Hello and welcome to the November 2010 Newsletter.
On Saturday, October 30, a group of us from Cairns (and elsewhere) are off to Bali for our long awaited Yoga Retreat at Tejakula – in the north and right on the beach! If you can not come this year, do not worry as we plan on making this an annual event. There is already lots of interest, so if you would like to join us next year, please contact our events organizer, Janka Aksamitova: janka@knoffyoga.com.
“Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves”
Euripides – Greek playwright 480-406 BC
While we are in Bali, classes at the Knoff Yoga School in Cairns are as per normal, with Joyce McDonagh and Martha Goldman jumping in to cover the teaching. Thank you Joyce and Martha!
In this issue of the Newsletter we have the Yoga Pose of the month, 'Wide Leg 1'. There is a flyer for the upcoming 'Arm Balancing Workshop' with Santina Giardina-Chard on Saturday and Sunday, March 26 and 27, 2011. We have included an interesting article about Ahimsa by Swami Shraddhanananda and Sally Kempton has written an article: 'A Real Commitment – What does it mean?' Last but not least, there is a short spiritual story, Crossing the Water by Sri Ramakrishna.
I am running the Discovery/Foundation Level Teacher Training Course in New Zealand from 15 November to 10 December, and I am very much looking forward spending time in the vibrant city of Wellington and getting to meet the yogis. Thank you Rhys Latton for organizing this major event!
We are getting good feed-back on the Newsletter and would love to have your input. You do not need to be a professional writer to submit an article. All it requires is a passionate story on some aspect of yoga that will interest our readers!
The Knoff Yoga School in Cairns will be closed over the Christmas and New Year break. See below for the dates.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness”
Mark Twain
Enjoy the newsletter and see you on the mat!
Namaste,
Nicky Knoff.
“Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves”
Euripides – Greek playwright 480-406 BC
While we are in Bali, classes at the Knoff Yoga School in Cairns are as per normal, with Joyce McDonagh and Martha Goldman jumping in to cover the teaching. Thank you Joyce and Martha!
In this issue of the Newsletter we have the Yoga Pose of the month, 'Wide Leg 1'. There is a flyer for the upcoming 'Arm Balancing Workshop' with Santina Giardina-Chard on Saturday and Sunday, March 26 and 27, 2011. We have included an interesting article about Ahimsa by Swami Shraddhanananda and Sally Kempton has written an article: 'A Real Commitment – What does it mean?' Last but not least, there is a short spiritual story, Crossing the Water by Sri Ramakrishna.
I am running the Discovery/Foundation Level Teacher Training Course in New Zealand from 15 November to 10 December, and I am very much looking forward spending time in the vibrant city of Wellington and getting to meet the yogis. Thank you Rhys Latton for organizing this major event!
We are getting good feed-back on the Newsletter and would love to have your input. You do not need to be a professional writer to submit an article. All it requires is a passionate story on some aspect of yoga that will interest our readers!
The Knoff Yoga School in Cairns will be closed over the Christmas and New Year break. See below for the dates.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness”
Mark Twain
Enjoy the newsletter and see you on the mat!
Namaste,
Nicky Knoff.
===========================
Christmas Holiday Break
Dear Yogis,
Christmas period is quickly approaching. We are closing the Yoga School on Saturday, 25 December 2010 and re-opening on Monday, 10 January 2011.
We hope you are going to have great Christmas break and we hope to see you back on your mat in the new year 2011.
Namaste,
Nicky & James
Christmas period is quickly approaching. We are closing the Yoga School on Saturday, 25 December 2010 and re-opening on Monday, 10 January 2011.
We hope you are going to have great Christmas break and we hope to see you back on your mat in the new year 2011.
Namaste,
Nicky & James
===========================
'EMMA'S QUEST" FUNDRAISER IS DONE!
By Monica Mesch
What seemed a ‘near impossible’ quest has been achieved in 3 months…..we have reached our target to send Emma to the Xcell Clinic in Dusseldorf, Germany for stem cell treatment. Doreen and Emma fly out November 17.
It was “tough going” for the fundraisers weeks before the fundraising permit expired…run out of ideas, still $13,000 short of the target…a suggestion ‘out of the blue’ provided the catalyst for a chain of events that has seen us reach our goal.
oyce McDonagh, teacher at Knoff Yoga School, had an idea to hold 108 Sun Salutations at the School on Sunday October 10 (108 being an auspicious number in many scientific, spiritual and religious circles). As always, Nicky and James were truly supportive. Through Joyce’s initial contact with a Cairns Post journalist just days before this event, amazingly, the ‘little’ ad we expected was ‘blown up’ into a full front page rally to Emma’s cause.
We all completed the 108 Sun Salutations in around 2 hours, some using pebbles, others almonds, to keep count. The event raised $500 through participants, sponsors and a $150 donation from a beautiful young girl, Billie Nolan. She came with her parents while we were eating a terrific variety of tropical fruits provided by Rusty’s markets to present Doreen & Emma the money she had raised. As for the participants, many came back to school in the following days to describe their experience.
The 108 Sun Salutations and media coverage provided the catalyst for many more people to come forward with donations.
Co-incidentally, even the Aussie Dollar rallied upwards at a crucial time when we needed to convert to Euros, which mean’t we did not need to reach the target figure of $35,000 to achieve the same result.
The raffle of a free 5 class pass run at Knoff Yoga School was drawn on Friday 22nd October and won by Helga Headrick. Congratulations, Helga and thank you to all those who donated and bought tickets.
To Nicky and James, who donated yoga passes for our raffles and lucky door prize for our Trivia Night; adopted Emma as Knoff Yoga School’s youngest yogi with access to this newsletter and the school noticeboard for the past 3 months; as well as providing the facility for 108 Sun Salutations…..we say a very sincere NAMASTE.
We will let you know in the New Year of Emma’s progress following her treatment.
Keep sending your good thoughts and well wishes to Emma for her to achieve her best prospect for recovery from cerebral palsy.
