Ahhhh....a nice, quiet, meditative practice. I am so grateful for the mental quiet.
The time I set aside on the mat for "not thinking" is a relief, especially in the times when drama is swirling around. During that time on the mat, I'm not responsible for thinking up great ideas and I'm not responsible for solving complicated problems. My only "job" is to follow the breath. Amongst the busy life-stuff, it's a relief to know that once I step onto the mat, for the next hour or two, all I have to do is breathe.
Nancy Gilgoff said something at the Confluence that stuck with me. She said: (paraphrasing here) when you notice yourself thinking, pick up the pace of the breath until it's occupying your attention again and your mind has stopped getting in the way.
I'm having fun exploring this; I'm playing with mind and breath.
Showing posts with label breath. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breath. Show all posts
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Making Space with Breath
Sunday and Monday slipped by with no post. Suddenly, I've arrived at Tuesday already.
I am grateful that the practice that I do is a breathing practice. I am tired on top of tired today. I managed daily minimum practice: 5A, 5B, lotus...
Everything is tight, body is tight, mind is certainly tight. I suspect mind is actually driving the body at the moment. There is more ease at the times when it happens the other way around.
Despite me, the breath manages to slip in, make just the smallest of spaces between tightly coiled thoughts, and soften the edges.
I am grateful that the practice that I do is a breathing practice. I am tired on top of tired today. I managed daily minimum practice: 5A, 5B, lotus...
Everything is tight, body is tight, mind is certainly tight. I suspect mind is actually driving the body at the moment. There is more ease at the times when it happens the other way around.
Despite me, the breath manages to slip in, make just the smallest of spaces between tightly coiled thoughts, and soften the edges.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Paying Attention
Today, I'm recognizing gratitude for the method of practice.
Pay attention to breath, pose, and driste.
Get distracted.
Become aware of distraction.
Bring attention back to breath, pose, and driste.
Pay attention to breath, pose, and driste.
Get distracted.
Become aware of distraction.
Bring attention back to breath, pose, and driste.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Breath and Opening
I'm spending a few days pulling in as opposed to reflecting out. I'm in Miami practicing with my teacher....5 whole days to be a student. :)
Practicing here is not like practicing anywhere else. The space where my teacher has morning Mysore class holds 5 students at a maximum. The space is small, intimate, and there is nowhere to hide. You could imagine that the adjustments and attention from an experienced teacher in that small group could spoil a person!
The best part for me personally about that space is the constant sound of David breathing. Even when he is on the "far" side of the room, I can still hear the sound of full, even breathing. As my attention sinks deeper inward, it starts to feel almost as if the room itself is breathing...inhale, expand, exhale, contract.
The Ashtanga Vinyasa practice really is a "breathing practice". With each trip I make here, I find the breath leading me into a steadier, lighter practice.
On this trip in particular, I started the 5 days of practice with some stress in my mind that had dug itself deeply into my body. In practice the day before I drove down, I had the feeling that I just wasn't getting any breath into those tight areas where I had deposited the stress for dealing with later.
In the first practice here, I felt like I was fighting my own body: trying to send breath into tight areas, realizing that I would have to let those tissues open if I was going to get some breath in there, noting that I felt some resistance to opening up...
...like all that I didn't want to think about right then would open up with the tissues...because of course it would...
Slowly after 4 days of practice with David, things are opening up and sliding back into place. One more day of practice to try to deepen the breath just a little bit more
....next, working to carry that back with me into my solo practice and teaching practice
Practicing here is not like practicing anywhere else. The space where my teacher has morning Mysore class holds 5 students at a maximum. The space is small, intimate, and there is nowhere to hide. You could imagine that the adjustments and attention from an experienced teacher in that small group could spoil a person!
The best part for me personally about that space is the constant sound of David breathing. Even when he is on the "far" side of the room, I can still hear the sound of full, even breathing. As my attention sinks deeper inward, it starts to feel almost as if the room itself is breathing...inhale, expand, exhale, contract.
The Ashtanga Vinyasa practice really is a "breathing practice". With each trip I make here, I find the breath leading me into a steadier, lighter practice.
