This was a long time coming since I first learned about it, drawn to it through a documentary we watched almost exactly 3 years ago. I wanted to take the course then but the seed needed more fertile ground. As with the gifts that have been presenting themselves these days in impeccable timing, this came right before I begin on a new road, and specifically at this particular point in my yoga practice and teaching.
The ten days were a profound experience, learning this deeply effective meditation technique. The work was intense from within. We sat in stillness, hour upon hour, with all these sensations arising and passing - gross and subtle as we swept or scanned part by part. We worked diligently, persistently. We tried to remain vigilant. Day after each long laborious day. The words are still so clear in my head.
In those days of complete surrender to purely meditation, I did not practice Ashtanga (asana). Tomorrow, I will begin again. I feel my practice will change from this.
From the Vipassana, I was able to draw parallels to strengthen the foundations of my Ashtanga yoga practice.
For now, I will only write phrases of insights from memory.
Wisdom in Breath as the link.
Experience of using the body as the framework.
Awareness of sensation.
No Raga (Attachment) and Dvesha (Aversion). No me, no mine, no I.
Equanimity. Yogas citta Vritti nirodha.
Sthira. Ease. Enlightenment. Awareness. Sensation. Equanimity.
Do your practice. Work Continuously.
Grateful for the lineage.
Metta and Yoga off the mat.
Bhavatu Sabba Manggalam. Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.
Incidentally, I am home on the day of Diwali in India. May the light shine within and upon us all.
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I am re-reading Michael Stone's Freeing the Body Freeing the Mind. Writings on the Connections between Yoga and Buddhism.
"Yoga and Buddhadharma offer a profound blueprint for reorienting ourselves toward that which really matters. At the heart of what matters is the reality that everyone aspires to achieve happiness and avoid suffering. Happiness derives not from wealth or progress but from inner peace, one that each of us must create by cultivating the most profound human qualities, such as empathy, humility, and compassion, and by eliminating destructive thoughts and emotions such as anger and hatred..."
~ Michael Stone
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