It was “tough going” for the fundraisers weeks before the fundraising permit expired…run out of ideas, still $13,000 short of the target…a suggestion ‘out of the blue’ provided the catalyst for a chain of events that has seen us reach our goal.
oyce McDonagh, teacher at Knoff Yoga School, had an idea to hold 108 Sun Salutations at the School on Sunday October 10 (108 being an auspicious number in many scientific, spiritual and religious circles). As always, Nicky and James were truly supportive. Through Joyce’s initial contact with a Cairns Post journalist just days before this event, amazingly, the ‘little’ ad we expected was ‘blown up’ into a full front page rally to Emma’s cause.
We all completed the 108 Sun Salutations in around 2 hours, some using pebbles, others almonds, to keep count. The event raised $500 through participants, sponsors and a $150 donation from a beautiful young girl, Billie Nolan. She came with her parents while we were eating a terrific variety of tropical fruits provided by Rusty’s markets to present Doreen & Emma the money she had raised. As for the participants, many came back to school in the following days to describe their experience.
The 108 Sun Salutations and media coverage provided the catalyst for many more people to come forward with donations.
Co-incidentally, even the Aussie Dollar rallied upwards at a crucial time when we needed to convert to Euros, which mean’t we did not need to reach the target figure of $35,000 to achieve the same result.
The raffle of a free 5 class pass run at Knoff Yoga School was drawn on Friday 22nd October and won by Helga Headrick. Congratulations, Helga and thank you to all those who donated and bought tickets.
To Nicky and James, who donated yoga passes for our raffles and lucky door prize for our Trivia Night; adopted Emma as Knoff Yoga School’s youngest yogi with access to this newsletter and the school noticeboard for the past 3 months; as well as providing the facility for 108 Sun Salutations…..we say a very sincere NAMASTE.
We will let you know in the New Year of Emma’s progress following her treatment.
Keep sending your good thoughts and well wishes to Emma for her to achieve her best prospect for recovery from cerebral palsy.
===========================
Quote
"We must become the change we want to see."
Mahatma Gandhi
===========================
Yoga Pose of the Month - "PRASARITA PADOTTANASANA 1"
WIDE LEG 1
Last month we looked at Warrior 2 and Wide Leg Pose 1 follows directly after. From Mountain Pose (Tadasana) jump out to the side (right or left) taking your feet wide apart - wrist joints over the ankle joints. That is, with your arms stretched out sideways in line with your shoulders, the little toe side of your foot should be directly under the wrists.
If you are not sure about this width, then have a friend line up a yoga strap at your wrist and drop it down towards the floor (with the buckle down so it acts like a weight). The strap should be in line with the outside of your foot.
Do not spread this wide with the legs if it causes you discomfort! Narrow the width to a comfortable level and over a period of time (4 – 6 weeks), gradually increase the distance. Note there is no need or point to go wider than wrist joint width.
With your feet wrist joint width apart and parallel with each other, that is toes facing straight ahead, activate your body with Pada Bandha feet, Co-contracted legs and of course, Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha (minor). The pelvic floor lift (Mula Bandha) and lower abdominal activation (Uddiyana Bandha) provide stability, strength and inner focus.
Be sure to check that your feet are centered on your mat. Look at the distance from your big toes to the edge of the mat and make sure both match. Ideally you have a line down the middle of your mat and have centered your feet over it!
Scissor your legs actively – squeeze them towards each other as if you were standing on slippery ice and without this action would slide into the sideways splits. This scissoring (adduction) will be felt in the inner things and buttocks – firming them up. These standing poses are an excellent workout for the legs!
Place your hands on the hips, fingers towards the groins and ensure your hips are in a neutral position – not tilting forwards or backwards. Inhaling (Ujjayi Pranayama of course) lift the chest, drawing the spine long, and look towards the ceiling. As you exhale, fold forwards and place your hands directly under your shoulders. Inhale again and lengthen your spine, then as you exhale, move your hands backwards towards your feet, aiming your head to the floor and if possible placing it on the mat in between your legs.
You may be limited in this pose by tight hamstrings and hips and of course, this is what you will stretch out with regular practice. Tight hamstrings and hips put considerable tension in your lower back and it is important to gradually release them.
The hands are placed shoulder width apart and taken as far back towards your feet as possible, but with keeping the heel of the hands pressed firmly on the mat. If the heel of the hands start to lift off and you cannot keep downward pressure (grounding) on them, the move them forwards until you can.
How you go in this pose depends on your body proportions. If you have short legs and a long spine, you can more easily touch your head to the yoga mat. If you are touching and can go further, then bring your chin towards your chest and slide your hands further under. At some point you will be abel to look up and see if your shorts need mending!
The physical goal of this pose is not to take the head to the floor, but to increase the range of movement in the hips and free up the back of the legs, so don't let the floor limit you. Eventually this pose turns into Firefly 2 (Tittibasana 2), where your chest is brought through the legs and your arms are wrapped around the back and the hands clasp each other.
In Knoff Yoga we do not work in pain! If you are suffering in Wide Leg Pose, then place 2 yoga blocks under your hands to make it more comfortable to do. If you work in pain you will slow down your progress. Learn how to work appropriately and enjoy the journey!
The Drishti (gaze) is looking back through the legs and as you progressively move deeper into the pose, eventually looking towards your heart (Jalandhara Bandha).
Maintain Ujjayi Pranayama throughout and hold the pose for a minimum of 30 seconds and gradually work up to 1 minute – 5 to 10 breaths.
There are 3 parts to every yoga pose:
There are 3 techniques always activated in every yoga pose:
Be sure to keep the 3 techniques activated in each of the 3 parts of the pose.
In these standing poses, we are learning how to work our legs, so keep your mind focused in the body – co-contracted legs with the knee caps lifted up and held up going into, holding and coming out of the pose.
Performing the most advanced yoga pose with a distracted mind is the practice of a beginner. Performing the most basic pose with full awareness is an advanced practice. We are using the body as a gymnasium to train the mind to pay attention – MINDFULNESS! Along the way we gain flexibility and strength, but the ultimate goal is illumination of the underlying life force or soul. The ancient yogis discovered that the body is the perfect vehicle to take us on this journey to discover our SELF.