On this trip in particular, I started the 5 days of practice with some stress in my mind that had dug itself deeply into my body. In practice the day before I drove down, I had the feeling that I just wasn't getting any breath into those tight areas where I had deposited the stress for dealing with later.
In the first practice here, I felt like I was fighting my own body: trying to send breath into tight areas, realizing that I would have to let those tissues open if I was going to get some breath in there, noting that I felt some resistance to opening up...
...like all that I didn't want to think about right then would open up with the tissues...because of course it would...
Slowly after 4 days of practice with David, things are opening up and sliding back into place. One more day of practice to try to deepen the breath just a little bit more
....next, working to carry that back with me into my solo practice and teaching practice
Monday, April 25, 2011
Breathe.
Yoga Sutras 2.49-2.53
"Pranayama is the regulation of the incoming and outgoing flow of breath with retention. It is to be practiced only after perfection in asana is attained. Pranayama has three movements: prolonged and fine inhalation, exhalation and retention; all regulated with precision according to duration and place. The fourth type of pranayama transcends the external and internal pranayamas, and appears effortless and non-deliberate. Pranayama is not only an instrument to steady the mind, but also the gateway to concentration, dharana."
-translation by B.K.S. IyengarThoughts:
Breath…I have so much to say about breath that not many words comes out. The more I feel about the importance of something, the harder it is for me to say something coherent about it.
During most of the day, most of the time, I think most people rarely take a single full breath. It’s the source of our energy and we sip at it.
If we do nothing else, as yogis and yoginis, let’s teach the world to breathe. It could change everything.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
On the Breath and Nerves...
There was an interesting thread connecting breath and the nervous system, that kept coming up in David's anatomy workshop last weekend.
I've been playing with the pace and fullness of my breath in practice lately and have blogged a bit on changes I've noticed. Changing the pace and quality of breath, changes the quality and energy of my practice. I've noticed it in the moment (during practice) and I've noticed changes in energy post-practice, later in the day.
...but so far, that's all I had done...just change the breath arbitrarily to see what would happen and then make a note of it. I hadn't been setting out to change the breath with any particular intention in mind.
Over the weekend, the importance of controlling the breath in order to control the nervous system kept coming up. This was definitely a "light bulb moment" for me. My default setting is nervous. I grew up with family often encouraging me to make decisions out of fear, to make "safe" choices. I've known for a long time that I don't want to live that way. Some of the best people/experiences that I've known have come out of the sort of choices where you take a deep breath and jump! I've crash-landed a few times too, but I've never regretted taking the risk even when I've landed hard.
What's sort of settled in from thoughts generated over the last weekend is that creating the spaciousness to make choices with the greatest awareness I can manage all comes back to controlling the nervous system....and the way in to the nervous system is the breath.
David talked about the importance of using the breath to manage and reduce stimulation of the nervous system.
My favorite David Keil one-liner of the weekend was in reference to breath: "Take control of the breath, otherwise it's controlling you."
Ah, yes...that is, in fact, exactly what happens when I let the nervous system take the wheel. The breath gets shallow and fast and drives me right into a panic. Suddenly, all I can hear is the refrain of "What if...".
It's amazingly freeing and calming to know that I have a tool to manage the nervous system. I can tame it daily with the breath.
More from David on the anatomy of breath here: http://blog.yoganatomy.com/2010/10/breath-leads-to-bandhas/
I've been playing with the pace and fullness of my breath in practice lately and have blogged a bit on changes I've noticed. Changing the pace and quality of breath, changes the quality and energy of my practice. I've noticed it in the moment (during practice) and I've noticed changes in energy post-practice, later in the day.
...but so far, that's all I had done...just change the breath arbitrarily to see what would happen and then make a note of it. I hadn't been setting out to change the breath with any particular intention in mind.
