Aligning with Grace

Recently, I was captivated by a newsletter sent out by certified Anusara yoga teacher Abby Tucker , who referred to this wonderful Sanskrit word - "camatkara." Abby quoted the Tantrik scholar, Christopher Wallis , the author of the exquisite book, Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition , who defined this word as the highest state of consciousness "that is, wonder, or aesthetic rapture." Abby, in her newsletter describes this word as "the state of fully self-aware expansive wonder." As I worked with the Anusara Yoga Universal Principle of Alignment of both "Muscle Energy" and "Organic Energy" in my yoga class this morning - I considered how if we draw in, and wrap ourselves in wonder - that in time, wonder would wrap itself around us, enabling us to embody both of these principles. When we apply muscle energy to anything - we draw in and connect ourselves to that which matters and grounds us a...

"Love said to me, There is nothing that is not me. Be silent." ~ Rumi I read this quote a few days ago, and it was perfect in every way. It defined my weeks, and defined my days, so far this crucial year of 2012. And, it even showed up in my theme during my first week back to teaching yoga. Since the holiday season ended, I have had the wonderful and delicious opportunity to make a slow re-entry back into daily activity, and I am grateful for the many wonderful opportunities to slow down. To be still. To enjoy solitude. And to be silent... There have been cold days when I visited a wind-swept river or walked among barren trees in prayer. And even once, on that rare day, when snow flurries came down as well. There have been many moments of reflection. Punctuated by goal setting. Days of assessments made - with one day flowing seamlessly into the next. I began my first week of classes by working the First Principle of Anusara Yoga - "Opening to Grace," as I usually d...

What weighs you down? What keeps you in bondage when you most yearn for freedom - and just want to soar? Nicolai Bachman , in his book, The Path of the Yoga Sutras , defines "vairagya" as nonattachment to sensory objects. Every major religious or spiritual tradition teaches the concept of nonattachment in form or another. Bachman begins this section in his book with this quote from the Buddha : "The secret of happiness lies in the mind's release from worldy ties." Catchy verse. It rhymes. And it is so true! The practice of vairagya enables us to cultivate a sense of letting go - not only of material things and possessions, but also of all that does not serve us as well. In my classes, it seemed fitting to link this concept to the Anusara Yoga principle of "Organic Energy" because when one has truly embodied this notion of nonattachment and letting go, while still drawing in to that which binds us, grounds us, and keeps us honest - we are free to soar...

This morning, I told my students, that they cannot embody "Inner Spiral" without engaging "Outer Spiral." And conversely, they cannot truly embody "Outer Spiral" without engaging "Inner Spiral." You simply cannot have one without the other. There is always a dance that exists between the two. They are always in dynamic relationship to each other. And for those familiar with Anusara Yoga parlance, it can take a lifetime to embody both. Some will require more of one principle, while others will require more of the other. Sometimes the engagement required is dramatic. More often, it is quite subtle. For some of us, the engagement of both principles requires about the same amount of effort. Each of us, has certain tendencies. It is only through keen observation and discrimination that we become more fully aware of what our tendencies are in our various practices. It is through the cultivation of viveka - which is after all, a form of mindfulness, t...

Of all of Anusara Yoga's Universal Principles of Alignment , the hardest one for me to embody is "Inner Spiral." Of the seven loops, it is "Kidney Loop," and this seems to be the case with many other practitioners as well. We are all students seeking to embody these principles and unlock their hidden wisdom. But, it is not an easy journey. Because of spinal degeneration and other physical issues that I have, the integration of both of these principles of alignment are crucial for me - along with their close friends and partners - "Outer Spiral" and "Pelvic Loop." Just last week, I was chatting with a friend at a social gathering, and sharing with her the details of my summer surgery. She laughed and then said to me, "I can imagine your kundalini is really flowing these days. After all, you had a rock sitting on your snake!" Hummm.... That certainly gave me pause. No one had quite worded it that way! But, in a way, she was right! How...

Last week, I began my yoga classes with the first sutra from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras . Today, I began with a key word from the second sutra, or verse, which is commonly translated as something like: "Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind." Or, as one of my favorites renditions by Alistair Shearer : "Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence." The word "citta" is often translated as "mind," though in his new book, The Path of the Yoga Sutras: A Practical Guide to the Core of Yoga , Nicolai Bachman , describes "citta" as "heart-mind field of consciousness," which I find absolutely delicious! So, today in my classes, I continued working with the First Universal Principle of Alignment in Anusara Yoga - which is "Opening to Grace." I chose to work with the aspects of "Inner body bright and side body long," and began my centering by having my dear Monday morning students, envision the su...