Next month we will look at Wide Leg Pose 2. It is the same leg/hip movement, but the arms are taken behind the back and the hands towards the floor behind the head. It gives the pose and whole new level of enjoyment!
See you on the mat!
Namaste
James E. Bryan E.R.Y.T. 500
===========================
Quote
"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
===========================
"We must become the change we want to see."
Mahatma Gandhi
===========================
Yoga Pose of the Month - "PRASARITA PADOTTANASANA 1"
WIDE LEG 1
If you are not sure about this width, then have a friend line up a yoga strap at your wrist and drop it down towards the floor (with the buckle down so it acts like a weight). The strap should be in line with the outside of your foot.
Do not spread this wide with the legs if it causes you discomfort! Narrow the width to a comfortable level and over a period of time (4 – 6 weeks), gradually increase the distance. Note there is no need or point to go wider than wrist joint width.
With your feet wrist joint width apart and parallel with each other, that is toes facing straight ahead, activate your body with Pada Bandha feet, Co-contracted legs and of course, Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha (minor). The pelvic floor lift (Mula Bandha) and lower abdominal activation (Uddiyana Bandha) provide stability, strength and inner focus.
Be sure to check that your feet are centered on your mat. Look at the distance from your big toes to the edge of the mat and make sure both match. Ideally you have a line down the middle of your mat and have centered your feet over it!
Scissor your legs actively – squeeze them towards each other as if you were standing on slippery ice and without this action would slide into the sideways splits. This scissoring (adduction) will be felt in the inner things and buttocks – firming them up. These standing poses are an excellent workout for the legs!
Place your hands on the hips, fingers towards the groins and ensure your hips are in a neutral position – not tilting forwards or backwards. Inhaling (Ujjayi Pranayama of course) lift the chest, drawing the spine long, and look towards the ceiling. As you exhale, fold forwards and place your hands directly under your shoulders. Inhale again and lengthen your spine, then as you exhale, move your hands backwards towards your feet, aiming your head to the floor and if possible placing it on the mat in between your legs.
You may be limited in this pose by tight hamstrings and hips and of course, this is what you will stretch out with regular practice. Tight hamstrings and hips put considerable tension in your lower back and it is important to gradually release them.
The hands are placed shoulder width apart and taken as far back towards your feet as possible, but with keeping the heel of the hands pressed firmly on the mat. If the heel of the hands start to lift off and you cannot keep downward pressure (grounding) on them, the move them forwards until you can.
How you go in this pose depends on your body proportions. If you have short legs and a long spine, you can more easily touch your head to the yoga mat. If you are touching and can go further, then bring your chin towards your chest and slide your hands further under. At some point you will be abel to look up and see if your shorts need mending!
The physical goal of this pose is not to take the head to the floor, but to increase the range of movement in the hips and free up the back of the legs, so don't let the floor limit you. Eventually this pose turns into Firefly 2 (Tittibasana 2), where your chest is brought through the legs and your arms are wrapped around the back and the hands clasp each other.
In Knoff Yoga we do not work in pain! If you are suffering in Wide Leg Pose, then place 2 yoga blocks under your hands to make it more comfortable to do. If you work in pain you will slow down your progress. Learn how to work appropriately and enjoy the journey!
The Drishti (gaze) is looking back through the legs and as you progressively move deeper into the pose, eventually looking towards your heart (Jalandhara Bandha).
Maintain Ujjayi Pranayama throughout and hold the pose for a minimum of 30 seconds and gradually work up to 1 minute – 5 to 10 breaths.
There are 3 parts to every yoga pose:
- going into it,
- being in it, and
- coming out of it.
There are 3 techniques always activated in every yoga pose:
- the Bandhas (Mula, Uddiyana and if appropriate, Jalandhara)
- Ujjayi Pranayama
- Drishti (visual gaze)
Be sure to keep the 3 techniques activated in each of the 3 parts of the pose.
In these standing poses, we are learning how to work our legs, so keep your mind focused in the body – co-contracted legs with the knee caps lifted up and held up going into, holding and coming out of the pose.
Performing the most advanced yoga pose with a distracted mind is the practice of a beginner. Performing the most basic pose with full awareness is an advanced practice. We are using the body as a gymnasium to train the mind to pay attention – MINDFULNESS! Along the way we gain flexibility and strength, but the ultimate goal is illumination of the underlying life force or soul. The ancient yogis discovered that the body is the perfect vehicle to take us on this journey to discover our SELF.
Next month we will look at Wide Leg Pose 2. It is the same leg/hip movement, but the arms are taken behind the back and the hands towards the floor behind the head. It gives the pose and whole new level of enjoyment!
See you on the mat!
Namaste
James E. Bryan E.R.Y.T. 500
===========================
Quote
"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
===========================
===========================
AHIMSA - Non-Violence
by Swami Shraddhananda
Before we go deeper into nonviolence, we need to understand how violence has already shaped our lives in both gross and subtle ways. We have been conditioned by many forces: personal experiences and influences from family, work, community, education, society and global events. By bringing our awareness to our cultural conditionings, we see more clearly where the real work needs to be done to turn violence into nonviolence.
Together we can discover answers to important burning questions: Where does most of the violence come from in our world? How have we been practicing or condoning violence in our own personal lives without really acknowledging it? What ways does our culture promote violence? What steps can we take to develop nonviolence in thought, word and deed? How do we connect with others to learn more about the theory and practice of nonviolence? What is the connection between the spiritual and social practice of nonviolence?
Everyone reading this was born into the bloodiest era that human beings have known. The 20th century saw tens of millions killed in world wars and genocidal attacks. The combination of technology for mass military weapons (chemical, nuclear and conventional) and the belief that war was inevitable proved that human beings could bring great suffering to one another. But the 21st century opened with a new belief--that war is not inevitable. When millions around the world marched just before the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, it marked the initiation of a new era. Even though the forces of nonviolence did not win that particular struggle, it was the launching of a world-wide shift of consciousness.
This shift of consciousness had been building throughout the last century in the writings of visionaries such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Dalai Lama and in the victories won by millions of people--with peaceful means--who defeated tyrants and oppressive systems.
