Renew Anew (December 2020 Newsletter)

Winter Solstice Lantern Festival in Vancouver, BC

Photo Credit: Visible Hand via Flickr (CC-BY-2.0)

The world this season is suddenly different from the usual bustle we see around the holidays. There appears to be a blanket of silence, and the world is required to passively watch and wait instead of participating in this prayerful, joyous and hopeful season.

We all feel fear and anxiety. Understandably so. The virus flares, creating uncertainty.

Fear, anxiety and uncertainty about what? While we are obviously concerned about work, finances, caregivers and caretakers, there is a deeper concern. If we do a little soul-searching we find it is our fear of death.

In Sanskrit this is known as Abhinivesha, or the fear of death. Refer to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2.9 (Chapter 2, Sutra 9). According to Indian/Hindu/Buddhist philosophy, the fear of death lies deep in all living creatures. Be it a worm or a child, no one wants to die. Perhaps you will say that it’s instinctive. But where does instinct get its information? it is always based on past experiences. If we haven’t experienced death before, how can this unreasonable fear be instinctive? It would indicate that we have been through this process before. Known as reincarnation, the philosophy rationalizes how we have experienced it before, perhaps many times, in many forms.

What can we do about it? Death is inevitable, so preparation would be appropriate. Whether it is your own death or that of loved ones, focus on what you can do internally to fortify yourself.

FOCUS on silence and meditation each day. How do we do this? Firstly, set aside a time for it. It doesn’t need to be long. 10 minutes is a good start.

Here are some simple steps:

• Find a quiet place, inside or outside. Use it consistently.

• Sit comfortably with upright back, hands resting in your lap. Palms up, one hand on top of the other, dominant hand under. Close your eyes partly and keep them focused.

• Breathe! The goal is to make it slower, deeper, longer and more rhythmic. Pay attention to the breath. Breathe only through the nose. Keep your mouth closed the entire time.

• Thoughts will arise. But they are drifting and imaginary. Let them go, saying, ‘Not now’. This is the whole point of yoga - to control the wandering mind.

• Sound internally, and breathe ‘Aham Sa’ = ‘I am That’. (‘That’ refers to Universal Reality.)

• After a good 5 minutes, switch it to ‘Sa Aham’ = 'That I am.' Pay attention to how you just reversed the flow of energy. Stay with the sound, focusing on what is stable and infinite within you.

• When done, rest for a few minutes folded forward in Child Pose, or lie flat on your back in Shavasana.

Enjoy a rest filled, happy and calm holiday season. All is well.

Namaste,

sipra

THAT I AM. I Am. I. There is No Other (November 2020 Newsletter)

Photo: Tai Pimputkar, Bhutan in 2015

Sa Aham: That I am

The source of energy that gives rise to the visible world is itself without shape or form but has always been there and always will be. This indefinable, unchanging supreme energy is called the Absolute Reality. Everything that we can experience through our senses is Relative Reality. This is so, because you and I are projecting our own perceptions based on what we’ve been taught, what we have experienced and what we know intuitively onto what we see before us.

In our universe of relative reality, we constantly distinguish between you and me. I might want to be like you, or be indifferent to you, or despise who are and what you represent. Someone else will probably have different feelings and emotions. The object hasn’t changed. We don’t need to change them or ourselves but just the way we see them.

In yoga this false perception is known as maya or illusion. If we did not focus so much on how they look, or what they wear, or what they own, but rather see them as an extension of ourselves, we might be more compassionate and closer to the truth. Then relative reality suddenly starts to become the Ultimate Reality/Absolute Reality and there is less and less of a difference between others and ourselves. When the two come together, there is no subject and no object; it’s all an extension of who I Am. I am at one with my spirit/soul or Atman (aat-mah). We are compassionate, loving and kind.

How do we get there? Start today.

• Don’t constantly act and react to everything around you.

Heart and soul. Unconditional love.

• Be still. Be silent. Listen instead. Find yourself turning inward, paying attention to what your gut reacts. The gut is closely connected to intuition dictating to you what is right. Remember Mom telling you to go with your gut? She was right. (Check out VIP, Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide in the gut that directly connect with the brain, neuropeptide that functions as a neuromodulator and neurotransmitter.)