Over the weekend, the importance of controlling the breath in order to control the nervous system kept coming up. This was definitely a "light bulb moment" for me. My default setting is nervous. I grew up with family often encouraging me to make decisions out of fear, to make "safe" choices. I've known for a long time that I don't want to live that way. Some of the best people/experiences that I've known have come out of the sort of choices where you take a deep breath and jump! I've crash-landed a few times too, but I've never regretted taking the risk even when I've landed hard.
What's sort of settled in from thoughts generated over the last weekend is that creating the spaciousness to make choices with the greatest awareness I can manage all comes back to controlling the nervous system....and the way in to the nervous system is the breath.
David talked about the importance of using the breath to manage and reduce stimulation of the nervous system.
My favorite David Keil one-liner of the weekend was in reference to breath: "Take control of the breath, otherwise it's controlling you."
Ah, yes...that is, in fact, exactly what happens when I let the nervous system take the wheel. The breath gets shallow and fast and drives me right into a panic. Suddenly, all I can hear is the refrain of "What if...".
It's amazingly freeing and calming to know that I have a tool to manage the nervous system. I can tame it daily with the breath.
More from David on the anatomy of breath here: http://blog.yoganatomy.com/2010/10/breath-leads-to-bandhas/
Friday, May 28, 2010
Practice
Practice is life. The two are not separate, just two expressions of the same thing. The time I spend on my mat is a chance to remove extraneous variables and watch myself respond to triggers. What happens when I am tired or uncomfortable? I notice impatience and frustration come up. Hmm. What to do with that? I can express it by forcing poses and letting the breath disintegrate into a raspy mess. Experience suggests that I'll be happier with another choice. So, what to do then? Sit back, watch the physical expression of frustration. Notice areas of tension. Concentrate the breath there. Notice what happens on the inhale. Notice what happens on the exhale. Use what is accessible, body and breath, to change what is not.
Asana practice is a laboratory for my life. It's a place to remove the complications of extraneous circumstances and look at the essence, fundamentals and common threads. It's my chance to slow down the pace and catch myself in moments of fear, discomfort, or ego...and to see what happens when I choose a different response than what I might elect out of habit.
Asana practice is a laboratory for my life. It's a place to remove the complications of extraneous circumstances and look at the essence, fundamentals and common threads. It's my chance to slow down the pace and catch myself in moments of fear, discomfort, or ego...and to see what happens when I choose a different response than what I might elect out of habit.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Yoga Sutra 1.40: Objects of Meditation
"Mastery is achieved when the mind can concentrate on any object from the smallest atom to the entire cosmos." Sutra 1.40 Maehle translation
Thoughts:
The two translations of the Yoga Sutras that I use the most were done by Iyengar and Maehle. It's interesting to me that the commentary in both translations of this sutra is similar. They both talk about starting to learn to pay attention by using more accessible "objects of meditation" and working up to more challenging ones. It seems to me like a parallel to challenging the breath through asana practice. You start the practice with fundamental asanas. When the breath is steady and easy, you add more challenging asanas, pushing the edges of maintaining a steady breath. It makes sense to me that steadying the mind would work the same way. Start with the basics, then, when the mind is steady, add more challenge.
Ultimately, I suppose the two are really not that separate. Pranayama is, after all, using breath control to control energy and mind. Breath is both an object of meditation and a physical reflection of the steadiness or unsteadiness of the mind.
...I do have the feeling though, when it comes to a steady mind, I'll be working on the basics for a long time...
Thoughts:
The two translations of the Yoga Sutras that I use the most were done by Iyengar and Maehle. It's interesting to me that the commentary in both translations of this sutra is similar. They both talk about starting to learn to pay attention by using more accessible "objects of meditation" and working up to more challenging ones. It seems to me like a parallel to challenging the breath through asana practice. You start the practice with fundamental asanas. When the breath is steady and easy, you add more challenging asanas, pushing the edges of maintaining a steady breath. It makes sense to me that steadying the mind would work the same way. Start with the basics, then, when the mind is steady, add more challenge.
Ultimately, I suppose the two are really not that separate. Pranayama is, after all, using breath control to control energy and mind. Breath is both an object of meditation and a physical reflection of the steadiness or unsteadiness of the mind.