Violence exists in many forms in our society. Unless we examine the history of violence in our families and in our countries, we will not be able to understand how to change it. Racism, sexism and xenophobia (hatred of foreigners) are not part of our essential nature but are taught through our culture.
To overcome our ignorance, it is important to see how violence afflicts our ideas and our behavior, consciously and unconsciously. Every day there are groups of people--immigrants, people of color, women, the elderly and those with low income--who suffer because of the ignorance of others. It is not only a matter of one individual violating another individual, but the way our society treats groups as a whole.
Violence can be reversed. Through the practice of the eight limbs of yoga - Yamas (Rules of social conduct), Niyamas (Rules of personal behaviour), asanas (Postures), pranyama (Breathing techniques), pratyahara (Sense withdrawal), dharana (Concentration), dhyana (Meditation), samadhi (A profound sense of belonging into the Universe)-we achieve the inner state of peace and harmony that is our true nature. When we do this collectively, we can change our culture.
This is no small task, however. Currently many people feel threatened by the economic injustices that give rise to lost jobs, higher prices and financial worries. Periods of war and economic crises create conditions where relationships are strained, personal struggles are exacerbated and people experience greater amounts of stress, confusion, fear and anger, leading to even more violence.
How can we bring non-violence into our individual lives and help to transform the culture we live in? One way is to pay closer attention to the thoughts we think, the words we say and the things we do.
First, we notice how our thoughts give rise to our realities. Very often we say untrue, negative words to ourselves-“I’m not good enough,” “I’ll never get this right” or “I’m too stressed to accomplish this project”-and our minds start to believe these thoughts that bring us down. I recently heard the acronym BLAME translated as Believing Lies About My Expectations. Our negative thoughts about ourselves also make it easier to criticize others. Holding onto resentments from past hurts, focusing attention on the problems rather than solutions and wasting time on destructive thoughts deplete our energy. If we can cultivate the habit of spending at least 10 minutes in the morning and at night, connecting with the inner gratitude, love, peace that exists in each of our hearts, we will find the quality of peace is always with us.
Second, we start to really listen to the words we are speaking out loud. Do you spend too much time complaining? Then go to the opposite--begin using words only to enhance another’s life or to make a contribution to peace. Do your words clarify or confuse? Are you raising awareness with your speech or simply using up energy? It is better to offer words of kindness instead of complaining, to speak wisely rather than gossip, to inquire rather than rush to judgment. We can also choose more often to be silent and allow our own peacefulness to tell a necessary truth.
Third, we can examine our actions. How many of them reflect our love and gratitude? Each day we can find small ways to show kindness and compassion toward another person or accomplish one deed toward peace. We can also show loving kindness to ourselves by eating healthy food, getting enough exercise, and allowing time for rest and relaxation. Spending a few moments every day practicing yoga is a sure way to show this love.
When we practice ahimsa with ourselves and with those close to us, we begin to experience more energy and more freedom of spirit. Because ahimsa is our true nature, we are transformed into instruments of peace and lead ourselves to higher truth. We become the peace we are seeking. In addition, when we make conscious choices to be in the presence of others who practice peace, we also contribute to our own development of peace. We start to mirror for each other a new, emerging culture of non-violence.
===========================
Quote
"The worst prison would be a closed heart."
Pope John Paul II
===========================
A REAL COMMITMENT - WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
By Sally Kempton from Yoga Journal
===========================
Guest Authors
Do you want to contribute an article about Yoga for today's world?
To submit an article for review, attach it to your e-mail and send it to: james@knoffyoga.com
Feel free to pass this newsletter on to your friends
===========================
Knoff Yoga ©
AHIMSA - Non-Violence
by Swami Shraddhananda
Before we go deeper into nonviolence, we need to understand how violence has already shaped our lives in both gross and subtle ways. We have been conditioned by many forces: personal experiences and influences from family, work, community, education, society and global events. By bringing our awareness to our cultural conditionings, we see more clearly where the real work needs to be done to turn violence into nonviolence.
Together we can discover answers to important burning questions: Where does most of the violence come from in our world? How have we been practicing or condoning violence in our own personal lives without really acknowledging it? What ways does our culture promote violence? What steps can we take to develop nonviolence in thought, word and deed? How do we connect with others to learn more about the theory and practice of nonviolence? What is the connection between the spiritual and social practice of nonviolence?
Everyone reading this was born into the bloodiest era that human beings have known. The 20th century saw tens of millions killed in world wars and genocidal attacks. The combination of technology for mass military weapons (chemical, nuclear and conventional) and the belief that war was inevitable proved that human beings could bring great suffering to one another. But the 21st century opened with a new belief--that war is not inevitable. When millions around the world marched just before the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, it marked the initiation of a new era. Even though the forces of nonviolence did not win that particular struggle, it was the launching of a world-wide shift of consciousness.
This shift of consciousness had been building throughout the last century in the writings of visionaries such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Dalai Lama and in the victories won by millions of people--with peaceful means--who defeated tyrants and oppressive systems.
Violence exists in many forms in our society. Unless we examine the history of violence in our families and in our countries, we will not be able to understand how to change it. Racism, sexism and xenophobia (hatred of foreigners) are not part of our essential nature but are taught through our culture.
To overcome our ignorance, it is important to see how violence afflicts our ideas and our behavior, consciously and unconsciously. Every day there are groups of people--immigrants, people of color, women, the elderly and those with low income--who suffer because of the ignorance of others. It is not only a matter of one individual violating another individual, but the way our society treats groups as a whole.
Violence can be reversed. Through the practice of the eight limbs of yoga - Yamas (Rules of social conduct), Niyamas (Rules of personal behaviour), asanas (Postures), pranyama (Breathing techniques), pratyahara (Sense withdrawal), dharana (Concentration), dhyana (Meditation), samadhi (A profound sense of belonging into the Universe)-we achieve the inner state of peace and harmony that is our true nature. When we do this collectively, we can change our culture.
This is no small task, however. Currently many people feel threatened by the economic injustices that give rise to lost jobs, higher prices and financial worries. Periods of war and economic crises create conditions where relationships are strained, personal struggles are exacerbated and people experience greater amounts of stress, confusion, fear and anger, leading to even more violence.