• Start a simple meditation practice. It’s a powerful way of maintaining homeostasis, your internal balance while the world outside is in turmoil. Just 5 to 10 minutes each day, sit quietly, breathe slowly and repeat without opening your mouth: “That I am! Sa aham.”

• Slow down your breathing while breathing only through your nose. Practice the Ujjayi breathing, an aspirant sounded breath produced by constricting the base of your throat.

Namaste,

sipra

Truth: Discipline of finding stillness through silence (October 2020 Newsletter)

Om symbol at the Kanaka Durga Temple in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh

Image credit: Krishna Chaitanya Velaga (CC BY-SA) via Wikimedia Commons

In the yoga philosophy, Truth or Satya is the second of the 5 restraints/disciplines for proper living known as Yama according to Patanjali's Yoga Sutra.

• Non-harming  

• Truthfulness (Patanjali, Sutra 2.36)

• Non-stealing  

• Remembering the higher reality

• Non-possessiveness

This month we focus on Truth.

What is truth? It is the stable foundation on which rests one's reference for right and wrong. It is that upon which one tends to base one’s actions and thoughts. A lifetime of learning, experiences and culture make for the perception of what is (or exists), and what is true. In India, baby elephants are tied to sapling trees to train and restrain them. The young creature is strong enough to walk away with the tree, but it wouldn’t know that unless it were to test it. Yet none of them do. A grown elephant when tied to a big mature tree may uproot it and simply walk away with it if tied to one. But tie it to a young tree, and it would never even think to test its strength against it. This is conditioned truth. In each of our lives we know and practice many truths that are conditioned behaviors and responses and are not the true at all. 

Conditioned truths keep us in a comfortable place and we rarely think to test the truth as we see it. ‘Seeing' the truth through my eyes, is not the same truth that another person may see. Literally, a bird’s eye view is different from that of the bee. See today’s article on the Daily Mail.

Not only do we not test the ‘truth’ as we know it but we expect everyone else to accept my way of thinking since it is the truth. In Facebook, for example, the truth as I see it is also the truth as my ‘friends’ see it, and we continue to build and reinforce these perceptions as our like-minded friends on Facebook grow. But it is the truths that I already believe, so I never get to know or test their veracity, nor check out what others believe is true.

It is a good time now to start looking at the truths that others believe, and understanding their way of thinking. Learn about them, even if it makes you uncomfortable. How else can you grow to find the real truth that we all share, the only truth there is? Also like the untested sapling, let's start to test those accepted 'truths' in our lives, and in those of others with whom I might not agree. Let's see if we can't go above and beyond them.

Beyond all these conditional truths based on our senses is the real TRUTH. Truth is the silence of the quiet mind. It is a vast stillness that links us to each other, to all sentient beings and to Absolute Reality or 'Godness'. 

It is a discipline just like the other Yamas. It's a constant practice; a constant endeavor, but not so difficult.

Namaste,

sipra

Let It Be (September 2020 Newsletter)

From the Beatles came the famous lyrics of ‘Let it Be’:

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree

There will be an answer, let it be

For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see

There will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be

There will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me

Shine until tomorrow, let it be

I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, yeah, let it be

There will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, yeah, let it be

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

Yoga in India has developed over thousands of years, and one of the oldest concepts in the ancient Advaita tradition is that of Ishta devata. You might describe this as your preferred deity. Advaita philosophy is the concept of non-dualism describing a spiritual pathway for our way forward towards liberation from suffering, death and rebirth without isolating ourselves as ‘I and you,’ ‘me and God’, ‘the self and other’. Everything is one stream of consciousness, be it clear or muddy. It expects no belief system from you.

It is too difficult with our limited experience and perception to actually connect with the Spirit and God. What is That? The concept of Ishta Devata is one that is helpful in our daily attempts to make this connection with this Unknown. It is our chosen deity, to which we can ascribe a shape, a form, a face that we then daily brings to mind; not only daily but even moment to moment. It is a simple idea that since we have no idea what this Universal Energy we call God looks like, we choose a shape and form such as ‘Mother Mary’, or in the Indian pantheon some deity whose qualities especially serve our needs. Constantly, or as often as possible, lovingly and with deference reach out to this Istha devata, visualize His/Her shape starting from toe to top. Create a clear picture and focus on this image that you have created in your mind. Invite your devata into your presence. Will your devata into your presence. Simply that. No thoughts. Simply holding on to that form and inviting it into your presence.

