Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Soham सोऽहम्

Last week we had a big snow storm in Seattle and people were stuck home for multiple days - I got a little bit of cabin fever but overall I thought it was a lovely introspective time. It can be easy to maintain focus and clarity when I'm alone without distractions and obstacles, but it's more challenging to recreate this state of being in the midst of regular life.

One of the things that helps me maintain focus is to chant a mantra. The Sanskrit word mantra means "instrument of thought" [man = to think; tra = tool or instrument]. A mantra can be a sound, word or phrase, and repeating a mantra can help quiet the stream of thoughts that play in your mind.

The mantra we are using in class today is Soham which means "I am that" or "I myself." I love how it looks in Sanskrit, so beautiful! सोऽहम्
Soham acts as a natural mantra to control your breathing pattern, to help achieve deep breath, and to gain concentration. As we inhale, we think the sound Sooooo... and as we exhale, we think the sound Hummmm...

When most people hear the word "yoga" they think of the physical practice of various poses. This is called asana and it is only one of the eight limbs of yoga. Pranayama, or breathing exercises, is another one of the eight limbs of yoga. One of my favorite breathing exercises is called Nadi Shodhana (nah-dee show-DAH-nah) or Alternate Nostril Breathing [nadi = channel; shodhana = cleaning, purifying]. In Nadi Shodhana, you inhale through one nostril, retain the breath, and exhale through the other nostril (then repeat). This leads to a balance between your logical (left brain) and creative (right brain) thinking. Here is a great article on some more benefits to Nadi Shodhana.

Today in class we are using the Soham and Nadi Shodhana to even out our breath bringing balance to our mind and our postures, which will then translate into our lives.

Here is my playlist for 1/25 Yogis at UW

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

music and quotes

This quarter I'm super excited about teaching classes every other Wednesday for Yogis at UW. I'm going to post my playlists and quotes I read for each class here on my blog. For the students, you won't have to try to remember what we did because it's all right here. For those of you who can't make it to class, I hope you will still find inspiration in reading these posts. Here's the first one for today - the quote is from Neil Gaiman:

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

Here is the music playlist:

In class today we are going to do a lot of hip openers (which can bring up emotions) and back bending (which can bring up fear). When we are receptive to our emotions and in touch with our fears, we are in a perfect place to try something new! Exciting and scary at the same time :)

Make mistakes, make magic, make miracles! It's all the same - it's all movement. Moving towards what? Who cares??? Goals can be great, but if you are so focused on getting somewhere, it's hard to enjoy being here. Have you ever experience getting "there" and feeling let down? "I thought if I got that job I would be happy then...I thought if I made that much money, I would be happy then...I thought that if I lost that much weight, I would be happy then...etc..."

For me, 2012 is going to be all about living now and I hope to share that with my friends, family and students.