How can we bring non-violence into our individual lives and help to transform the culture we live in? One way is to pay closer attention to the thoughts we think, the words we say and the things we do.
First, we notice how our thoughts give rise to our realities. Very often we say untrue, negative words to ourselves-“I’m not good enough,” “I’ll never get this right” or “I’m too stressed to accomplish this project”-and our minds start to believe these thoughts that bring us down. I recently heard the acronym BLAME translated as Believing Lies About My Expectations. Our negative thoughts about ourselves also make it easier to criticize others. Holding onto resentments from past hurts, focusing attention on the problems rather than solutions and wasting time on destructive thoughts deplete our energy. If we can cultivate the habit of spending at least 10 minutes in the morning and at night, connecting with the inner gratitude, love, peace that exists in each of our hearts, we will find the quality of peace is always with us.
Second, we start to really listen to the words we are speaking out loud. Do you spend too much time complaining? Then go to the opposite--begin using words only to enhance another’s life or to make a contribution to peace. Do your words clarify or confuse? Are you raising awareness with your speech or simply using up energy? It is better to offer words of kindness instead of complaining, to speak wisely rather than gossip, to inquire rather than rush to judgment. We can also choose more often to be silent and allow our own peacefulness to tell a necessary truth.
Third, we can examine our actions. How many of them reflect our love and gratitude? Each day we can find small ways to show kindness and compassion toward another person or accomplish one deed toward peace. We can also show loving kindness to ourselves by eating healthy food, getting enough exercise, and allowing time for rest and relaxation. Spending a few moments every day practicing yoga is a sure way to show this love.
When we practice ahimsa with ourselves and with those close to us, we begin to experience more energy and more freedom of spirit. Because ahimsa is our true nature, we are transformed into instruments of peace and lead ourselves to higher truth. We become the peace we are seeking. In addition, when we make conscious choices to be in the presence of others who practice peace, we also contribute to our own development of peace. We start to mirror for each other a new, emerging culture of non-violence.
===========================
Quote
"The worst prison would be a closed heart."
Pope John Paul II
===========================
A REAL COMMITMENT - WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
By Sally Kempton from Yoga Journal
Commitment has two distinct sides. On the upside, our commitments are a prerequisite for depth. Without commitment, life is a free-for-all, relationships a series of hookups, and practice mere dabbling. You'll never have the sustained intimacy in a three-month affair that you have with someone you've been married to for 10 years. There's no way that a weeklong retreat in yoga and pranayama will give you the kind of power and sustained opening that you'll get from years of daily practice. You can't write a novel, establish a business, raise a child, or learn a language without wholehearted commitment—a kind of for-better-or-worse agreement with yourself that you're going to show up for this person, or this project, even if it's not going well, even if you're not in the mood. Our capacity for keeping our commitments makes progress possible.
But we can't talk about commitment without acknowledging its undeniable shadow side: how a commitment can keep you stuck, can become a safety zone that prevents you from making needed changes—how it can turn into an excuse for not doing the work of inner growth. No question that certain commitments, to a child, for example, are nonnegotiable as long as we have our health and sanity. But many, especially in the arenas of career, relationships, and spiritual practice, are not. When the life has gone out of a commitment, it can become a life eater, a black hole that sucks your joy, your love, your creativity. Stability (supportive, grounding, depth producing) turns into stagnation (swampy, deadening, sticky).
When the novel you've pursued for three years suddenly looks puerile, when your marriage feels locked in patterns of mutual avoidance or recrimination, when your heart feels dead, the first step is to ask yourself some serious questions. Questions like "Is this feeling that I should leave a new form of resistance? Am I avoiding the work needed to get to the next level? Or is my feeling that I need to end this commitment coming from my instinct for spiritual growth?"
There's no formula for answering these questions, because what is demanded here is a willingness to know yourself, to know your own heart, and to balance your own needs with the needs of others. But I have come to recognize certain signs that an instinct to end a commitment needs to be honored. One is simply the feeling of deadness in a relationship or project. Everything in life has cycles of birth, growth, decline, and death. When something feels dead, that needs to be acknowledged. If it isn't, the dead feeling begins to spread through your life. If you're willing to explore the deadness and listen to the messages it gives you, you will begin to find out what is behind it, and what you need to do about it.
Perhaps you have deep wants that are not being satisfied. Perhaps you see that the situation you're in fosters your fears or limits your talents. Perhaps you are experiencing what is known as a calling, a signal from what Rumi called "the pull of what you really love." It takes time to recognize this, so I usually recommend sitting with the situation long enough to bring the emotional level, the heart level of your being, together with the practical, analytic mind level.
I found myself considering all these issues recently as I listened to my friend Laura agonizing over whether to end her marriage. Laura and her husband, Todd, are both artists. Todd has been Laura's main teacher, helping her develop her talent, and is still her most trusted critic. They have two children, a house in upstate New York, a serious yoga and meditation practice, and a deep sophistication about self-help issues.
So when Laura realized that she was feeling trapped in the marriage, her first response was to recommit herself. She went to a therapist. She did her best to put the thoughts away. But the feeling that the marriage was stifling her wouldn't go away. As she explored the feeling with her therapist, she began to see her own unexpressed longings as well as the ways in which the marriage both protected her and cut her off from her own voice. Above all, she became aware of a sense of calling that seemed to demand a change in the way she was living. Eventually, she told Todd that she wanted a separation. Todd was blind-sided. He promised to do whatever work was needed. He wanted desperately to stay married, not only because of the children but also because he loved and depended on Laura.
They started couples' therapy. As they worked, Laura revealed that for years she had lived in fear of Todd's criticisms. Todd, under an even-tempered surface, often walked around in states of rage and judgment, which came out in critical remarks and miasmic moods. Todd agreed to begin noticing and changing his behavior. Laura agreed to put her desire for a divorce on hold. A few months later, the two of them had reached a level of honesty and intimacy they'd never had together. Todd had begun treating Laura as an equal and was moving through his own process of deep self-examination. But Laura was again feeling dead inside, just as she had before she asked for a separation. She became more and more certain that her spiritual growth demanded a kind of personal autonomy that she couldn't find in the marriage. She felt that, in some way, her life depended on stepping out of it.
