Monday, October 20, 2008
Do you feel sleepy during your yoga practice?
Last night when I was practicing yoga, I felt really sleepy after the first few asana (done through deep stretching). On close examination, I realized that I wasn’t exactly sleepy, but just very relaxed after stretching those muscles.
How often do we mistake our feeling of deep relaxation for sleepiness or exhaustion or lethargy, plain and simple? Of course, our eyes can and often do become heavy when we are very relaxed, especially from deep inside the muscle. This relaxation tends to permeate the whole body and then the mind as well.
However, after a few stretches, and especially if you have already had a long day (those of you who practice after sunset will know what I am talking about), the feeling can be one of exhausted relaxation. Yes, it is very rejuvenating to stretch when tired. Yes, it is also very possible that you could fall asleep on your mat! It is best, however, to save that depth of relaxation for the last, that is, for shavasana, which is (or should be) done at the end of every practice. In the meantime, while inducing relaxation into the muscles during asana, keep your intention and awareness on the stretch, on feeling your body opening up and on getting the benefits of that practice beyond relaxation.
If you feel sleepy on the mat, keep your awareness on that feeling, notice how the body feels in general and work with that feeling. If you fall asleep anyway, when you lay down in shavasana, then so be it. Perhaps you desparately needed that rest anyway. Sleep after yoga is pretty profound too. It is deep and refreshing. I find that a deeply relaxing practice is itself a good and restful state for the body to be in. I feel rested after my practice. Like I went into deeper places in my body and freed some of those rigid spots. Freeing your muscles can itself be freeing – just simply freeing. The practice of asana must affect the mind in ways that we don’t even acknowledge on a regular basis. That is why, sleepy or not, I love my yoga everyday.
I love it more with each passing day. I have learnt to approach my body and my feelings with a respectful awareness, so that I don’t end up lashing myself about being lazy or tired. I know that simply being aware of what my body is going through every moment that I am on the mat can have far reaching effects for my body and soul. Awareness is key to unlocking so many hidden dimensions of the body and mind. Practicing with awareness, I find, takes me to a place of great contentment. I am happy to just be.
I must add, that this ability to stay with my body has grown with me and it can be a struggle as well at times. Usually though, once I overcome the struggle of actually getting onto my yoga mat and into my yoga space, I get into the groove of my practice and come out feeling a new person.
I will sign off now with an OM and return with more insights soon….
How often do we mistake our feeling of deep relaxation for sleepiness or exhaustion or lethargy, plain and simple? Of course, our eyes can and often do become heavy when we are very relaxed, especially from deep inside the muscle. This relaxation tends to permeate the whole body and then the mind as well.
However, after a few stretches, and especially if you have already had a long day (those of you who practice after sunset will know what I am talking about), the feeling can be one of exhausted relaxation. Yes, it is very rejuvenating to stretch when tired. Yes, it is also very possible that you could fall asleep on your mat! It is best, however, to save that depth of relaxation for the last, that is, for shavasana, which is (or should be) done at the end of every practice. In the meantime, while inducing relaxation into the muscles during asana, keep your intention and awareness on the stretch, on feeling your body opening up and on getting the benefits of that practice beyond relaxation.
If you feel sleepy on the mat, keep your awareness on that feeling, notice how the body feels in general and work with that feeling. If you fall asleep anyway, when you lay down in shavasana, then so be it. Perhaps you desparately needed that rest anyway. Sleep after yoga is pretty profound too. It is deep and refreshing. I find that a deeply relaxing practice is itself a good and restful state for the body to be in. I feel rested after my practice. Like I went into deeper places in my body and freed some of those rigid spots. Freeing your muscles can itself be freeing – just simply freeing. The practice of asana must affect the mind in ways that we don’t even acknowledge on a regular basis. That is why, sleepy or not, I love my yoga everyday.
I love it more with each passing day. I have learnt to approach my body and my feelings with a respectful awareness, so that I don’t end up lashing myself about being lazy or tired. I know that simply being aware of what my body is going through every moment that I am on the mat can have far reaching effects for my body and soul. Awareness is key to unlocking so many hidden dimensions of the body and mind. Practicing with awareness, I find, takes me to a place of great contentment. I am happy to just be.