John Lennon/Paul McCartney and the Beatles had it right!

Namaste,

sipra

You are August! Speak up, Be Heard, VOTE (August 2020 Newsletter)

The YWB (Yoga-Well-Being) community is about the best life. It is about morality, ethics, and living each day so that each successive day is better than the day before in all respects. It is about caring, about love and sharing, about empathy and compassion. It is about being free to develop your fully rounded personality. It is about living soulfully where truth is paramount. ‘Satya' or truth is the only thing that is real. Truth is always true.

There is just one truth, and while I may interpret it any way I like, it remains true because it is the truth. In Chapter 17.23 of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna explains that Om (the primal sound) denotes Brahman, Tat (that) also refers to Brahman, and Sat (that which is true) is also the same Brahman. In other words they are all synonyms for Brahman, the Absolute Truth. ‘Om Tat Sat’ is a mantra often used at the start and end of Hindu ceremonies and rituals.

While YWB never makes any political comments, this is one time we make an exception. We are inviting you to use your right to speak up and be heard so that all our lives can prosper in peace and freedom starting on January 20, 2021. 

Register now and vote in the general elections. It is vital that we do so if we would like our lives to be free. All our lives, bar none! Speak to and help others register and vote.

The deadline for registering to vote or updating your address is October 5, 2020. Make sure your information is on file and up to date.

You can vote in person or absentee. To vote absentee, you'll need an absentee ballot application form. You can get one here and print it out or pick them up from your county's board of elections.

When you receive your absentee ballot, you may return it by mail. (Remember to use sufficient postage and mail it as early as possible.) However, to avoid any postal service delays or mishaps, the best way to guarantee its delivery is to complete it and drop it off at your county board of elections. In Franklin County, that is at 1700 Morse Rd. There is a secure silver colored 'ballot' box outside the Board of Elections building. It is under 24 hour surveillance. Given the challenges faced by the postal system in these times, dropping off your ballot is highly recommended.

YWB can procure some forms. If you would like to pick them up at the studio please let us know.

Let truth prevail! Let freedom expand and not diminish. Truth has been tampered with and freedoms already affected. Neither may be safe if you don’t speak up. It may be yours and my last chance to have a real voice in our freedoms and in our government.

Namaste,

sipra

Up and Up (July 2020 Newsletter)

Stand up Paddler in the Ocean in Sri Lanka. Photo by Aditya Siva.

Using Michelle Obama's words,"When they go low, we go high". Appropriate for all of us in our lives, in all we think and do.

Stay above the fray. If you are motivated by your own beliefs and ideals, you will not fail in accomplishing what you want to achieve - if not now, it will be then.

Stay on your cause(s). Use them to transform yourself into your true, genuine self with a calm mind, an energized body, well nourished and rested - living daily with a regular schedule.

Get beyond your humdrum life, if it has become so. Lend yourself to good causes, but sustain your soul. Violence in thought and word, even for a good cause is sinking low. It's not who you truly are.

Let's find calmness and strength together at YWB and its varied and rich classes. Check out Ayurveda classes to bring balance to your life. It's all included in our special for the month at $55 for unlimited classes. Start Monday, June 29, when we reopen our studio at 296 W.4th Ave. You can be present for live classes, or attend virtually.

Please wear your mask although you will not use it during practice.

Namaste,

sipra

Well-Spent (June 2020 Newsletter)

Wherever you are, and whatever you do, be in love. –Rumi

It has been a struggle to live with social distancing because we are gregarious creatures. We need to love, to hold and support each other. All these can be successfully accomplished virtually, but we need to participate with our senses.

