Archive for the ‘Sanskrit’ Category
This morning I was quite puzzled. Couldn’t figure out what was going on, wondered what was wrong.
Cuz I didn’t feel ambitious, or goal-oriented, or wanting or needful. Was just happy to sit on the couch with a kitty & read the news of the day.
During practice it came to me — I am content. Relaxed, [...]
Been reading off & on a lovely book on loaner from my friend at Schmetterling Yoga. http://schmetterlingyoga.blogspot.com
I’m not done with it yet & therefore not able to give a fully digested summation, but basically it’s about the mistakes we make when imagining the future. The way the human mind works means that we inevitably distort reality through selectivity & omission & really should just quit believing so firmly in what we think. 
Find it interesting in relation to yoga as a useful tool in deconstructing how we think & what we think about. I’m a huge fan of using one’s brain, but also of understanding that it’s a tricky little bugger & must not be taken tooo seriously. Stumbling is a cognitive science-y light & humorous ride.
Here’s a few pithy bits. They are all supported by a bunch of psychological studies, mostly done on erstwhile graduate students.
“Perceptions are portraits, not photographs, and their form reveals the artist’s hand every bit as much as it reflects the things portrayed.” (p. 94)
“It is only natural that we should imagine the future and then consider how doing so makes us feel, but because our brains are hell-bent on responding to current events, we mistakenly conclude that we will feel tomorrow as we feel today.” p. 138
“Distorted views of reality are made possible by the fact that experiences are ambiguous — that is, they can be credibly viewed in many ways, some of which are more positive than others. To ensure that our views are credible our brain accepts what our eye sees. To ensure that our views are positive, our eye looks for what our brain wants. The conspiracy between these two servants allows us to live at the fulcrum of stark reality and comforting illusion.” (p. 188)
So things are likely neither as bad nor as good as one thinks. What you think you will feel about something in the future is likely wrong. Guess it is best to try & quiet the fluctuations of the mind (citta vritta nirodhah, for the Sankrit lovahs 
& not get too jacked up about living on a fulcrum.
Got into the early class then some time at the gym with Beloved Husband & extra stretchies. The household now is companionably reading & purring toether.
It’s been a busy week, physical & emotional practice-wise, & I am Wicked sore. (That’s an official Bostonianism for ya. Having lived here almost six months, we were granted dispensation to use Wicked without irony by the city government.
Did 30 minutes of back releases & now the blog post & then going off to cavort in Epsom Salts.
The link between blogging & yoga is something that doesn’t seem to cause a whole lot of examination these days. I missed the nascent & even pubescent days of blogging. Now, we all blog about everything. Got an interest? Pet peeve? Obsession? Blog about it. There’s an academic/spiritual/obscene/all-of-the-above (yahooooo!!!) blog for you & if there isn’t one out there, start one!
But I really do think of blogging as a part of my yoga practice, right up there with asana, pranayama, neti, seva, blah blah blah.
(That was just a warm-up. I am about to quote the Sutras, in Sanskrit, to illustrate my point. Really, mostly to demonstrate that I can, in fact, do something other than curse & neurose.
Patanjali, Section II on Practice, Verse 1: Tapah svadhyayesvara pranidhanani kriya yogah.
According to the translation I own, (not being a Sanskrit scholar, quoting really is just for show , ” Accepting pain as help for purification, study of spiritual books, and surrender to the Supreme Being constitute Yoga in practice.”
(Thank you Sri Swami Satchidananda. BTW, I like your beard.
Acccording to my interpretation of this (different thing than quoting or translation, please note), blogging fits kinda like this.
1) Tapas — a form of discipline or burning out to create purification. Writing is a part of daily discipline. Somedays good/bad/ indifferent but always a form of creating space, clearing out the pus & puke to which flesh is heir. And, also, sometimes a form of self-mortification along the lines of public flagellation (so many possible bad typos with those two words… pause to think about it…
2) Svadhaya — study. Can be looked at in different circumstances as study of Self or Self-Studying-Spiritual-Stuff. Swami definitely leans to the latter, but he is a Swami, not a mere navel-gazing mortal. In this case, blogging I feel works as both. The self-study (narcissism is the Freudian vs. Sanskrit term is obvious. The self-studying-spiritual-stuff is partly I think from trying to encapsulate & interpret/think out loud & put out there the spiritual bits absorbed along the way. Like reading back your study notes. And it’s also from reading other people’s blogs. Seriously. I don’t presume my ramblings are anywhere up there, but I do know that I’ve learned much from others in the cybershala. How can the study of another human’s heartfelt soulsearching self-practice be anything other than sacred?
4) And the Surrender to the Supreme Being… that must mean the Internet. Or WordPress. Obviously.
The other level of Sanskrit I can throw out there in relation to blogging is Sangha. The creation of community.
On the Forrest level — here’s my personal Sanskrit-to-Forrest translation. (Note that it is much shorter & uses plain Anglo-Saxon.
Blogging: A commitment to investigate, articulate & communicate your process opens you up to yourself, others & the mysteries of the earth. Asking your Spirit “What the Fuck?” is a tool to use on & off the mat.
But that’s just based on my perspective/motivations for participation in this phenomenom. I’d be very interested to hear from others in some form (email, post, comment, energetic transmission on how their blog fits with their yoga practice overall.
Warning: Yoga Geek Discussion To Follow. : )
Ok, so, the foundation vocabulary of most yoga styles is Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. Poses and concepts today tend to have both Sanskrit and modern names.
Using Sanskrit during class is kinda like having the instructions for an incredibly complicated, choreographed game of Twister called out in an exotic language – daunting &/or delightful depending on the person.
But, it’s also similar to hearing the Catholic mass in Latin versus English – while Sanskrit is the exquisite linguistic root, the common tongue is a lot more accessible. That last phrase was much dirtier sounding than I intended. : )
As a teacher, it’s my job to know the Sanskrit names because it is the heritage of our practice, but whether or not I use them depends on the class I’m teaching.
In Vinyasa Flow classes, I try and use both: sparingly in a beginner class but increasing usage in more advanced environments. (Unless my brain stops functioning entirely & I can only recall one or the other, or, on total space-cadet days, neither, at which point there’s always mime. : )
Key point for me though, is that Sanskrit is not used in Forrest Yoga 99.9% of the time.
I think that’s because the real priority as a teacher, especially as a Forrest teacher, is clear communication. Specifically, helping people get out of their “thinking mind” and into direct experience of the posture and the moment.
And to achieve that, concrete, powerful, simple, familiar language is the most effective tool.
Think less, feel more.