endocrine

May Focus: The Koshas The five koshas or "sheaths" are layers that encompass the self. In most yoga practices we deal with only the physical or superficial body. This month, we will dig into the more subtle layers that we inhabit. Each week we'll explore one kosha: 1. Annamaya - Physical 2. Pranamaya - Vital/breath 3. Manomaya - Mind 4. Vijanamaya - Wisdom 5. Anandamaya - Bliss Come find out more...

*Tapas, Svahdhyaya, Isvarapranidhana

"Through my efforts, I gain the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”~ Anonymous

*Tapas, Svahdhyaya, Isvarapranidhana

effort, self-study, surrender

Kriya yoga is every “cleansing action” that we can actually practice and comprises these elements:

·      Tapas: tap means to “blaze, burn, and shine”; conscious ardour to achieve goal; it is austerity and self-discipline; practices such as asana and pranayama that can help us to remove blocks and tensions, in vocal, physical and mental aspects; it keeps the body fit through heat and cleansing; must not cause suffering; Iyengar says, “Life without tapas is like a heart without love.”

·      Svadhyaya:  sva means “self” and adhyaya means “inquiry” or “examination”; searching, asking questions, looking into ourselves; other translations include the study of texts and repeating mantras; “The person practicing svadhyaya reads his own book of life, at the same time that he writes and revises it.” (Iyengar)

·       Isvarapranidhana: action not motivated by outcome; we know we have done our best

“The goal of yoga is to encourage us to be a little better than we were before...by making an effort and by practicing patience. When we do this we will not see ourselves as beset by so many problems.  Our efforts may change in intensity, but over a period of time we will gradually experience progress.  We must actively seize every opportunity that helps us progress.” ~T.K.V. Desikachar

The Heart of Yoga

Earth Day Expo 2010 at Habana Outpost!

Dig Yoga will be at Habana Outpost today for Earth Day events and re-opening celebrations, come through if you are out and about!  And if you haven't been to Habana Outpost before, we definitely recommend that you check it out.  They are truly green.

757 Fulton Street (at S. Portland) http://www.habanaoutpost.com/

Santosha – contentment

Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have. ~ Unknown

Santosha (Santosa, Samtosa) pertains to our mental activity (e.g. study, knowledge),

physical effort, pain, and well-being; and how we earn our living and what supports us.

·        Contentment connotes self-sufficiency

·        Not coveting more than you have; renunciation of the need to acquire

·        Not suffering because you think you are lacking something

·        Having a mindful and openhearted approach to yoga asana practice for both easy and challenging poses

·        Understanding the power of your emotional state and not passing it on to others

·        Contentment can mean falling in love with your life, and appreciating the richness it has to offer

            The “real meaning” of santosha is “to accept what happens.” This does not simply mean that we need to pretend we’ve had a lobotomy and take on a passive, apathetic or emotionless role in our lives.  Rather, when things do not go the way we plan or when something bad happens, instead of bemoaning our personal grievances, we can practice santosha by trying to learn from the situation.

Santosha is about ourselves; about what we have and what he have been given.

There is no end of craving. Hence contentment alone is the best way to happiness. Therefore, acquire contentment. ~ Swami Sivananda

Riches are not from an abundance of wordly goods, but from a contented mind.~ Muhammad

My crown is in my heart, not on my head, Nor decked with diamonds and Indian stones, Nor to be seen: My crown is called content: A crown it is, that seldom kings enjoy. ~William Shakespeare

References:

Desikachar, T.K.V. The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice. Vermont: Inner Traditions, 1999.

Iyengar, B.K.S. Light on Yoga. New York: Schocken, 1966.                 

Mishra, Ramamurti S. M.D. The Textbook of Yoga Psychology. New York: Baba Bhagavandas Publication Trust, 1997.

Niyamas

Niyamas are rules of individual conduct and self-discipline.

1.    saucha – purity

2.    santosha – contentment

3.    tapas – ardour or austerity

4.    svadhyaya – self- study

5.    Isvara pranidhana – dedication or surrender

Saucha – purity

When cleanliness is developed, it reveals what needs to be constantly maintained, and what is eternally clean. What decays is the external. What does not is deep within us.

~ Yoga Sutra II.40 ; Translation by T.K.V. Desikachar

Purification or cleanliness is of 3 kinds:

(1) Physical – purification of body and it’s organs, including clothing and surroundings;

(2) Vocal – right use of words;

(3) Mental – right thinking

Cleanliness is key in supporting an individual’s health.  We purify the body by practicing good hygiene and by practicing yoga asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques), which detoxify and oxygenate the body from the inside out.

Some things you can do this Spring in the spirit of Saucha:

• Donate clothes and other household items to your local charity
• Clean out your fridge, closets, and drawers to make for good, clear, light space
• Review your diet; get rid of foods that make you feel dull and sluggish
• Evaluate your relationships, or job and shed what is negative

Physical considerations for cleanliness include the food we take in and the place we practice. Food is taken for sustenance “to promote health, strength, energy and life.” We literally are what we eat.  Just as the cellular material from food metabolizes and assimilates to our body’s cellular makeup, the quality and energy of the food affects us energetically.  When one becomes clear and views the body as the vehicle of the soul, it will be guarded well.  Also, the place where we practice should be quiet, “clean, airy, dry and pest-free.”

            Because the body and mind are directly connected, when one purifies the body, one also purifies the mind of emotional and intellectual agitations.  The process of cleansing reveals the radiance that underlies an accumulation of material consumption, impure action, intention, thought, and speech that we can burden ourselves with.  Often it is our own afflictions and actions that become obstacles to clear sense perception; hence, the ability to have real cognition or see reality clearly as it is. Of course, I don't intend to say that we must be indoctrinated in the ways of yoga philosophy, but I suggest we glean from it this notion as passed down from the lineage of Krishnamacharya, that recognition of confusion is a form of clarity. And "when one is benevolent, one sees the virtues in others and not merely their faults...then one is ready to enter the temple of her own body and see her real self in the mirror of her mind.”

A New Location for a New Season

Hello Friends,

We're writing to inform you of a change. Please note that due to Irondale performances, we will be temporarily moving next door to the Lafayette Ave Presbyterian Church, which is located at 85 S Oxford St as well. And instead of Tuesday evenings, class will be held on Thursday evenings at the same time; 7:30 - 8:45pm.


Thank you for joining us in March for our focus on structures of the body and how they relate to poses.   This month, in the spirit of spring cleaning and change, we will integrate twists and other detoxifiying poses along with a study of the niyamas.  We hope the sun is now shining on you.

April Focus: Niyamas

According to the Yoga Sutras, compiled by the sage Patanjali, the niyamas are rules of personal behavior or practices of lifestyle and attitude.  They include these five elements:


1. Saucha - purity, cleanliness
2. Santosha - contentment

3. Tapah - heat, cook, effort, self-discipline

4. Svadhyaya - self-study

5. Isvarapranidhana - surrender, allowing

For the month of April, we will focus on each of these elements and how they relate to the practice. We want to make good space in ourselves to take in all that this season has to offer.

Spring is like a perhaps ...














Spring is like a perhaps
hand (which comes carefully
out of Nowhere)arranging
a window,into which people look(while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here)and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and fro moving New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there)and

without breaking anything.

        e.e.cummings