It has also been a good time to learn to live with ourselves and examine who we really are. Find yourself through awareness, just being present every moment. Fully taking part in every moment. Love yourself and what you are doing. Do more of the things that make you feel content. Sometimes do absolutely nothing at all. Sit, walk or stand still. Breathe slowly and bathe yourself in the light and energy of a deep breath. It will restore calm to your being.

It has been a chance to try something new that we might have considered interesting but never really tried out. Here's another quote from Rumi that truly brings this thought home. Living in the 13th century, this mystic's wisdom and joy never fails to inspire us even today: ‘Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.’

Namaste,

sipra

Connected (May 2020 Newsletter)

No matter where we are physically, we cannot help but be connected. We are connected through our BREATH with everything there ever was; that is now, and ever will be.

Knots symbolizing interconnectedness at the Lad Khan Temple at Aihole in Karnataka, India. Built 5th Century.

Image credit: Sanyam Bahga and Ms Sarah Welch, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-By-SA).

Being forced into this abnormal situation of social distancing, almost the entire world is suddenly forced to confront extended isolation. What a unique event. Experience it, it is the opportunity of a lifetime. Hopefully it will not happen again, but as we go into another month of retreat there is still a chance to stop, really stop, and take stock. Those things in life that have been so important are suddenly forced to be less so. What can we take from that? Firstly that we are not going to allow ourselves to jump back into life as it was before, full of busy-ness and often mindlessness.

It should make us realize that the material things in life are not so important after all. We should have found novel ways to ground us and make us feel stable. Whether we spend more time organizing, cleaning, cooking/baking, walking/running/gardening or reading/watching TV, while everything has shifted, our breath remains true and steady. It is the very first breath that gives us life, and with the last breath one is said to expire (expiration as in breathing out). Prana in Sanskrit means life and also breath. It truly is the same thing. It is the breath that connects us to the Universal Energy that is eternal and divine; it is the same air that all sentient beings draw from and so connect to the entire physical world and to each other, and it is the breath that can and should connect each one of us to our own Being.

Try this simple quiet meditation to connect with your breath. On waking, take a few minutes to stay in bed. close your eyes and pay attention to your body, slowly scanning top to toe. Next focus on the breath and allow it to flow through slowly, starting again from head to drawing it slowly towards your feet. Visualize it as light and iridescence. There is nothing to think about, nothing to do, just be present and breathe. As you continue to breathe, feel your physical body just drop away and notice that you are the breath, shiny and energetic! Can you practice this every day? Five minutes to 15 minutes. This should be a lifetime's practice, but it's the perfect time to start now, when the silence around us supports this practice.

Namaste,

sipra

"Being, Not Doing": a reflection from Kevin Ryan

I am a human being, and most people think I do that quite well, but it’s a lie, or, at least, quite deceptive. The truth is, for all of my adult life, I have been, much more, a human doing, and the stationary and isolated orders of this COVID-19 pandemic are just about to drive me nuts! I am not a workaholic, but I don’t “do nothing” very well at all. I frequently like making lists and checking things off; I like knowing my gifts and putting them to the good use of others as well as myself. But right now, that urge to do as been pushed aside, or has been slowly sifted down to the simplicity of just being, and as much as I have advocated, preached, and promoted this very state of calm, when it is the only one that seems available to me, I find myself writhing so to get out of this cocoon.

Ten more years with the Master, we used to say in meditation circles when we laughingly caught ourselves lacking true awareness of the present moment. I must be up to a thousand years, by now! I have been given more time to observe, and more opportunities to contemplate than ever before in my life, and though I am certain that I have longed for such gifts, now that they are here, I find myself fighting them, frustrated, at the very least. And my awareness of this tension between doing and being is, in itself, a source of additional tension for me.

It seems a special “blessing” that this virus erupted in the early spring when temperatures have been slightly below normal, and rainfall amounts spill over the seasonal standard. On such days, the natural inclination is to stay inside, so no problem there. But in between the rain and the chillier temps, have been days enough where the wonder of spring has exploded in its wardrobe of color, sounds, smells, and the warm splash of sunshine – and now we have the chance to observe and enjoy it all! Sure, on these days, one is drawn to the out-of-doors, but the experience of this flourishing dance can be enjoyed in one’s backyard, and even in the safe social-distancing of a Metro Park. All this time to just be in the lovely two step dance of the oscillating spring, and I now I find myself, of all things, wanting the return of routine and schedule. What is wrong with me!?