I began teaching yoga again this week, after two months of resting and recuperating after surgery. I decided to use as my theme, the first sutra in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras - "atha yoga nusasanam," or, "Now is the time for yoga." Every fall we say goodbye to the summer, and we greet the nascent season, by saying yes to our practice once again. When we begin anything - a project, a degree, a school, a job - there is an initial hesitancy, and fear - and enthusiasm - as we embrace what will be - but what is also, not yet... When we are ready, the universe conspires to assist us in undertaking whatever task or desire we have at hand... The new book, The Path of the Yoga Sutras: A Practical Guide to the Core of Yoga , by Nicolai Bachman , develops key concepts of the Yoga Sutras , in order to shed light on the these simple, pithy directives and assertions. The word "atha" - implies readiness and commitment on our part. The first chapter of this book begin...

"Give up to Grace. The ocean takes care of each wave until it returns to the shore." So wrote Rumi , and so I noted, in my last entry... Today is Good Friday. While many in the Christian tradition will focus exclusively on the passion and death of Jesus, I choose to consider this day from a much broader perspective. It is a time to die to old ways, so that we can rise to new ones...It is a time for deep interior work, cleansing our hearts and our souls, like our Jewish brothers and sisters, who so meticulously clean their homes in preparation for Passover ... This week, which was the beginning of a new yoga session, I told my students, that if they truly say: "Yes! - and open to grace" - they must entertain the possibility they are opening the door to transformation they may have not even begun to envision. If we give up to grace, not only will we be taken care of, as Rumi reminds us, but things may change beyond our wildest dreams or expectations. We may most esp...

I've been reflecting and trying to practice and embody different pieces and insights gleaned from studying with Ross Rayburn , and Desiree Rumbaugh , both Anusara Yoga certified teachers, who visited Willow Street Yoga Center, here in the Washington, DC area, the last couple of weeks. Each one of them, came bearing a special gift for me, a precious gem that I am just beginning to unwrap, knowing that these gifts will continue to yield layers upon layers of insights, for a long time to come... In the practices that I attended with Ross, he instructed us to breathe into our pelvis, expanding there, all the way into our ribs and back as well. We worked strongly with Inner and Outer Spiral in a deep and nuanced way. Ross noted, that the psoas muscle connects all the way to T12 in our spine, and when we inner spiral, we want to open all the way into that place. Desiree showed us how to get into the heart more, and how to do all of our poses - including inversions and arm balances ...

I shared in one of my recent posts, that I have been journeying through the attributes of the Divine as themes for my yoga classes of late. This week, my focus is on "ananda" which means bliss, and I am working with "Inner Spiral" - one of the Anusara Yoga Universal Principles of Alignment, as a way of creating more expansion in the body, (more specifically in the hips) and thus, a greater container for the embodiment of bliss. The implication is also to let go of what stands in the way of embodying more bliss as well. I have also been teaching a short course titled: "The Art and Yoga of Happiness," so needless to say, I've read quite a number of books on the subjects of joy, bliss, and happiness in the last couple of months... One of the books I recently reviewed is: Unconditional Bliss: Finding Happiness in the Face of Hardship by Howard Raphael Cushnir, and like Byron Katie, he too proposes two questions to ask oneself to get at the heart of the ...

One of the attributes of the Divine, as recognized in Tantric texts and teachings is "svatantrya" or ultimate freedom. It is also an attribute that we strive to embody and attain as yoga practitioners and mundane mystics. I believe it is something that all humans yearn for, and as we observe the events that are taking Egypt and the Middle East by storm, this becomes even more evident and relevant. In my own classes this week, I explored ultimate freedom as resulting from the interplay between Muscular Energy and Organic Energy - two of the principles in Anusara Yoga's Universal Principles of Alignment . It is in the dance between the two that we experience and come to embody ultimate freedom. But it is also in this dance that we consider and ponder the many questions that arise in our lives and that calls us to honor our process as well. Today, as I reflected on three inter-related issues - the profound insights received during a craniosacral therapy session with a very ...

This morning, with warm coffee in tow, after a very early morning meditation as the sun rose, I went down to the river. It seems, it is calling me to visit again, as I have on and off, at various junctures, throughout these last three years... Why do I go to the river? I go for companionship. I tell the river my deepest secrets, and things that lie hidden in my heart, and it listens. The river is unconditional. It does not skirt its lessons. I also go down to the river for insights. The river somehow, always manages to teach me what I must learn. On this day, the river is partially frozen again, and the sky is overcast and gray - very much looking as if it will snow, which is in the forecast for tomorrow. Last week, I visited several times. On some days, the river rushed with great power. One day - it was perfectly still. On a couple of occasions it was nearly frozen over. I marveled at how drastically it changed from one day to another - somehow mirroring my feelings and state of mind...

