What does the tail have to do with it?

The other day I walked into the living room and noticed Mr. Bear, our 11 year old lab, sitting in front of the window that looks out over the Avon Valley. He seemed to be intently watching the birds on the front lawn.  Interested in seeing things from his perspective, I sat down on the floor in back of him so I wouldn't disturb him. I sat there with legs straight out in front of me. In yoga we would call that Dandasana. I knew if I made any sudden move he would notice me and get up and come over to me, so I just sat as still as possible and observed him. He seemed to be rooted to the floor but at the same time he was ready to spring up off of the floor. I bet you that I don't look like that. I thought to myself if I had a tail like that I would have so much more support. 

 

It made me think that our tail bone must have that quality of support, but it isn't usually utilized. So I started to play around with imagining that I had this long sweeping tail. After awhile what I noticed was that when I imagined having a long sweeping tail, I started to feel my body respond; my spine became more energetic and I started to feel a quality of being able to spring away, as though I could spring off the floor. That is when Bear noticed me and came over, his tailing wagging as he put his paw on my leg and looked me square in the eyes as though to say, get your act together and take me for a walk.

 

How a dog holds and uses his or her tail says a lot about them. I would suspect that our tails say just as much about us.

Foot print in the snow

I walked the dogs today on a dirt road that took us to the Avon River. The road had a light layer of snow on it from the night before. The puddles were still frozen and still had snow on them. I found it funny how my younger dog Maddie would run around and then suddenly hit one of those frozen puddles. Even though she has 4 legs she still would lose her footing for a second and then regain it.

In standing balance poses, footing is very important. I imagine that I am putting a footprint in the snow, my foot settles into the snow with a firm stability. Then the poses seem to grow from there. But other times there is ice under the snow and one moment I’m balancing perfectly in the pose and the next I’m awkwardly trying to keep my balance.

One thing I learned from Maddie is that even if she loses her balance on the ice, it really doesn't faze her. It is all just part of life.

A long Road

Sometimes it seems that there is a long road ahead of us in the practice of Yoga. You know, like when you say to yourself, “will I ever be able to do so and so pose?” It seems like such a long road. I guess it is like any thing else; it doesn’t come all at once, although sometimes you want it to happen all at once. But then how would we learn without going through the process?
We do learn by going through something over and over again until it is engrained in our nervous system. That is change over time. But then there is change that is instantaneous. This change is from something that you observe or something that happens to you that you cannot describe. It engulfs all of you; it isn’t learned from a process, meaning it doesn’t have any thing to do with time, that is why it is indescribable.
So I think that there are two ways of learning, one that involves time that has the quality of “a long road ahead of you” and the other which is “immediate” learning.

Going Beyond Muscles & Bones

Have you ever observed how the respiratory system is affected when practicing asana? Sometimes I get so involved with the skeletal muscular system that all my awareness of the respiratory system is so far in the background that I’m unaware of it. Other times I’m so involved with the respiratory system, that I lose track of the skeletal muscular system.
I find it interesting how these two systems affect one another, how when I overuse one system the other is affected. So for example, if I over use the skeletal muscular system then it has an affect of straining and then this results in holding my breath.
This brings me to something that I wondered about for a long time. I read in different yoga books and have heard teachers talk about how a particular asana has benefits for a particular body system. Now I understand how hamstrings lengthen in an asana, because I feel it. But when it came to the effects on my liver, for example, then I couldn’t feel it. But what I found out was the sensation of the liver and the sensation of the hamstrings were two different things. They express themselves in different ways.
This goes back to the skeletal muscular and respiratory systems; they both have different ways of expressing themselves. So sometimes in a practice I’ll go to Light on Yoga and look up what systems are affected in the asanas that I’m practicing that day. Then I observe as I’m practicing how these different systems are expressing themselves. This is a interesting way of practicing because it shows what systems are over used and what systems are under used.

Support

My subject today is support. I remember being at the Iyengar Yoga Association conference in Toronto. During the time I was there I listened to a lot of stories about people’s trips to India. These stories were not just about their adventures in India but also about the support they received from their life partners left at home. Being in the situation of owner/teacher of a Yoga studio, I have made sacrifices of not being able to travel to India as often as I should have. When I did go I always had the support at home so I could go.
A support in asana practice gives us the opportunity to learn what we couldn’t without it. This is also true of the support of the partner at home when we go away. Personally speaking this is also true of the support I get from the students that attend my classes; I’m not only talking about the average student who plunks down their money and attends a session of classes. I’m talking about a community that is growing around the yoga studio because people offer to help in many significant, varied and enriching ways. This has been going on for years now. As the support of a bolster in Supta Baddha Konasana allows me to open my chest, so also the support of the yoga community and the support of my partner in life Muriel Zimmer, a dedicated Yogini herself, allows me to keep the studio running all these years.
Sometimes I feel that we forget that most of us are lucky to have support in life no matter what that support may be. So let’s all acknowledge that support to whoever or whatever is offering that gift to us.

Letting Go

Today I’m going outside to work on a spruce tree in our yard that is leaning over to one side. Apparently the root system is shallow and the ground is wet, and also we get strong, one sided winds in that part of the property. So, I’m going to put a few stakes in the ground and tie ropes around the tree and the stake will give the tree support from the winter winds. I remember last year I had to do the same thing. Once I supported the tree it was as though the tree could take a breath of relief; it could finally let go because it was supported.
In Iyengar Yoga, because we have the use of props, we can experience the same letting go. That letting go can arise in many ways, from one extreme to the other, from crying to laughing or feeling anger to feeling joy. Like the tree, we need that foundation in an asana or we are continuously holding on, not just physically but also mentally. So it is no wonder when we can finally get in a place of support that we can let go. Just compare the difference of doing a headstand in the middle of the room to doing a headstand hanging in the ropes. Once you accept the support, your body responds by letting go. In giving that support to the tree, I am giving it a chance to let go.

There are only so many hours in the day

When I drive to the studio from Falmouth I usually listen to the radio. And it is not unusual to hear the comment on the radio that in today’s world we all have busy lives. Now I’ve heard this many times before but on this day it stuck in my mind. We are all so busy no matter what it is. Even manufacturers have come up with gadgets to help us organize our lives. The days aren’t long enough to get everything done; something always has to be put off until tomorrow.
Then I remember what my mother used to say, or was that my grandmother? “There are only so many hours in the day”. When I thought back, I tried to think when I wasn’t busy. Even as a child I was always doing something. What I’ve come to realize is that being busy is a rush; it is addictive. It all has to do with the mind. The mind loves to be busy, the busier the better; it even puts itself down when it can’t get everything done on time or done that day.
Now you might say, but “what about my job”, “what about the children”, “what about”, “what about”? I say, be kind to yourself. It’s not that you stop doing everything; it’s just about being present while you are doing everything. The are only so many hours in the day.