My reaction to Laura's decision was much like Todd's. Why? I thought. You have kids. You've addressed the problem issues, the relationship is growing, and Todd is a great person. What she was doing seemed willful and flaky. And yet, I had done something very similar: I had chosen to step out of a traditional structure when it became clear to me that not doing so would have brought my spiritual growth to a standstill.
Sixty years ago, very few of us considered spiritual growth a valid reason for leaving a job or a marriage. Nowadays, the idea is not so strange, and not just because of changes in women's roles, family structures, and the like. Times like ours offer unparalleled opportunities to shift our levels of consciousness. Not only do we live in a maelstrom of global economic and cultural change, but a new and undeniable spiritual revolution is sweeping through postindustrial societies. More and more of us recognize that something within us is deeper than our personalities or the social and cultural currents that determine so much of our external lives. That deeper Self—call it the soul—is demanding that its agendas be heard.
What happens to our commitments when everything around us is changing? What does it mean to make commitments realistically and, above all, to keep them? How do we navigate with integrity the gap between what cultural tradition tells us we should do with our lives and the reality of what the inner journey demands? And how do we know when our desire to change course is soul driven and not just, well, escapist?
The answers demand deep self-inquiry, in which we look honestly at our desires and motivations. In order to clarify our motives, we must recognize not just our hidden ego and our "base" desires, but we also need to find out where our nonnegotiable commitments lie. Often, it isn't where we think they do. In my own search for integrity in commitment, I've continually come face to face with two simple but often hard-to-notice facts. First, we can't reliably commit ourselves to anything if we don't know what our true values are. Second, once we have found ourselves on a spiritual path, a path of yogic transformation, we have to accept that none of our interpersonal and intrapersonal commitments will feel exactly right until we gain clarity about our metacommitments.
A metacommitment is a vow you make with your own soul, with that part of your being that underlies your personality, the part of you that connects to the eternal. The soul is your essence. In Indian traditions, the soul is called the jivatman—the individual Self, or spark of consciousness. If a commitment is a truly soulful compact, you'll find that it can withstand any amount of chaos and remain in place even when your external commitments are dissolving around you.
The following are some examples of metacommitments:
* To love in all circumstances
* To be of service
* To make your first priority your ongoing transformation and growth
* To find out what is ultimately real
* To make community
* To make beauty
* To be compassionate
* To help make the world better
* To live as your highest Self
* To ensure justice
You'll see immediately that metacommitments are related to values, principles, and intentions. Like an intention, a metacommitment needs at some point to be stated formally. But a commitment goes a step beyond an intention, because it is akin to a personal vow.
A metacommitment stands regardless of how the people and situations in your life come and go, because it is the key to your personal integrity. Knowing and keeping your metacommitments is what makes you trustworthy to yourself and others. Your relationships, job description, and day-to-day commitments may change. But metacommitments don't change, though their expression in your life may morph. And in the end, your metacommitments define you.
Here, it's important to understand that a metacommitment isn't the same thing as an unconscious drive. Our unconscious drives come from personal wounds or weaknesses, from "programs" or limiting patterns lodged in our subtle body. Our metacommitments, on the other hand, are expressions of our highest aspirations, our deepest sense of soul. They come from what is sometimes called the "authentic Self." The authentic Self includes the ego but also holds the capacity to witness and transcend the ego. When you're in your authentic Self, you can recognize, honor, and work with your unique temperament, your skills, gifts, and wounds. You have the clarity to recognize and act from your highest values—yet without denying the tendencies and preferences that help create your particular perspective, your unique way of being in the world.
Laura, for example, has an unconscious drive to break out of restrictions. But when she began looking at her metacommitments, she realized that her main metacommitments, the cornerstones of her personal integrity, were to honesty and love. Her honesty demanded that she recognize that not to follow the path she was being shown would cut her off from her life force. Her love demanded that she follow the process in a way that minimized the pain to her family.
When you know your metacommitments, you have criteria for evaluating major and minor life decisions. Are you committed to a life of creative expression? In that case, you probably shouldn't sign up to be a certified teacher in a rule-bound yoga system (though studying the system might be valuable, especially if it helps you discipline the wilder aspects of your creativity). Is your commitment to vitality, adventure? Then you probably won't be happy living with someone who has a metacommitment to a quiet life. Do you want spiritual growth? Then you will probably need to commit to a daily discipline that lets you keep building your depth in practice.
A metacommitment then becomes a rudder for holding a steady course toward personal integrity. As you grow and change, you may find that the way you express the commitment will morph. For instance, a commitment to regularity in practice may start out as a decision to go to class three times a week, or to meditate for 20 minutes every day. At certain points, it may make sense to set a time for your practice and stick to it. Yet if you understand that the real commitment is to the practice, rather than to the time you do it, then you can be flexible about the hour, without letting go of regularity.
It's the same in other areas of your life. If your commitment is to kindness and compassion, then even when you break up with your lover, you can do it without inflicting the kinds of wounds that make it hard to stay friends. The more deeply you know your metacommitments, the easier it is to negotiate external changes. Metacommitments help you hold a steady course, even when circumstances are moving you in unwanted or unintended directions.
When Laura and Todd clarified their metacommitments, they saw that a core commitment for both of them was the welfare of their children. Equally strong was their commitment to loving each other, regardless of their formal relationship. They realized both of those metacommitments could survive divorce.
The only sure thing in life is change. A commitment, to serve its deepest purpose, needs to be able to withstand change. When you know your metacommitments, when you can state them and live by them, your life has the integrity and steadfastness that are at the heart of yoga. Your relationship may dissolve, your job description change, your path morph beyond recognition. But the depth that commitment brings is never lost.
Uncover Your Core Commitments
When you want to discover your own metacommitments, you will need to begin by setting aside some of your assumptions about yourself and your life. Assumptions like "If I love someone, I should want to live with them" or "Spiritual people don't concern themselves with goods and money" can interfere with your ability to discover what's true for you.
