The Body Is My Temple, Asanas Are My Prayers
Our Guruji turns 93 years old on his birthday on Wednesday! Guruji translates as beloved teacher, but words can hardly express the deep love I have for this man. The following video montage of our Guruji, Yogacharya Sri BKS Iyengar was created as a beautiful dedication to this man.
It was created in honor of his 2005 visit to the United States, when he The Body Is My Temple, Asanas Are My Prayers came to Estes Park, Colorado. The video shows Iyengar’s yoga demonstrations over the years, spanning over five decades of devotion. The video begins quoting Iyengar who says, “The body is my temple, asanas are my prayers”. In 2000, Time Life magazine pegged Iyengar as one of the top 100 most influential people of the century. The latest edition of Oxford Dictionary of English defines “Iyengar” as “a type of Hatha yoga focusing on the correct alignment of the body, making use of straps, wooden blocks, and other objects as aids to achieving correct postures. – ORIGIN named after B.K.S. Iyengar (born 1918), the Indian yoga teacher who devised this method.” He was a victim of malaria, typhoid and tuberculosis in his childhood. At the age of 16, his Guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya introduced him to the physical discipline of yoga. Gradually he mastered the art and science of yoga and took it to a higher level.
Enjoy the video, or join in for 108 sun salutations as a dedication to Guruji!
Bone Health & Yoga
Did you know that bone loss normally begins at the age of 30? In the average population, 55% of people older than 50 years of age will have low bone density. Women are as likely to die from a hip fracture as from breast cancer. Men are more likely to have a hip fracture than prostate cancer. Yoga to the rescue!
I am excited to share the results of a study done on bone loss and yoga. The study was conducted by Dr. Loren Fishman and Ellen Saltonstall, who presented the results in March of 2009. All participants in the study had already been diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia (a pre-cursor to osteoporosis). Participants were an average age of 68, and had a bone density test done at the start of the two year study for a baseline.
The control group made no changes, while the experimental group only performed ten minutes of yoga a day. They were given ten yoga poses, holding each pose for 20 to 30 seconds, with a 5 to 10 minute Savasana following the sequence.
After two years, another bone density test was performed. The control group showed a T-score loss of -.12 of the spine, and -.07 of the hip. The Yoga group showed the average T-score improvement of .69 of the spine, and .87 of the hip. (Bone Mineral Density is measured in T-scores, as provided by DEXA scans, as well as blood and urine tests).
We’ve all heard that impact exercises stimulate bone growth, but gravity is only second best to the action of muscles pulling on the bones. Yoga poses act on the bones by “applying forces of opposing muscle groups to them that greatly exceed gravity, stimulating bone cells (osteocytes) to create more bone.”
Dr. Fishman also said, Yoga helps grow bone mass, but because yoga poses pull and stretch the bones from every conceivable angle, yoga also may stimulate the formation of a bone structure that is able to resist greater amounts of pressure, as well as many different types of challenges”. Dr. Fishman also found the bone stimulating effect was found to begin at 12 seconds of holding a pose, and continued to increase until 72 seconds, after which there was no increase in effect.
In conclusion, yoga has been proven to be beneficial in stimulating bone growth, even in older patients already displaying bone density loss.
Doesn’t it make you want to get your Down Dog on?
Savasana
Savasana (Corpse Pose) does not have a level of difficulty in B.K.S. Iyengar’s 1-60 scale of difficulty in Light on Yoga. When asked why, he replied that on a scale of 1 to 60, Savasana would rank 1,000.
Savasana is not a nap. During Savasana you remain aware, with focused attention, while relaxing as completely as possible. “By remaining motionless for some time and keeping the mind still while you are fully conscious, you learn to relax. This conscious relaxation invigorates and refreshes both body and mind. But it is much harder to keep the mind than the body still. Therefore, this apparently easy posture is one of the most difficult to master”.
Mr. Iyengar is encouraging us all to practice Savasana as a separate practice, separate from any other activities, and put aside at least fifteen minutes for the practice. “The stresses of modern civilsation are a strain on the nerves for which Savasana is the best antidote”.
