Mondays, 5-6pm and Thursdays, 5:30
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with Bonnie Glass |
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Your body will reap the benefits of the physical movement, including increased openness, strength and flexibility, while the focus is on yoga as a meditative, internal practice. Enjoy a short period of the day in which the emphasis is on turning within and 'being' with no attachment to outcome or results. Feel free to modify any poses as needed to fit the particular needs of your body. That is a big part of what this practice is about: respecting our individuality, learning about and honoring our bodies exactly as they are, and following our own inner wisdom. Led by Bonnie Glass, Registered Yoga Teacher. $12/class on a drop-in basis; $10/class if you pay for the entire month in advance. Sliding scale is also available. No experience necessary. |
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Yoga: Life's Practice on the Mat
The yoga mat is a wonderful place for self-discovery. All of the practices, habits, and ways we live our lives can be observed, witnessed and experienced on the yoga mat. By bringing these practices to awareness, we can change ways that no longer serve us. We can learn to observe our behaviors, follow our feelings, surrender and relax into life, notice where we are holding tension in our bodies, learn compassion for ourselves and others, meet our competitive side, learn how to be fully present in the now...the list goes on.
Yoga was developed as a way of opening our bodies for meditation. Our society, unfortunately, has taken its ways into the practice of yoga. Yoga, therefore, is often used as a way of creating sculptured bodies, competing with others for the perfect pose. It is very easy to bring our life's practices into our practice of yoga. My desire is to create an environment for others to practice yoga as a spiritual practice. For me, yoga is a form of prayer. At the beginning of my practice, I surrender my practice, my body, my life to Spirit: "Thy will be done." My prayer is to serve God and to live God's will for me. My practice of yoga helps me in my practice of life. Each time I surrender my practice, I learn a little more about surrendering my life and opening to the flow of Divine love.
Yoga is a method of embodiment of the spiritual teachings, bringing them into material form through our bodies. Many people read the spiritual teachings. Yoga helps us bring what we know into the reality of the physical world.
There are many different types of yoga to choose from. Finding one that is right for you is similar to trying on clothes. Sometimes you know right away that something will look terrible on you. Other times you have to try on the clothes to see if they fit. Just as you can wear many different types of clothing and there are different types of clothing that are appropriate for different occasions, you may also find that you enjoy doing different types of yoga.
One of the most important questions I ask myself about a class is, "How do I feel?" Often my mind will step in and say that a class is good for me to take because I will learn something from it: I need the discipline, etc. I stop and ask myself, "Is that true?" I have found that many times an old recording from my upbringing, patterns of thought, or conditioning is playing out. I have gone into 'autopilot' and am not in touch with my feelings. When I stop to ask myself how I am feeling about a class or experience, I get closer in touch with my inner truth. This is a good practice for life, not just for yoga. We are, as they say, creatures of habit. We act in ways that we don't even realize we can choose to change. Often, we're not even aware that there is a choice. Stopping to question our thoughts or beliefs can begin to draw awareness to a thought pattern that we may not want to keep any longer. Delving into our feelings brings us out of our heads and into our bodies, where our intuitive self can guide us.
There is No One "Right" Way to Do Yoga
The type of yoga I teach is a gentle yoga. I focus on connecting you with your body and giving you the space and freedom to follow your inner guide into poses. There is no one right way of doing a pose. Different traditions in yoga do poses differently. Your body will do a pose differently than mine.
We live in a society that believes that we learn best through criticism and correction. Most of us have very negative programs that run in our minds. We have learned to berate ourselves. We have learned that we will grow by pointing out all of our flaws and failures. Fortunately this isn't the case. We can choose to grow in a loving way. We must, however, let go of our negative conditioning and be open to a new way.
I met my inner critics on the yoga mat. They yelled at me constantly, criticizing every pose. They were so mean to me, that one day I stopped going to yoga. I didn't know why. I hadn't even realized the inner critic's rantings and ravings. After not going to yoga for about a month, I questioned why I had stopped doing something that felt so good to do at one time. I realized that I was paying to spend an hour and a half of my life each day, several times per week, to be yelled at by my inner critic. I certainly wouldn't sign up for a class in which the instructor treated me the way I was treating myself. With this realization, I was able to return to my yoga practice and to slowly retrain the critic. Each time I heard the inner critic, I faced him or her and told her that he wasn't going to treat me this way. I protected my inner child. I still meet my inner critics on the mat from time to time, but they are much quieter now and much easier to manage.
| Leaving the Past Behind |
When we walk into a yoga class after a long day, it often is challenging not to keep working on the problems of the day. We have a tendency to drag our problems in on our backs. There is so little time in our lives to take care of things, that we feel selfish taking an hour or two to 'ourselves' to practice yoga. So often we don't allow ourselves to have the practice fully. This is part of the practice. We can teach ourselves to let go of what has happened already in the day, and to not jump into what has not yet happened in our lives. We can create space. As we practice this, we can almost feel the clutter separating, creating an opening in which we can stand in stillness and inner peace.