Next, you'll need to do some honest self-inquiry. Begin by looking at the commitments you've made in your life. How many of them have been full hearted? That is, how many have not been driven by the values of your culture, or by those unexamined beliefs about how you are supposed to live that you set aside before beginning this exercise? Now, honestly look at what you value at this point in your life.
To determine your real values, ask yourself these questions:
What do I tend to be doing at the times when I feel happiest?
Which of my gifts mean the most to me? Which feel most like "me"?
What do I love about myself?
What do others love about me?
What am I good at?
What really matters to me enough that I am willing to sacrifice for it? Friendship? Creative work? Inner peace? Kindness? Creating positive change? Helping people? Getting to the truth?
Finally, ask yourself, "What threads of metacommitment can I see running through my life? How have they served me? How have they changed?"
Given all this, what are three metacommitments that I can make right now—commitments that I can keep regardless of where I am or who I'm with? Which of these is likely to deepen my relationship to life?
As you take yourself through this process, you'll find out a lot about yourself, about who you are and what you value. Above all, you'll start to see what it means for you to live deeply, authentically. Making commitments and keeping them is critical to our self-respect, our ability to rely on our own steadfastness. Yet because your commitments do indeed define your life, you want to be sure that you're making them from the deepest place you can find in yourself. Those are the commitments you can hang on to. Those are the ones you'll keep.
But we can't talk about commitment without acknowledging its undeniable shadow side: how a commitment can keep you stuck, can become a safety zone that prevents you from making needed changes—how it can turn into an excuse for not doing the work of inner growth. No question that certain commitments, to a child, for example, are nonnegotiable as long as we have our health and sanity. But many, especially in the arenas of career, relationships, and spiritual practice, are not. When the life has gone out of a commitment, it can become a life eater, a black hole that sucks your joy, your love, your creativity. Stability (supportive, grounding, depth producing) turns into stagnation (swampy, deadening, sticky).
When the novel you've pursued for three years suddenly looks puerile, when your marriage feels locked in patterns of mutual avoidance or recrimination, when your heart feels dead, the first step is to ask yourself some serious questions. Questions like "Is this feeling that I should leave a new form of resistance? Am I avoiding the work needed to get to the next level? Or is my feeling that I need to end this commitment coming from my instinct for spiritual growth?"
There's no formula for answering these questions, because what is demanded here is a willingness to know yourself, to know your own heart, and to balance your own needs with the needs of others. But I have come to recognize certain signs that an instinct to end a commitment needs to be honored. One is simply the feeling of deadness in a relationship or project. Everything in life has cycles of birth, growth, decline, and death. When something feels dead, that needs to be acknowledged. If it isn't, the dead feeling begins to spread through your life. If you're willing to explore the deadness and listen to the messages it gives you, you will begin to find out what is behind it, and what you need to do about it.
Perhaps you have deep wants that are not being satisfied. Perhaps you see that the situation you're in fosters your fears or limits your talents. Perhaps you are experiencing what is known as a calling, a signal from what Rumi called "the pull of what you really love." It takes time to recognize this, so I usually recommend sitting with the situation long enough to bring the emotional level, the heart level of your being, together with the practical, analytic mind level.
Knowing When to Call it Quits
I found myself considering all these issues recently as I listened to my friend Laura agonizing over whether to end her marriage. Laura and her husband, Todd, are both artists. Todd has been Laura's main teacher, helping her develop her talent, and is still her most trusted critic. They have two children, a house in upstate New York, a serious yoga and meditation practice, and a deep sophistication about self-help issues.
So when Laura realized that she was feeling trapped in the marriage, her first response was to recommit herself. She went to a therapist. She did her best to put the thoughts away. But the feeling that the marriage was stifling her wouldn't go away. As she explored the feeling with her therapist, she began to see her own unexpressed longings as well as the ways in which the marriage both protected her and cut her off from her own voice. Above all, she became aware of a sense of calling that seemed to demand a change in the way she was living. Eventually, she told Todd that she wanted a separation. Todd was blind-sided. He promised to do whatever work was needed. He wanted desperately to stay married, not only because of the children but also because he loved and depended on Laura.
They started couples' therapy. As they worked, Laura revealed that for years she had lived in fear of Todd's criticisms. Todd, under an even-tempered surface, often walked around in states of rage and judgment, which came out in critical remarks and miasmic moods. Todd agreed to begin noticing and changing his behavior. Laura agreed to put her desire for a divorce on hold. A few months later, the two of them had reached a level of honesty and intimacy they'd never had together. Todd had begun treating Laura as an equal and was moving through his own process of deep self-examination. But Laura was again feeling dead inside, just as she had before she asked for a separation. She became more and more certain that her spiritual growth demanded a kind of personal autonomy that she couldn't find in the marriage. She felt that, in some way, her life depended on stepping out of it.
My reaction to Laura's decision was much like Todd's. Why? I thought. You have kids. You've addressed the problem issues, the relationship is growing, and Todd is a great person. What she was doing seemed willful and flaky. And yet, I had done something very similar: I had chosen to step out of a traditional structure when it became clear to me that not doing so would have brought my spiritual growth to a standstill.
Wave of Change
Sixty years ago, very few of us considered spiritual growth a valid reason for leaving a job or a marriage. Nowadays, the idea is not so strange, and not just because of changes in women's roles, family structures, and the like. Times like ours offer unparalleled opportunities to shift our levels of consciousness. Not only do we live in a maelstrom of global economic and cultural change, but a new and undeniable spiritual revolution is sweeping through postindustrial societies. More and more of us recognize that something within us is deeper than our personalities or the social and cultural currents that determine so much of our external lives. That deeper Self—call it the soul—is demanding that its agendas be heard.
What happens to our commitments when everything around us is changing? What does it mean to make commitments realistically and, above all, to keep them? How do we navigate with integrity the gap between what cultural tradition tells us we should do with our lives and the reality of what the inner journey demands? And how do we know when our desire to change course is soul driven and not just, well, escapist?
