Living our Balance

Blessed cycle days (and a few hours from this holiday) bring me time for svadhyaya. I am reading Yoga For A World Out Of Balance by Michael Stone. I found one copy in Bibliarch yesterday as we went to have the printer repaired. These rare book finds, to me, are like sign posts, and when open to the messages, a whole new road opens.

This book looks at how we can appreciate more deeply and truly apply yama in our current context. The tone is scholarly but heartfelt, practical and engaging. It reads like a good lecture and I look forward to sharing this with friends who are with me on this path.

"Whenever I begin working with students who want to establish a well-rounded practice, we always begin with the first limb of practice, the yamas, as a means of setting a foundation for what spiritual practice means and how it ripens in contemporary life. This approach helps dismantle our lofty associations with the term "spiritual" so that practice begins grounded in the material. When we begin with the five yamas, our yoga practice grows roots in the intricate and infinite web of living relationships and thus presses the yoga practitioner not to turen away from the world but to tune in to and be tuned by the life of relational existence. How we relate to ourselves, other humans, plants, animals, architecture, city planning, the growing of food, and the daily tasks in the household is part and parcel of the path of yoga practice."

"The yamas help us understand and refine our behaviour. As we watch our own ecology - how it connects, disconnects, inhales and exhales, falls apart, rights itself - we come to see a life that exists in a much wider field than the purely personal."

"Yoga is the reality of leaving nothing out...We are united with all things at all times. It is because I recognize my part in the interconnectedness of reality that I begin to see that I have to take action."

Some Notes to Self...

...as I reflect (and recover).

From The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga (follow the author on twitter @Deepak Chopra)

A yogi knows that his mind and body are in the ever-changing world but his essence - his soul -
resides in a dimension beyond change.

As a yogi, you are an environmentalist because you recognize that the rivers flowing through the valleys and those flowing through your veins are intimately related...

Yogis pay attention to the food they consume...Certain foods are said to be particularly conducive to a yogic lifestyle...The four most sattvic foods revered by yogis are almonds, honey, milk, and ghee.

A yogi...spontaneously expresses generosity in every thought, word, and action. 

Yoga philosophy begins with the spirit. Getting in touch with your spirit is the true goal of yoga. One way to connect with your soul is by consciously asking yourself questions that go to the heart of the human experience. They are: Who am I? What do I want? How can I serve? Whether or not you are aware of it, these questions are directing your choices in life.

Become aware of the stories you tell about yourself and your world. Participate consciously in the writing of the next chapter of your life. Yoga encourages you to expand your sense of self to embrace the collective domain of your soul.

Not the Sight for Sore Eyes...

Taken on SCTEX on our way from our trip cut short

We were gifted with our rainbow on our way home, despite the sore eyes. I didn't have it till this morning though. My eyes succumbed last.

It has been rather frustrating - I will miss teaching tomorrow and I won't see my little boy for his already belated celebration.

Here's the reminder that I must not lose sight of the blessings. And just so I do not forget, I was given the first of the seven colors to take home with me for a few days for some very strong reflection.



Pressed for Time

It seems the harder the work is in the corporate jangali, the more I feel that compelling need to find myself on the mat. 13-hour work day yesterday (literally non-stop) and 12 hours today. I started my practice at 8:30 p.m. Primary only but with it was a truly mindful practice. There must be so much peace tonight that my Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana and all my dear hamstring-intensive asanas brought only safety and balance. I savored all the poses and even easily loved my Marichyasanas (those poses are great reflections of the inner state). I held Sirsana longer and melted into a deeply aware Savasana. I have been offered these minutes, these counts of breath, and I offered each one back in Gratitude.

When pressed for time, we are reminded just how precious this practice is. I feel stronger, softer and ready for the work day that will start in another 8 hours, half way through the week. There are moments to look forward to. My Thursday class got cancelled but Saturday morning will be yoga-full of love.

As a final reflection before I go, when pressed for time on the mat, we do still have 22 hours to practice yoga off the mat. That's a lot of time for heart opening thoughts, yamas and niyamas, sthira and sukha...

This week...

What a week! It is raining hard as I write this entry. Juan is here....

The work week in the corporate jangali has become more stressful but from the moment Monday set in, I was looking forward to the beginnings of a dream come true - I now have my own Thursday class and I was gifted with one student for that first session.

I want to relish that first time in the midst of my many roles. I prayed for this part of the journey to happen and now that it is here, I want to acknowledge its presence even as I am caught in so much busy world stuff. It's true - nothing puts things in perspective like a downpour. The storm is here. I don't have a nanny now,  there's corporate and domestic work piled up over the weekend, I hosted a happy dinner for my friends despite the lack of pair of hands and spent time playing and taking care of the kids. Tonight, I will squeeze in some work and quality time with the hubby. Somehow, I will.

There's so much on my mind for the coming week and I am thinking of how my life should begin to shift so there is more space for love. I am thinking of how to go about this. In my heart I know what to do.