The difference, it seems to me, is that I am not choosing this situation, but rather, it has been thrust upon me. It is a new twist to the old challenge of “embracing what is.” Normally – whatever that is or was! – our learning curve comes from learning to accept the difficult trials that inevitably come with life, and surely this stay-at-home order has that in it as well. But the trial of this order is not to do more, but to be okay with doing less, and just be; and that seems a gift that any of us would welcome, except that I don’t seem to be! When I step away from the tumult of life’s busyness and responsibilities for the satisfaction and rejuvenation of a quiet retreat, even one that comes with self-chosen and self-inflicted sacrifice, I want it done on my terms and on my decisive time. I may need a break, but by golly, I want to choose it; I want… control! And nothing about this pandemic experience says, “I got this.”

Perhaps what I could use is a little more yoga! I appreciate, and often marvel, at those who attend my yoga classes on a regular basis (well, when we were in “regular time”) because they never know what they will get on any given day. As I seek to offer variety in my classes, those who attend can never be sure “what today will bring,” and yet, people come, and they seem to embrace whatever it is they get. And I need more of that spirit! Siddhartha, the Buddha, taught that we humans are drawn into suffering of our own making whenever we try to (excessively) control life, the circumstances and the outcomes. I want time for meditation, reflection, prayer, and the exercise of yoga, and I will frequently complain about the lack of it when “other needs” crowd out these desires; but what I am also painfully realizing during this pandemic is that I want all of those things on my terms, and subsequently, I am “suffering.” What I have “asked” of my yoga students for years – to work with and be okay with whatever it is I throw at you today – is exactly what I am being given in a daily dose. Maybe you wanted some hip work, but today my class focused on shoulders; maybe you wanted a strong, steady flow class, but today we started and ended on our backs with the slow unfolding of held poses. And maybe what you wanted isn't what you needed, because what we need is often not what we want. Yes, this shutdown is “a rare gift” for people like me. I don’t want or need it, but as it squeezes out what I want, I am realizing more and more what it is that I might need. Here’s to another day that feels like “ten years with the Master.”

In the end, Life should not even be about needs and wants, for each of those will come in their own good time, and when they do, we ought to be ready to wrap our safe-distance arms around them.

Join Kevin for Re-Treat Yoga every Friday from 12 to 1 PM. During this stay at home period, he is also offering Rise & Shine Yoga on Tuesdays, 8 to 9 AM.

Manifesting Your Perfect Life

In Central Oregon (Pony Butte), arid country with 40 million years of geological history – a manifestation of perfection. Picture from sipra’s recent trip.

Manifesting one’s life, or realizing what one imagines to be the perfect life, is known as Sankalpa, from ‘Kalpa', meaning vow or intention, and ‘san’, the connection with Godness/the Divine, or Universal Energy. In the yoga tradition, which refers to the Indian way of life, Sankalpa is simply connecting to the highest truth. It is unique for each one of us, and is as unique as each one of us (dharma).

Manifesting is not morphing into something that we are not; it is simply realizing who we innately are. It is not the ego-driven will that suddenly decides to get what it wants or thinks it needs. Dharma is what is uniquely you. You need to change nothing, you need to make no sudden decisions to make life suddenly perfect.

How do we manifest our best life?

• Be simple, like a child. Expect and know your Divine Self will guide you.

• Self study (swadhyaya). Meditate deeply, and constantly. Hear (passive act - accepting) rather than Listen (rational thinking mind) the messages from the Source.

• Faith works for the simple minded. Have faith. It is the Divine Will and not my will. The following are all connecting us to that Divine Source of Energy:

• Iccha – the desire, the drive, the energy. Write them out. Revise them regularly.

• Karma – the daily actions need to realize the dharma. If you are loving it and serving others, you are on the right track.

• Jnana – Wisdom to stay on the right path. This takes time, discipline and perseverance.

Have no doubts! Each doubt lessens the energy of the unidirectional flow towards realization and Self-Realization.

May you be fulfilled.

Namaste,

sipra