Teach through yourself

Every once in a while I think, "Am I teaching yoga well?" as though there is a standard for teaching yoga. Yoga Alliance has given a loose standard to how teacher teach yoga, and what must be covered. But there is no lesson plan. If you know 10 asanas well, you can teach yoga. But the styel and delivery of any yoga class will be different from teacher to teacher. Each of us is different and focus on some aspects of yoga different than another teacher. You will not ber perfect for every student. I think back to an article I read last Fall, "As a teacher, you have the right—and some might say the obligation—to bring all of your talents to the table and express the teachings through yourself." The students have an obligation to themselves to find the right teacher for them. And if that teacher is not you, so be it.

Satchidananda's Words this week center around being a humble teacher. "Don’t pose as an all-knowing person. That’s the problem: Are you going to teach or preach? Preaching is not important. Practicing is what’s important. In fact, nobody is a teacher; we are all learners. Sometimes, we learn from the students themselves. So be humble and gently impart what you know. Say: ‘This is all I know; this what I’m hoping for. You try. You may even get it before me.’ That kind of humility is important."

And as Pattabis Jois said, "99% practice, 1% theory"

For what do I search

Why yoga? Why now? After spending years ignoring religion and the existence of God, I have only now, through yoga, begin to sort through my thoughts about my feelings and ideas of what is God and purpose of Life. I may never get that answer. But, through yoga, I seek to learn how to stop and listen to my thoughts, become aware of my consciousness and comfortable with the idea that God (whatever it is) truly does exist, even if I can not touch it.

Practice Karma Yoga

Serve others are Satchidanada's words this week, lead a life of selflessness. This relates to the practice of Karma Yoga, or "Union by action." The action is done without attachment. Thus, the actions have no expected outcome save that of doing good for others without need of recognition or reward. Selfless action leads the practitioner closer to loving all that is divine (God's love).

When you these practice selfless acts, it connects you with your true self. This connection grows, and, over time, you develop an ongoing communication with your true self. Getting "in touch" with your true self brings you closer to the Universal Self, or God.

Each day, be cognizant of what you expect from your actions. Learn to shed the attachment to recognition and you will also become less disappointed in your world.

Yoga on the Beach

This morning I woke my kids up early to go to Oakledge park where Kathy and the 7-day intensive class was practicing yoga. I shot video and pictures and put them together in this video which was a practice run for me to try and put together a chanting video.

Certified!

The seven-day intensive training is going on this week at Yoga Vermont. I only had a few hours left to do, so I went today. I realized that my 200 hours (more specifically, my 180 with Kathy) are in! She gave me my certificate today.

But as I told someone...this is not a destination, it is a journey. I plan to continue attending classes as long as Kathy with have me.

"The Truth about Bottled Water"

I liked this article on Yahoo! main page today because it listed everything I did not like about bottled water...price, demand for oil, toxins in water, waste....etc.

The Truth about Bottled Water
Imagine you’ve just been given a choice: You have to drink from one of two containers. One container is a cup from your own kitchen, and it contains a product that has passed strict state, federal and local guidelines for cleanliness and quality. Oh, and it’s free. The second container comes from a manufacturing plant somewhere, and its contents—while seemingly identical to your first choice—have not been subjected to the same strict national and local standards. It costs approximately four times more than gasoline. These products both look and taste nearly identical.

Which do you choose?

If you chose beverage A, congratulations: You just saved yourself a whole lot of money, and, perhaps, even contaminants, too. But if you picked beverage B, then you’ll be spending hundreds of unnecessary dollars on bottled water this year. Sure, bottled water is convenient, trendy, and may well be just as pure as what comes out of your tap. But it’s hardly a smart investment for your pocketbook, your body or our planet. Eat This, Not That! decided to take a closer look at what’s behind the pristine images and elegant-sounding names printed on those bottles.