I must add, that this ability to stay with my body has grown with me and it can be a struggle as well at times. Usually though, once I overcome the struggle of actually getting onto my yoga mat and into my yoga space, I get into the groove of my practice and come out feeling a new person.
I will sign off now with an OM and return with more insights soon….
Labels: asana, body awareness, deep sleep, hatha yoga, muscle release, rejuvenated, relaxation, relaxed sleep, shavasana
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Magic, on the mat
My 19-month old calls yoga “magic”. Although I couldn’t come up with a better description for it myself, I can’t help but be amused by his unintended insightfulness. He saw a video a few weeks ago of a famous contortionist yogi practicing on the mat and ever since, yoga is, for him, magic. For me too,Yoga is magic, however, for entirely different reasons. I find my moments on the mat quite magical. It transforms the present and makes the moment feel light and beautiful. Every time I feel exhausted before my practice, I come real close to giving up and making myself a drink instead. But something makes me get on that mat anyway and I must say, it is well worth the effort.
Sometimes though, yoga feels like a battle on the mat. A battle with my mind and body that is. As I fight it out to stay focused and present, I gain the benefits of it indirectly. I may not notice at the time, but I do feel transformed by the end of it. It’s amazing. When I am present in my practice, I become present in everything I do after that. It calms me down. I have two kids, you see and they can be quite an impossible handful, lovely though they be. It also makes me a better mother when I practice yoga regularly. It gives me some space and time to myself (well, with my son jumping on me and my daughter talking to me non-stop), but they do get the point sometimes and stay away from me, especially when I am trying a difficult asana!
The idea is (for me anyway) to practice, even if it is for just a few minutes. Those few minutes of simply sitting on my mat, in, say veerasana or doing a stretch from the pawanmuktasana series, can induce a feeling of serenity. Two things I must say here:
1. My mat has seen years of yoga practice from me. I don’t always treat my mat with the reverence it deserves, but somehow, despite that, it seems to hold the wisdom and energy of many years of sadhna. It comforts me.
2. My body is so used to the effects and benefits of my practice, it takes only a few seconds for its own intelligence to kick in and for it to start generating the healing response from within itself.
If this isn’t magic, then what is. It is the truth pure and simple – a stretch a day keeps dis-ease at bay. It has become a code word for yoga at home – and when we bring the mats out for a yoga practice, we say to one another “let’s do magic”!
Sometimes though, yoga feels like a battle on the mat. A battle with my mind and body that is. As I fight it out to stay focused and present, I gain the benefits of it indirectly. I may not notice at the time, but I do feel transformed by the end of it. It’s amazing. When I am present in my practice, I become present in everything I do after that. It calms me down. I have two kids, you see and they can be quite an impossible handful, lovely though they be. It also makes me a better mother when I practice yoga regularly. It gives me some space and time to myself (well, with my son jumping on me and my daughter talking to me non-stop), but they do get the point sometimes and stay away from me, especially when I am trying a difficult asana!
The idea is (for me anyway) to practice, even if it is for just a few minutes. Those few minutes of simply sitting on my mat, in, say veerasana or doing a stretch from the pawanmuktasana series, can induce a feeling of serenity. Two things I must say here:
1. My mat has seen years of yoga practice from me. I don’t always treat my mat with the reverence it deserves, but somehow, despite that, it seems to hold the wisdom and energy of many years of sadhna. It comforts me.
2. My body is so used to the effects and benefits of my practice, it takes only a few seconds for its own intelligence to kick in and for it to start generating the healing response from within itself.
If this isn’t magic, then what is. It is the truth pure and simple – a stretch a day keeps dis-ease at bay. It has become a code word for yoga at home – and when we bring the mats out for a yoga practice, we say to one another “let’s do magic”!
Labels: hatha yoga, magic, pawanmuktasana, sadhna, stretching, veerasana
Friday, October 10, 2008
Book Review Corner
Book review corner
Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha (APMB)
Author: Swami Satyananda Saraswati
APMB is one of the best yoga books on the shelf today. It is very extensive in representing the range of asana, from beginners all the way to advanced practices. It covers a gamut of topics from spiritual to physical in discussing the benefits of each asana. Contraindications are briefly discussed, as are also the therapeutic applications of each asana, where relevant. It has simple, clear illustrations and instructions as well, for every asana.