I arise early on this tenth day of the tenth month of the year 2010. This sequence of numbers, in metaphysical terms, reduces to the number three which is symbolic of rewards and successes, and invokes intuition, expression, and the joy of creativity. I make my way to the other side of the river for my yoga class, and as always, my teacher does not disappoint - but manages to inspire us while working and riding us hard. Yet, we all rise to the occasion as we work deeply with Inner and Outer Spiral - the third and fourth principles in Anusara Yoga's Universal Principles of Alignment - and quad stretches of all kinds. I came to class aching, but I will leave exhilarated - knowing that I gave it my best. At one point, my teacher looks at me and exclaims: "Look around you! All thirty in this room are in full Virasana !" And yes, they are - and radiant as well. Every now and then I manage to take notes on the sequencing or instruction as we work towards Pasasana and beyo...

Yeah, I knew that might be a catchy title for a post! I had to take a narcotic last night - and as as someone who made it through the 60's and 70's without "inhaling," ingesting or partaking of "certain" substances, or engaging in any hard-core, partying (I know - it is amazing and boring) - anything of the sort in the present tense is certain to send me places only deep meditation has revealed. (And of course, that experience is so much more sublime!) But seriously, early this evening, after working on the theme for my yoga classes this week, I sat in meditation. More on my meditation in a minute. I am working with the second of the brahmaviharas this week - karuna - or compassion - and linking it to "Inner Spiral" and its capacity for widening and making space in our pelvis - but also in our lives - and ultimately in our hearts. Inner Spiral is the third of Anusara's Universal Priniciples of Alignment. I recalled that John Friend focused ...

The air is crisp. It feels so clean. So clear. So wonderful... I drive to the other side of the river for yoga - two days in a row. On Saturday, I drive in to experience and evaluate two budding teachers who "team-teach" a class together. Every time I do this, I wonder who is really being served more by this process. Each and every time I take and evaluate such a class, I find my own understanding of teaching the gift of yoga and the Anusara Yoga Universal Principles of Alignment is deepened. I am humbled by this amazing opportunity to offer whatever insight I can, in service to the Anusara community. On both days I drive with the windows partially open - breathing in the wonderful air of the season - intoxicated by the very delicious and sensual music of Keiko Matsui, a jazz pianist. I feel as alive as I can possibly be... Today, however, I get to be a student. I travel to the other side of the river to hear tales of Hanuman and his devoted loyalty to his Master Lord Ram...

I sleep in, for the first time in a while...The singing birds and gentle fall breeze kisses me awake... I make espresso and sit out on my deck, under the canopy provided by mighty oaks, poplars, and evergreens of all sorts, delighting in the moment... Two weeks ago, I visited a yoga teacher who had been mine for several years. I went at the behest of a dream the previous night. She too, had dreamed of me. There were more incredible details to this dream that miraculously drew us together again... Three days ago, we reunited again, for a private that was nothing less than a sacred meeting of souls. This gifted angel "saw" what I needed, and provided the needed support and assistance which both my soul and body needed... Interspersed with her sequencing and strong healing hands that gave me the right adjustments, were gems of wisdom, addressing what she observed, poetically flowing, like manna for my bruised spirit... "Find your breath! Find her! Say to yourself - 'Let...

About four years ago, I self-published a volume of my poetry, titled Dancing in the Divine: More Poems from the Heart of Practice , and this theme of dancing in the Divine is one I chose to re-visit this week as a class theme. On Sunday, Anusara Yoga celebrated its 13th birthday. The word Anusara is often translated as "flowing with grace," or "stepping into the current of grace." Anusara at its essence, is a practice which invites us to "align with the Divine." If we align with something - we pulsate in resonance with it - our energy dances with it. Most of us like to dance - behind closed doors in the privacy of our own company where no one else is watching - or we like to do it with a special someone. When we align - we dance - there is a certain fluidity and freedom of movement that occurs when the energy of the Divine moves through us - and in our practice, the Anusara Universal Principles of Alignment lend their support, enabling us to create th...

There are hard edges to every soul... And there are soft edges to every heart... And vice versa...I know...Because I came into this life embodying both... I walk, in the intense heat of the morning, reflecting on so much, and I hear the words of Snatam Kaur , a subtle track, laid underneath a rich mantra, whispered solely for me, given and received as a personal message: "Follow your heart! Fulfill your destiny! Awaken your soul!" At a time of great transitioning and re-imagining my life through a different lens, these words - along with the new personal mantra I have embraced in my meditations - arrive as a precious reminder of the never-ending discovery of my own true purpose... I tell a neighbor, early in the morning, as she is watering her thirsty plants on what will be another scorching and record-setting day, that for too long I ignored my intuition - trusting the insights of others - sometimes more deeply than my own wisdom. But now I have chosen to listen more careful...