• You may actually be drinking tap water.Case in point: Dasani, a Coca-Cola product. Despite its exotic-sounding name, Dasani is simply purified tap water that’s had minerals added back in. For example, if your Dasani water was bottled at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Philadelphia, you’re drinking Philly tap water. But it’s not the only brand of water that relies on city pipes to provide its product. About 25 percent of all bottled water is taken from municipal water sources, including Pepsi’s Aquafina.
• Bottled water isn’t always pure. Scan the labels of the leading brands and you see variations on the words “pure” and “natural” and “pristine” over and over again. And when a Cornell University marketing class studied consumer perceptions of bottled water, they found that people thought it was cleaner, with less bacteria. But that may not actually be true. For example, in a 4-year review that included the testing of 1,000 bottles of water, the Natural Resources Defense Council—one the country’s most ardent environmental crusaders—found that “about 22 percent of the brands we tested contained, in at least one sample, chemical contaminants at levels above strict state health limits.”
• It’s not clear where the plastic container ends and the drink begins. Turns out, when certain plastics are heated at a high temperature, chemicals from the plastics may leach into container’s contents. So there’s been a flurry of speculation recently as to whether the amounts of these chemicals are actually harmful, and whether this is even a concern when it comes to water bottles—which aren’t likely to be placed in boiling water or even a microwave. While the jury is still out on realistic health ramifications, it seems that, yes, small amounts of chemicals from PET water bottles such as antimony—a semi-metal that’s thought to be toxic in large doses—can accumulate the longer bottled water is stored in a hot environment. Which, of course, is probably a good reason to avoid storing bottled water in your garage for six months—or better yet, to just reach for tap instead.
• Our country’s high demand for oil isn’t just due to long commutes. Most water bottles are composed of a plastic called polyethylene terepthalate (PET). Now, to make PET, you need crude oil. Specifically, 17 million barrels of oil are used in the production of PET water bottles ever year, estimate University of Louisville scientists. No wonder the per ounce cost of bottled water rivals that of gasoline. What’s more, 86 percent of 30 billion PET water bottles sold annually are tossed in the trash, instead of being recycled, according to data from the Container Recycling Institute. That’s a lot of waste—waste that will outlive you, your children, and your children’s children. You see, PET bottles take 400 to 1000 years to degrade. Which begs the question: If our current rate of consumption continues, where will we put all of this discarded plastic?
  

Dharana

One of the eight limbs of yoga is dharana or concentration, developing a focus on one thought, one idea, one object. When this happens, you begin to learn more about it than you ever knew before.

This week's Weekly Words talk about a one-pointed mind...same as concentration. Satchidanada's words say “When the mind is concentrated, it gains more strength...If you gather all the thought forms and concentrate on one idea or object, the mind will reveal the inner secret of that idea. That is what inventors do. They are deeply concentrated, their minds are one-pointed, so nature reveals its secrets to them."

Satchidanada concludes his weekly thought with the line: "With that (one-pointedness) you can gain anything you want in this world." It is true...pretty much whatever you want to gain can be attained with focus. But that focus can be dangerous as well, destructive. If you focus your energy on hatred, you bring negative energy to yourself and those around you.

But the concept of dharana is more divine and should be used as a tool toward meditation and, ultimately, samadhi--unity with the Divine. If you focus on positive energies and love, and uniting with your True Self, dharana helps brings peace to you and those around you.

The Road has been Served!

A few weeks ago, Satchidananda's words were about finding opportunities to serve, and he specifically pointed out serving things...like the road. Well, today, I found an opportunity to Serve!

While driving home from teaching yoga, it began to rain. I came around the Winooski circle and saw a screwdriver in teh road. I avoided it and thought I should pick it up. Traffic stopped for the light--my opportunity! I opened my door, and there it was!

But, I picked it up and threw it off the road. I did not think so far as to put it somewhere safer. Where it is, it could get sucked under a lawnmower blade, and hurled back into the road, or worse, into a windsheild.

I think my service has been cancelled out.

Yogis of Tibet pt 2

I finally finished watching the Yogis of Tibet. The second half of the film shed some light on the secluded yogis and offered more interviews with monks and nuns and even The Dalai Lama. Several were shown offering their interpretation of the meaning of "what is a yogi?" Answers varied, but all loosely came back to being one who follows a path toward finding his or her true self.

I did not get the impression that Tibetan yogis practiced mush asana...more that they retreated to the mountains and did a lot of meditation. Many participated in some elaborate types of kriya or other posturing rituals to show devotion to the Divine. The film showed yogis talking about the health benefits of certain posture and rites; the narrorator always said something about the fact that the yogi has very reluctant and cautioned people not to copy the actions without a true guide or they might cause themselves harm.