This book may pose as a simply illustrated asana book, but it is in fact, a very well documented spiritual commentary on the practice of asana, pranayama, mudra and bandha. It discussess pranayama, mudra and bandha very briefly, and by the same token it also has a section on the six kriyas or the six essential cleansing practices called “shatkarma”.
Reading this book was a journey into my own spiritual potential or shall I say, into the vast spiritual possibilities that each one of us can access through the practice of asana, both simple as well as advanced. it explores, and very effectively at that, the spiritual side of all these practices making you believe that bliss consciousness is only a regular practice away.
It is written very simply and will appeal to the beginner and the advanced practitioner alike. A copy of APMB by your side when you practice will serve you well and be your guide in the true sense of the word. It reveals secrets from tantric texts without much ado and takes away the intrigue surrounding these practices. Get yourself a copy now and simply soar with it into hitherto unexplored realms of self-knowledge and body awareness.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
On movement, awareness and awareness in motion
One of my yoga teachers would often comment that she never suffered injuries. Her observation was that she had a high level of body awareness and this prevented injuries from happening. This got me thinking. People with body awareness are less prone to injuries because they move effortlessly. When movement is effortless, you are unlikely to jostle, bump into objects or hurt yourself otherwise. Basically injury is your body saying something to you, most probably directing your awareness to something you need to know at that moment.
Therefore, injury is not a bad thing when it happens, even if you don't know how it happened. Ultimately it is all about bringing your awareness to your body - better before the injury than after, though. However, the intrigue in her statement was the fact that body awareness could actually prevent injury from occuring in the first place. How does this happen? When you practice any form of body awareness such as yoga, for example, you are allowing the body to open itself up and unlock its many dimensions. Even if you are not always conscious of it, you develop, or should I say, your body develops a sub conscious mastery over movement. Your muscles have opened up so much, they are agile and their range of motion is wider and the movement itself, smoother.
When you stretch your muscles and infuse them with your breath (and new oxygenated blood) they get rejuvenated. Continuous rejuvenation will leave them fresh and agile, rather than tired and clumsy. Life is very stressful, we all know that. Your muscles can easily get tired as can the rest of your body. Regular rejuvenating over a long period of time will give your muscles control, poise, flexibility and even grace in motion. That is not all. Posture will improve, and best of all, you will find yourself walking through a crowded street feeling your own space around you - you will pretty much glide through quite easily.
A regular practice of asana has many benefits - some obvious, some not so obvious. You will notice that asana creates space within your body for prana to flow. This means better heath, greater range of motion and overall sense of wellness. The next time you think of getting on that mat think in terms of building body awareness, not just the body. Bring your mind to your mat, body and soul. You will not only transform the way you practice (your yoga sadhana will be a dynamic and an evolving one), but also how you feel from the inside out.
Therefore, injury is not a bad thing when it happens, even if you don't know how it happened. Ultimately it is all about bringing your awareness to your body - better before the injury than after, though. However, the intrigue in her statement was the fact that body awareness could actually prevent injury from occuring in the first place. How does this happen? When you practice any form of body awareness such as yoga, for example, you are allowing the body to open itself up and unlock its many dimensions. Even if you are not always conscious of it, you develop, or should I say, your body develops a sub conscious mastery over movement. Your muscles have opened up so much, they are agile and their range of motion is wider and the movement itself, smoother.
When you stretch your muscles and infuse them with your breath (and new oxygenated blood) they get rejuvenated. Continuous rejuvenation will leave them fresh and agile, rather than tired and clumsy. Life is very stressful, we all know that. Your muscles can easily get tired as can the rest of your body. Regular rejuvenating over a long period of time will give your muscles control, poise, flexibility and even grace in motion. That is not all. Posture will improve, and best of all, you will find yourself walking through a crowded street feeling your own space around you - you will pretty much glide through quite easily.
A regular practice of asana has many benefits - some obvious, some not so obvious. You will notice that asana creates space within your body for prana to flow. This means better heath, greater range of motion and overall sense of wellness. The next time you think of getting on that mat think in terms of building body awareness, not just the body. Bring your mind to your mat, body and soul. You will not only transform the way you practice (your yoga sadhana will be a dynamic and an evolving one), but also how you feel from the inside out.
Labels: asana, body awareness, hatha yoga, sadhana, stretching, yoga