I had one yoga teacher teach a practice called "Shakti". In this practice, we start shaking our hands and wrists, move up to our arms, shake our legs and other parts of our bodies until our whole body is shaking. We do this to give some tangible form to 'shaking off the day'. It is much like the simple practice of wiping off our feet on a mat before entering a room. While there are tangible, practical reasons for doing that, there also are symbolic ones. As we wipe our feet, we wipe off the dirt we have gathered on them throughout the day. We don't bring the dirt home with us. We treat our home as a sacred place.
Our yoga practice, too, is sacred. When we become aware of this, we can practice mindfulness in creating sacred space for stillness in our lives. Eventually, we practice bringing the stillness of yoga on the mat into the motion of our practice and our lives.
It may seem contradictory to speak of yoga as the practice of stillness in motion. What does this mean? Yoga is commonly thought of as a series of poses people do to increase flexibility. While this is true at the surface level, at the deeper level yoga is a spiritual practice that was developed to help people sit in meditation. It is a practice of movement that can help lead to stillness within. Those of us who have tried to meditate know how hard it can sometimes be to 'just be'. Sometimes sitting still is the hardest thing we can do. Quieting the mind or bringing the mind to stillness seems near impossible at times. Yoga is a practice of breathing, mindfulness and movement that can help us still ourselves inside and out.
The breath is one of the most important parts of a yoga practice, though in this society it often is not even included in the teaching. Our breath is what brings us within. It is what can wash over us like a blanket, covering and comforting a small child. It brings our attention to our center. If you think about the energy of inhaling, what do you imagine as the visual? Is the inhale taking you inside yourself or out? Close your eyes as you inhale through your nose. What do you feel? What do you see?
Now exhale through your mouth. How does that feel? Do you get images while exhaling? What happens when you exhale through your nose? How does that feel? How does that change things? In yoga, we primarily inhale and exhale through the nose. At times, however, we practice certain breathing techniques in which we breathe through our mouths. Kapalabhati breath or "Breath of Fire" is one of these techniques. With kapalabhati breathing, we focus on our exhale and let the inhale happen. We get rid of toxins and things that we are carrying within us, and in doing so, we are able to automatically breathe in what we need. It is much like the practice of life or the piece of Michelangelo's clay. As Michelangelo said, the sculpture is about cutting away the excess, finding the sculpture in the clay placed in front of him. It is the same with us. We often accumulate so much baggage that we cover over the beautiful, unique sculpture waiting to be seen in the clay. Kapalabhati breathing, and other breathing practices which focus on the exhale, can remind us that in letting go of what no longer serves us to carry around, we create room and energy to breathe in more of life.
| Being Fully Present / Becoming the Poses |
How often are we fully present in our lives? Have you ever tried to read a page of a book, without getting lost in your thoughts on the way? How often are you physically with someone you love, but mentally miles away? Yoga can help you practice the power of concentration. By focusing on stillness and quiet, or focusing on being the pose, the Eagle, the Tree, you teach your mind how to be fully present in your poses and in life.
When I first began yoga, my mind took me all over the room. I felt as though I was running around and around the yoga studio, up the walls, and wanting to go out the doors. At first I was very disturbed by this. I didn't understand what was happening. But as time went on I realized I was being given the opportunity to witness what my mind did every day without my realizing it. As I tried to stay still in the yoga studio, I was able to stop long enough to see what my mind was busy doing all day long. My energy was all over the place.
So how do you bring back a mind that is racing around the world? With the breath and gentleness. The image of a puppy is often used in meditation teaching. The teaching is to pick up the puppy and sit her down again where you want her to be. Do this with your mind that has wandered. Simply pick up the puppy and come back to center. You can do this visually in your mind's eye. And you can use your breath to help. Ujayi or Ocean breath can help. This is the breathing in which you hear the sound of your breath. The sound of your breath can help block the sound of your thoughts in your mind. The sound of your breath going into your center can bring your attention to that place within you.
Loving and Living Right Where We Are
While we can hold the intention to some day do the classic form of a pose, there often are many steps along the way. Learning to honor where we are at the present moment instead of trying to be at the final destination is a wonderful practice...for yoga and life. How often I want to be at the end of the journey instead of where I am. There really is no end. No matter how flexible we become, no matter how deeply we can enter a pose, there will always be further to go. There is no end. There is no destination. So we may as well learn right now, at this present moment, how to be exactly where we are. If we don't, we will always be reaching for something down the road, something out of our reach because it's tomorrow, not today.