Savasana, as difficult as it is, is a favorite pose for most people. Ah! You get to lie down and close your eyes! I’ll describe my own understanding of the pose, in the hopes that it helps you to deepen your practice.
But first, think of this: Infrared goggles use thermal imaging to show us the heat emitted from people’s bodies. We’ll call it the Energy Body. Our naked eyes cannot see the energy of our heat, but thermal imaging reveals it to us. (Remember this concept of an Energy Body provided by the goggles, because I’ll be referring to it later).
The Eight Limbs of Yoga
Meditation was the subject of my last blog, and leads us right into the next topic of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, because meditation is one of the limbs.
Another one of the eight limbs are the yoga poses you already practice. Yoga poses are called asanam in Sanskrit. This means that if you practice the yoga postures and meditate, then you only have six more steps of yoga to incorporate into your life to be able to say you “do yoga”! But don’t lose heart, you may be surprised at how many are available to you right now.
Listing the eight limbs here, with explanation following:
- Yama (general ethical principles, self-restraint for social harmony, vows of abstention)
- Niyama (code of conduct molding individual morality and behavior, personal discipline)
- Asana (yogic postures, literal English translation is seat, or to sit)
- Pranayama (breath control, the regulation of Prana)
- Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from the external world)
- Dharana (concentration)
- Dhyana (meditation on the true Self, prolonged concentration)
- Samadhi (contemplation, superconsciousness, absorption of the consciousness in the Soul)
Keep in mind the eight limbs, or steps of Yoga are sequential and progressive, and yet each step is equal in importance and necessity. All the limbs lead us to the ultimate goal of yoga, emancipation of the Self.
Dixie Cup in a Windstorm
Everyone has experienced it before; you can’t sleep because you just can’t turn your mind off. You have your eyes closed, and you felt sleepy before lying down, but once in bed, your mind just spins out of control, and keeps you awake. Or perhaps you were asleep, but then woke in the middle of the night with a thought of something you need to do, and proceed to lie awake for hours.
This is just one of the problems caused by a “monkey mind”. Iyengar describes this mind as “a drunken monkey who has been stung by a bee and is crashing through the forest, swinging from tree to tree”. Yikes! But so true.
Our mind’s normal process of association is like a monkey swinging from tree to tree, from thought to thought, on and on, keeping us from having any peace and stillness. Our mind is a thought producing organ. That is its job. How could we change that? Are we really just innocent victims of circumstance? Bodies attached to the thought producing organ, with no control?
Of course not. We do have control, but it takes practice to learn how to apply that control. Whose mind is it anyway? It is yours. You do have the ability to control the monkey by learning to meditate. But the skill of meditation isn’t second nature. It must be learned, practiced, and developed over time. In the mean time, your mind doesn’t want you to learn how to control it, like a 5 year old who runs amok and doesn’t want a new nanny learning how to contain him.
But give it a try. Again and again. The best advice for those of us learning how to meditate is “begin again”. Imagine this scenario: You decide to meditate. You choose your position, and bravely sit to calm the Dixie-cup-in-a-windstorm of a mind you have, and for two breaths it feels like you might succeed. Then, your mind slips one in on you. A thought. You didn’t even notice how it got there. Sigh. So you “begin again”. Then the mind whispers to you, “don’t just sit there, do something”, and you remember something you should be doing. Ack! Thinking again. After a few rounds of this, you feel like you’ve been tricked so many times by your mind, you just “can’t do it”. You give up and walk away from your new meditation practice asking, “what’s the point!?” Your mind has won again.
Sthira and Sukha
In my last blog I wrote about Dual Actions, and how they help us to safely find the appropriate opening of the moment. The most important dual actions of them all are sthira and sukha, translated simply as effort and ease.
These two Sanskrit words come from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: sthira-sukham-asanam (2:46) Practicing yoga with strength and in a relaxed manner gives rise to harmony with the physical body (asana).sthira = strong; steady; stable; motionless; firm; lastingsukham = comfortable; ease filled; happy; delight; relaxed asanam = asana; posture; seated position; physical practice.