The answers demand deep self-inquiry, in which we look honestly at our desires and motivations. In order to clarify our motives, we must recognize not just our hidden ego and our "base" desires, but we also need to find out where our nonnegotiable commitments lie. Often, it isn't where we think they do. In my own search for integrity in commitment, I've continually come face to face with two simple but often hard-to-notice facts. First, we can't reliably commit ourselves to anything if we don't know what our true values are. Second, once we have found ourselves on a spiritual path, a path of yogic transformation, we have to accept that none of our interpersonal and intrapersonal commitments will feel exactly right until we gain clarity about our metacommitments.
What is a Metacommitment?
A metacommitment is a vow you make with your own soul, with that part of your being that underlies your personality, the part of you that connects to the eternal. The soul is your essence. In Indian traditions, the soul is called the jivatman—the individual Self, or spark of consciousness. If a commitment is a truly soulful compact, you'll find that it can withstand any amount of chaos and remain in place even when your external commitments are dissolving around you.
The following are some examples of metacommitments:
* To love in all circumstances
* To be of service
* To make your first priority your ongoing transformation and growth
* To find out what is ultimately real
* To make community
* To make beauty
* To be compassionate
* To help make the world better
* To live as your highest Self
* To ensure justice
You'll see immediately that metacommitments are related to values, principles, and intentions. Like an intention, a metacommitment needs at some point to be stated formally. But a commitment goes a step beyond an intention, because it is akin to a personal vow.
A metacommitment stands regardless of how the people and situations in your life come and go, because it is the key to your personal integrity. Knowing and keeping your metacommitments is what makes you trustworthy to yourself and others. Your relationships, job description, and day-to-day commitments may change. But metacommitments don't change, though their expression in your life may morph. And in the end, your metacommitments define you.
Here, it's important to understand that a metacommitment isn't the same thing as an unconscious drive. Our unconscious drives come from personal wounds or weaknesses, from "programs" or limiting patterns lodged in our subtle body. Our metacommitments, on the other hand, are expressions of our highest aspirations, our deepest sense of soul. They come from what is sometimes called the "authentic Self." The authentic Self includes the ego but also holds the capacity to witness and transcend the ego. When you're in your authentic Self, you can recognize, honor, and work with your unique temperament, your skills, gifts, and wounds. You have the clarity to recognize and act from your highest values—yet without denying the tendencies and preferences that help create your particular perspective, your unique way of being in the world.
Laura, for example, has an unconscious drive to break out of restrictions. But when she began looking at her metacommitments, she realized that her main metacommitments, the cornerstones of her personal integrity, were to honesty and love. Her honesty demanded that she recognize that not to follow the path she was being shown would cut her off from her life force. Her love demanded that she follow the process in a way that minimized the pain to her family.
When you know your metacommitments, you have criteria for evaluating major and minor life decisions. Are you committed to a life of creative expression? In that case, you probably shouldn't sign up to be a certified teacher in a rule-bound yoga system (though studying the system might be valuable, especially if it helps you discipline the wilder aspects of your creativity). Is your commitment to vitality, adventure? Then you probably won't be happy living with someone who has a metacommitment to a quiet life. Do you want spiritual growth? Then you will probably need to commit to a daily discipline that lets you keep building your depth in practice.
A metacommitment then becomes a rudder for holding a steady course toward personal integrity. As you grow and change, you may find that the way you express the commitment will morph. For instance, a commitment to regularity in practice may start out as a decision to go to class three times a week, or to meditate for 20 minutes every day. At certain points, it may make sense to set a time for your practice and stick to it. Yet if you understand that the real commitment is to the practice, rather than to the time you do it, then you can be flexible about the hour, without letting go of regularity.
It's the same in other areas of your life. If your commitment is to kindness and compassion, then even when you break up with your lover, you can do it without inflicting the kinds of wounds that make it hard to stay friends. The more deeply you know your metacommitments, the easier it is to negotiate external changes. Metacommitments help you hold a steady course, even when circumstances are moving you in unwanted or unintended directions.
When Laura and Todd clarified their metacommitments, they saw that a core commitment for both of them was the welfare of their children. Equally strong was their commitment to loving each other, regardless of their formal relationship. They realized both of those metacommitments could survive divorce.
The only sure thing in life is change. A commitment, to serve its deepest purpose, needs to be able to withstand change. When you know your metacommitments, when you can state them and live by them, your life has the integrity and steadfastness that are at the heart of yoga. Your relationship may dissolve, your job description change, your path morph beyond recognition. But the depth that commitment brings is never lost.
Uncover Your Core Commitments
When you want to discover your own metacommitments, you will need to begin by setting aside some of your assumptions about yourself and your life. Assumptions like "If I love someone, I should want to live with them" or "Spiritual people don't concern themselves with goods and money" can interfere with your ability to discover what's true for you.
Next, you'll need to do some honest self-inquiry. Begin by looking at the commitments you've made in your life. How many of them have been full hearted? That is, how many have not been driven by the values of your culture, or by those unexamined beliefs about how you are supposed to live that you set aside before beginning this exercise? Now, honestly look at what you value at this point in your life.
To determine your real values, ask yourself these questions:
What do I tend to be doing at the times when I feel happiest?
Which of my gifts mean the most to me? Which feel most like "me"?
What do I love about myself?
What do others love about me?
What am I good at?
What really matters to me enough that I am willing to sacrifice for it? Friendship? Creative work? Inner peace? Kindness? Creating positive change? Helping people? Getting to the truth?
Finally, ask yourself, "What threads of metacommitment can I see running through my life? How have they served me? How have they changed?"
Given all this, what are three metacommitments that I can make right now—commitments that I can keep regardless of where I am or who I'm with? Which of these is likely to deepen my relationship to life?
As you take yourself through this process, you'll find out a lot about yourself, about who you are and what you value. Above all, you'll start to see what it means for you to live deeply, authentically. Making commitments and keeping them is critical to our self-respect, our ability to rely on our own steadfastness. Yet because your commitments do indeed define your life, you want to be sure that you're making them from the deepest place you can find in yourself. Those are the commitments you can hang on to. Those are the ones you'll keep.
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