The other message of the film focussed on how the Tibetan monks and nuns were able to keep their compassion knowing how the Chinese brutally destroyed their home and their people. It just seems so unfair for this invasion to have occured to the most peaceful people in the world. I have thought about this, too. Esp when I learn more about The Dalai Lama. He says your enemy is your greatest teacher...you learn patience and compassion from finding your way to work with your enemy. A young Monk in the film said that it might be because he is young, but he still can not fogive the Chinese, and he is too young and did not witness the atrocities.

Another nun (Western) said that if it weren't for the Chinese going to Tibet and driving people from their homes, the rest of the world may never have had the chance to participate in the religion and culture. The Chinese went to Tibet to eradicate their culture and Religion, but instead, drove the issue to the highest levels of visibility throughout the world and brought a great amount of attention to Tibet and its people.

Yogis of Tibet

I started watching Yogis of Tibet. It is a film intended to communicate and preserve the life of Tibetan yogis, who, since the invasion of the Chinese, have dwindled in numbers and begun to lose some of the tradition that has been strong for a thousand years. My children have been watching it with me, but, as their minds wander, so does my ability to watch due to their activities. So far, the film has presented a brief history of Tibet from the time they were spiritually united by a Buddhist monk to the Chinese invasion, and interviews of yogis and monks about their experiences of the invasion. It has just started to interview yogis in retreat...I must pause.

Doing something right?

Tonight at Vinyasa I thought no one was coming. At 7:40, I hear footsteps. Two people come in for class. I teach what I thought was an invigorating class...but at one point the man walks out. Hm, OK. I continue. He returns. After class, I finish the intake for them and the man asks me a question. "Do you have any of your classes online?" I was not sure what I heard, but he continued, saying that it was a great class and he'd like to do more. I said I was not at that point in my yoga teaching yet, but would consider it. It was a compliment! I was happy!

Composting

I have wanted to compost for a long time. More and more I find people who are doing it. I just found this on the Chittenden Solid Waste District Web site: http://www.cswd.net/composting/

An affordable composting system! And lots of great info on Composting.

Eating is Yoga

Satchidananda's Words recently were not particularly eye-opening...but struck a (good) chord with me. I have always thought about how I eat. I notice that I eat rather fast, and I find myself hurrying my children. Since my journey into yoga, I have tried to be a better example for my kids.

Instead of standing to eat (which I did often) I remind myself to sit at the table with them. I try to always eat WITH them and not after. I encourage them to try everything, and if they do not like it, they do not have to eat it. I do not encourage a "clean plate" but they do have to eat the dinner if they feel hungry later. I provide small portions. I provide healthy food often. And although I want them to enjoy eating and eat within a reasonable amount of time, I try not to rush them.

Sometimes I find myself inhaling my meal. I have let my mind wander so much that I forget to feed my body, to the point that it is lusting for food. Then, it does not taste the food, but suck it down and give me a stomach ache.

As Satchidananda said, "God gives us thirty-two teeth. Why? To chew well."

Control your Happiness

Another weekly words from Satchidananda...on the vein of linking happiness and detachment. He talks about how you should just accept things that happen to you and do not complain. It is "God's Will" so to speak. It's a very interesting thought. Where do we learn how to complain? Right from birth...complain about a diaper, gas pain...basic needs! But once they are satisfied, we are happy.

But then we learn to complain about unnecessary things. My purse does not match. My car's not new. Then we learn to be unhappy. Once we become attached to things, our unhappiness begins. Satchidananda says to stop complaining and start accepting. "The simple way to be always happy is to accept everything: profit or loss, pain or pleasure, praise or blame. Nobody needs to give you happiness. It is your own. You are happy, but if you want to make yourself unhappy, go ahead until you learn to be happy."

The Company you Keep

It is easy for us to veer off course when striving to find our True Self. Desires and attachments bombard us, layering thick upon our koshas throughout our daily lives. But even if we can not keep the path clear, reading inspiring words or seeking advice from those that have attained spiritual transcendence or wisdom through Divine study can help boost our own spiritual transformation.

The Weekly Words this week touch on keeping holy company. "The first foundation of spiritual practice is satsanga, or good company. Through satsanga, your mind will dwell on good ideas and, slowly, you will be transformed. Your bad habits and all that is undesirable will slowly go away and give place to new, holy ideas."

When you listen to negativity everyday, you fill up with this, and it leaks out of you. If you find yourself in a bad place, change scenes. Seek to find something more divine to surround you and absorb. Imbibe happiness and exude bliss.