Mr. Iyengar translates this sutra as “Asana is perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence and benevolence of spirit”. He continues, “whatever asana is performed, it should be done with a feeling of firmness, steadiness and endurance in the body; goodwill in the intelligence of the head, and awareness and delight in the intelligence of the heart. This is how each asana should be understood, practiced and experienced. Performance of the asana should be nourishing and illuminative”. – Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Simply put, without a strong and stable base, our posture collapses and can cause injury, while without enough relaxation in the muscles and delight in the heart and mind, our posture is rigid physically, and close-minded mentally and emotionally. Without a balance of these two elements, we will not be nourished or enlightened. While you’re in your next yoga class, think of these two qualities, and see if you can bring equilibrium to them both.
By the way, there are only two sutras out of the whole 196 that speak directly about yoga postures, and this one is the first of those two. Doesn’t that spark your interest to find out what the rest of the Yoga Sutras are all about?
A Grand Opening
Santosha Yoga is open! Yes, I am very excited about the opening of our new, beautiful yoga studio (you really should come see it if you haven’t yet – the new wood floor is gorgeous and the windows face out to the beautiful Colorado mountains). But that’s not the grand opening I’m talking about. Have you ever had one of those “a-ha!” moments during your yoga practice? That moment when you have a physical change in your body, or you simply gain a new awareness of what is happening, a new comprehension? That’s the grand opening I’m referring to.
The whole idea for a blog came about when one of my students suddenly understood the purpose of the Dual Actions. She exclaimed, “If I don’t do both, nothing happens!”
A grand opening can occur in the body as a result of Dual Actions. Dual actions are those actions your teacher is always directing you to do which seem to be in opposition of each other, like counter actions, or at worst, impossible to do at the same time. An example is in Tadasana (Mountain pose) when your teacher says “thighs back, buttocks down.” An even more exaggerated example is Virabhadrasana I (Warrior 1 pose) in the same context. When the thigh of the back leg is pressed back strongly while the tailbone is pressed down, an opening occurs in the psoas major muscle, and the rectus femoris muscle at the front hip of the back leg. The hips and groin opens.
Dual actions are used to create a safe, healthy, and appropriate opening in the body. By following the direction of both actions simultaneously, only the available opening that is appropriate for your body in that moment will occur. Only beneficial change will occur, while you’ll be protected from overstretching or straining a joint or muscle.
What are the most important Dual Actions? Sthira and Sukha. If you want to know what they are, either read Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, or read my next blog…
An Honest Tree Pose
Asana practice requires honesty, and not only the honorable kind, but the you-can’t-hide-from-yourself, pretend, or be in denial kind of honesty. It also requires a non-grasping attitude, a greed-less approach, not as in sharing well with others, but as in accepting each moment with appreciation in exactly the way it is in that moment instead of wanting it to be another way.
Honesty and non-greed are two of the five Yamas of yoga, the ethical principals to follow in life. Honesty/truthfulness is called Satya. Non-greed, non-grasping and non-hoarding is called Aparigraha. These two principals fall easily into our life every day. The hard part is adhering to them.
Our yogasana practice is the perfect opportunity to apply these principals, or perhaps discover just how hard it is to follow them. Any pose will reveal these principals if you look closely, but for our example, let’s look at Vrksasana, Tree pose.
Stand in Tadasana, Mountain pose. While the legs are straight, the front points of the pelvis are squared equally to the front. Once you move into Vrksasana however, the balance required on one foot and the image your Ego is chasing may distract you from keeping your pelvis squared to the front. Re-squaring your pelvis most likely requires your bent knee to come forward somewhat. Chasing the image of having your bent knee far out to the side while your pelvis is squared to the front will cause your lumbar spine to sway.
But Satya and Aparigraha will build an honest tree. While being honest with yourself, accept the level of opening your hip has today, and accept the opening it does not have today. With the pelvis squared to the front and buttocks down, the hip joint is placed in the proper position to open only at the hip joint, without secret tricks to make it look as if the hip is open further. Holding the attitude of non-grasping, you release any image in the mind’s eye, and stop chasing after an accomplishment. Instead, you honor your body with present moment awareness, and acceptance. Now the real opening begins, not only in the hip joint, but towards the Soul.