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do - Rumi

Readiness

I have not had the time to write about the beautiful Slow Flow class I taught last Saturday - about the gentle, trusting energy of the four beautiful people in class. I assisted in the usual Saturday Mysore session, of course. There's a certain quiet love I feel being the first to enter the shala, turning on the lights and letting the morning sun in, shuffling around to place blocks and spray bottles in obvious corners and picking up little pieces of string and stray staple wires...setting up the framed OM, clock, pens and papers and then, finally, myself for Pranayama or a few minutes of silence. The early yogis come in as early as 8 a.m.

It was a different energy though as I got used to assisting Jon but the wonderful Saturday morning regulars were there, focused and familiar. I have no expectations of my solo led sessions other than wanting to walk (or jump :-)) with the students who will enter that door.

After tonight's practice (and after this long "stereotypical" Monday), my thoughts rest on readiness. Recalling the leap of faith in taking on my Teacher Training last year after my hiatus, the first time I agreed to assist or sub, and now how I am taking another step to teaching brings to mind, ironically, how my readiness is determined not by my own decisions but a series of experiences offered to me. All I had to do was to face that direction, pray, stay open and be very, very thankful no matter what the outcome.

It was the same route for healing...for that readiness to heal, or to move on, or to love. I think about that as I contemplate on my day job. I feel ready for the change but I am opening myself up to possibilities, not knowing what the next moment will bring. There is merit in listening to mentors who bring their own experiences beyond one's own perceptions, illusions and delusions. Cultivating respect for other's experiences can also enrich your own (whether or not you actually do what was advised).  I do feel though that I should have listened more to my elders. That would have saved me a few unnecessarily painful turns. Still and all, the experiences enrich and those twists and turns are my own gifts.

In the end, the peacefulness that readiness brings is that you can trust in the outcome, whether or not it comes as a pleasant surprise or a basketful of more precious options.

So I guess it bears repeating for my own sake and those who chance upon this (there is a reason you did!)
All we need to do for now is to face that direction, pray, stay open and be very, very thankful no matter what the outcome....

Good night, world!

Awe and Gratitude

I feel so very blessed today. Despite the heavier than usual traffic along EDSA. Despite the long work day and the longer list of things to do...

At the end of the day, though I was late for our meeting, Connie gave me such beautiful news:

I am officially part of the Yoga Manila family!

I am at awe and I know because it's the silent, magnificent kind of exuberance. The one that recounts the journey to this moment, like seeing that fantastic view from a mountain top. My heart is filled with so much love and gratitude.

My Sweet Lord, how I thank you for your love, for all the seeming obstacles that continue to teach me and the gargantuan ones you flick so easily out of my way. How I thank you for this path and now, the gift to share it.

Hari OM!

Reflecting...

As I go deeper into practice, I watch myself go through the most turbulent thoughts, the most outrageous emotions, and see myself slowly go back into stillness. Off the mat, I have learned to be more attentive to the qualities I love and abhor about me and those around me. Seeing quite clearly (and sometimes, still, reluctantly) how closely intertwined these qualities are, and how fleeting. We are truly so much more vast than these fleeting labels we've created. I like to think of it as how the sea reflects the sky. Beyond the blues they project upon each other, there lies infinite life forms and light years beyond human comprehension. 

So when we reflect, if we can be still enough and silent enough to allow faith in our hearts, we may catch a glimpse of the wonders beyond that first layer of light and darkness. I believe faith allows us to quiet our minds, to override the thoughts and judgments we hold dear, so we can open ourselves to a deeper sense of knowing True Love, Divinity, God, the Source, and we are able to reflect the qualities that are timeless, boundless, and infinite - peace, love and compassion. 

John Scott in Manila

When I am in YT, I am often asked how the yoga community is here in Manila. I think we are very fortunate to have many international teachers coming over. After a week long yoga retreat in Boracay, John and Lucy Scott had a one day workshop in Manila yesterday.

And so, I woke up at 5:30 a.m., passed for Jon and we headed to the Bel-air clubhouse. We got there early enough to say hello to yogi friends from various studios.

It was a beautiful session. When John Scott arrived, he went around the room, shook everyone's hand and repeated each person's name. He has such a warm energy and exudes that special connection I perceive from my most loved teachers. I opened myself to the subtle differences in style and we took our time going through the introduction in technique and through the counting.

We went through the entire standing sequence and did full Vinyasas but we cut the seated sequence short and from the Janus, went straight to Marichyasana C, skipped D, spent time in modifications for Navasana and Bhujapidasana, skipped Supta Kurmasana and Garba Pindasana, savored Baddha Konasana, and skipped Upavishta Konasana till Setu Bandhasana. We did Urdvha Dhanurasana, Paschimottanasana Salamba Sarvangasana till modified Matsyasana. I stayed for the whole duration of Sirsasana and rested in Savasana. Unlike this narration though, John and Lucy stayed with each of these poses.

I enjoyed immensely how we savored every pose in the practice.

Thank you, dearest Becky de Villa (who was by the door making sure our gurus catch their flight...), for bringing us together in this space.

More photos from Stillpoint Manila (taken by Analiya Ancajas)

After the session, Jon, Reg, Sasheen and I had brunch at Coffee Bean. It seems Ganesha watched over me the entire morning...