...I do have the feeling though, when it comes to a steady mind, I'll be working on the basics for a long time...
Monday, December 21, 2009
Winter comes to Florida!
Beryl Bender Birch tells a great story about practicing outside with David Swenson at her house in New York on a chilly spring day. It's a great story about the power of ujjai breathing to create heat...even when it's cold!
No one can tell a story like Beryl, so I'll leave the story-telling to her (ask her to tell it if you go to one of her workshops), but in this morning's practice that story kept coming to mind.
Winter has finally arrived in Florida. It either actually froze last night or got very close...our first freeze day this year. Despite the space heater in the studio, I just couldn't seem to warm up! I don't think I ever actually broke a sweat....so I made the focus of practice the ujjai breath. It was a good morning to remember that it's still yoga as long as you're breathing!
No one can tell a story like Beryl, so I'll leave the story-telling to her (ask her to tell it if you go to one of her workshops), but in this morning's practice that story kept coming to mind.
Winter has finally arrived in Florida. It either actually froze last night or got very close...our first freeze day this year. Despite the space heater in the studio, I just couldn't seem to warm up! I don't think I ever actually broke a sweat....so I made the focus of practice the ujjai breath. It was a good morning to remember that it's still yoga as long as you're breathing!
Friday, September 25, 2009
It's a Breathing Practice!
Over the past year or so, my teacher has added some challenging poses to my yoga practice. It seems that at just the moment when I start to feel all pleased with myself about "what I can do", my teacher adds another layer of depth to my practice! ...which is as it should be and one of the many reasons I continue to practice with him. :)
Slowly over the past few weeks though, it has become very apparent to me that in the the places where I am challenged, I rush the breath. Suddenly 5 breaths sounds more like 3 breaths! So, my new work: take 5 full complete breaths in the intense, challenging poses and transitions.
It has made me wonder, if I'm rushing through the places in my yoga practice that are uncomfortable, then what else in life am I rushing through...and maybe missing out on due to discomfort?
Ashtanga yoga practice really is a breathing practice. The physical postures have multiple purposes in the practice, but I really think one of the primary reasons for the poses is to challenge the breath. Lengthening the breath and really working for a steady breath in challenging postures forces me to "lean into" the intense poses....and therein lies the work that brings about transformation in practice!
Slowly over the past few weeks though, it has become very apparent to me that in the the places where I am challenged, I rush the breath. Suddenly 5 breaths sounds more like 3 breaths! So, my new work: take 5 full complete breaths in the intense, challenging poses and transitions.
It has made me wonder, if I'm rushing through the places in my yoga practice that are uncomfortable, then what else in life am I rushing through...and maybe missing out on due to discomfort?
Ashtanga yoga practice really is a breathing practice. The physical postures have multiple purposes in the practice, but I really think one of the primary reasons for the poses is to challenge the breath. Lengthening the breath and really working for a steady breath in challenging postures forces me to "lean into" the intense poses....and therein lies the work that brings about transformation in practice!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Day 1: Mysore Workshop
A couple times a year, I am fortunate enough to spend 5 days practicing Mysore style Ashtanga yoga with my teacher. The night before the first class is like Christmas Eve for me. I'm always so looking forward to practice the next morning that I toss and turn and finally fall off to a restless sleep. Last night was no different. After a restless short night, practice was heaven. There is nothing more soothing, yet also energizing, than quietly moving through practice to the sound of ujjai breath. Some breathe slower. Some breathe faster. Everyone is moving with their own breath and doing ther own work, but we are doing it together.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Breathe
I have been fortunate to practice with wonderful teachers who have always emphasized the importance of the breath in practice. Yet, only in the last few years of Ashtanga yoga practice have I really become aware of how much the quality of the breath can change the quality of the practice. Uneven breath at the beginning of practice leaves me tired before I even begin seated postures. Shallow, speedy breath leaves me light-headed. It has taken time to begin to connect all these dots. The breath it seems is like everything else in Ashtanga yoga practice, a bit of a paradox. You do as much of something impossible as you can until it becomes possible.
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