Yoga for October 2011

Namaste Ashiya yoginis!

As a teacher I feel that in class there is a constant opportunity for role-reversal, and I always find myself looking at the students as my teachers. This month too, some of the students provided me with the idea of looking into balance as the topic for October’s yoga. After reading up on it and thinking about it, I realized that balance is a much more complex topic than I thought. I would like to share some of my findings with you.

As I was delving into the world of balance, I started wondering: What exactly does it mean to be balanced? We know that we need to eat balanced meals, have a good balance between work and family and lead balanced lives. But what does this mean, and what does it have to do with yoga?

One of the most popular types of yoga practiced today is Hatha Yoga. We looked into this yoga a few months ago, and said that the word Hatha comes from the Sanskrit words for Sun (Ha) and Moon (Tha). We live in a world of dualities, of opposites always acting on each other, and we always find ourselves somewhere in between opposing forces. Hatha Yoga is a system designed to bring balance and ease out the tension between these forces. Ying/Yang, Hot/Cold, Male/Female, Work/Rest. Latching on to either of the extremes usually has detrimental effects, but staying flexible and flowing in between the extremes brings peace and happiness.

Yoga itself is a systematic practice that helps the body/mind/soul find balance through asana, breath work and meditation. With a regular yoga practice, your body will constantly find its own way of reattaining balance. The key word here is reattain. Our lives are not static. Things are always changing and moving, as we do. This means that balance is not something that can be attained and kept. The moment you find a sense of balance in your life and you try to desperately cling to that, you will find that things around you keep changing and suddenly, one day, your hard-earned balance is now an imbalance. Distressing? It doesn’t need to be. By cultivating a regular practice, you will develop a sense of connection to both your inside and outside worlds, and you will learn how to flow with the times and re-adjust yourself so that you can always reattain balance.

On the yoga mats, I believe that we can express this philosophy of balance through asana. By physically practicing to reattain balance in your body, you will find that it spills over into your mental and emotional worlds, bringing balance there too. Balancing poses are challenging and often frustrating. Mastering it could take a lifetime, and on the way there you will fall. Many times. By letting go of that frustration and self-judgement, we can learn to slowly work our way towards better balance. And there’s nothing more satisfying than finally being able to hold a pose that’s been eluding you for weeks or months, even years!

Even physically, balance is a complicated process. To attain and keep your balance, you use the brain, the nervous system, the eyes, the vestibular system (in the ear) and many muscular systems. In October’s class we will focus on the core or stability, and the legs/arms for strength. Some of the postures we will be doing will include:

Seated balancing poses: Adept pose (Siddah asana), Boat Pose (Navasana)
Arm balancing poses: Crow Pose (Bakasana), Peacock pose (Mayurasana)
Standing balancing poses: Eagle pose (Garudasana), Half moon pose (Ardha chandrasana)

In our end-of-class meditation this month, we will focus on a meditation that balances the chakra system.

Have a fantastic October, and see you on the mat!

Namaste,
Marilu