Spring Cleaning / Creating Space
Yoga is about de-layering, unlearning. When I think about this, I imagine little people inside of me tossing papers and clutter over their shoulders as they clean out the clutter inside. Spring cleaning. We collect so much. We can see this in our homes; we can see this in our bodies; we can see this in our minds. We have a constant process of clearing out the clutter we accumulate, and once we clean out, it doesn't take long for us to restock the shelves, only to have to do more cleaning again. It is a cycle and a process that seems to have a life of its own, and maybe it is just a part of life's practice. Maybe that is how we are designed to be. It is like weeding the garden, only to have to weed again. Or vacuuming the carpet, only to have to vaccuum again. It is like needing to shower, at least periodically, to wash off the dirt that has reaccumulated. Cleaning and clearing out is a continuous process. So, too, is the cleaning and clearing out of our insides.
When I think about my life's mission these days, I find a theme of 'making space'. So often I have heard myself say that there is no room for me...in my home situation, at work, in life. And hearing myself say these words has made me question their meaning. Why do I have a feeling within me that there is no room for me? What exactly does this mean? What does it mean to 'create space'?
Over the years, practices have come into my life that have helped in my healing through depression and in my path of self-realization. Again I have noticed that many of my practices are focused on creating space within. I journal not only as a vehicle of processing my life, but as a way to empty out. Through writing I am able to release the thoughts that otherwise linger in my mind and body. My practices have included periods of time in silence, preventing the outside world from bombarding me, creating space for things to bubble up from within. I sometimes fast to empty out and cleanse my body. I meditate to still my mind's thoughts and free myself from constant doing. I do yoga to allow my body to open and to release what is held in its tissues and to practice moving meditation, another form of emptying for my body and mind.
Shamanic healing teaches us that healers become hollow bones for healing...clean, cleared out, carved out vessels that allow divine healing to pass through. Emptying our lives is contrary to the teachings of this society which encourage grasping, achieving, and getting ahead, and which measures our success by our tangible, material belongings. This way of living is part of the unlearning we must do.
Contrary to what we may have been raised to believe, the less there is of 'us' the more we can serve this world. Water can't flow through a clogged pipe. Blood can't flow through a clogged artery. Divine love and grace can't flow through anything but an open channel. While we are busy accumulating excessive things, knowledge, belongings, we are pushing out the space that can be present for the divine to flow through.
All I have to do is look at my overflowing bookshelf to find evidence of my own tendency toward clutter. I have moved often and rid myself of books on each move, only to acquire new ones at the next stop. I am constantly looking for more information, more knowledge from outside. I cram it all in until I can take in no more and feel an eminent explosion. Then, once I have freedom from input, I have space for things to move around inside me, and I have room for the learning to come from within.
Bakers know the importance of space in allowing the dough to rise. We can knead the dough only so much, and unless we give it room to rise, we will not have bread. Too much kneading can ruin the bread. Too much efforting can interfere with our own growth and development. Ideas and teachings, like bread dough, need room to rise.
I can look at my closet, which I must weed out often to rid myself of the items I no longer wear, the items that perhaps once fit me well, but no longer do. So it is with life. At different stages of our lives, different things fit us better. It is best not to get too attached, for that is like holding on to a bathing suit from when you were two years old and expecting it to fit you now that you're 42. It doesn't make much sense, does it? Yet we do the same thing with beliefs, thoughts, responses, ways that no longer truly fit us where we are in our journeys. Let them go. Clean out. Open up.
Our bodies hold memories, too. When we practice yoga, often these memories, or contained pockets of energy are released from within. When this happens, if we understand what is happening, it is easier to witness the process and allow the release to happen. Emotions often are released, which can be scary. If we can center ourselves during the release, allow the emotions to flow through us, remain steady in mind and being, then we can be like an open vessel that lets water flow through. If we are afraid, we actually hold on to what wants to be released. The release can be experienced as a loss. Even when we 'lose' something painful, like a painful memory, we are still losing something. We can acknowledge that, be with the loss and the feeling fully, and move through to the other side where we find more openness and freedom than before. That is what yoga is. It is freedom. Freedom from the past. Freedom from ways that no longer serve us. Freedom from thoughts and patterns that cage us and imprison us.
| Releasing Tension in Our Bodies |
Yoga is not about efforting, it is about releasing and opening to life. In our society, yoga is often taught as a form of physical exercise. We are taught to tighten muscles to help us in poses. While muscle strength is useful in yoga, focusing on developing muscles is actually contrary to my understanding of yoga. Asana means sitting in ease and comfort. Each pose is to have a sense of ease and comfort. Any time we tense our bodies to do an asana, we are creating new tension in our bodies instead of releasing tension. Yoga can be done in many ways. Unfortunately we often learn to look at the external appearance of the pose as our guide. This is like focusing on the tangible material successes in life as a measurement of true success. How often have people succeeded in achieving all their material goals only to find that they are still miserably unhappy? It is the same with yoga. The most beneficial way to practice yoga is to look upon it as a practice of the present moment, a practice of being fully embodied, a practice of following the body into asanas in a way in which the body leads.
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