Monthly Archives: September 2008

MindBody Connection

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Alternative medicine often refers to the mind-body connection. But what does it really mean? How are our minds linked to our bodies? Is this even possible?

In this culture, we’re all taught a very powerful message that separates the mind from the body. The body is usually considered subordinate to the mind, as in “Mind Over Body.” The body is only worthwhile insofar as it is useful to make money, as int he case of athletes, or when it can be a tool to accomplish something, such as painting the house. Many other times, the body is considered a hindrance, when it becomes ill or injured. And on top of its other faults, it is the seat of sin, wittingly or not, carrying out our base desires.

The mind is not off the hook though, just because it may be “on top.” It can also become sick, “Worrying us to death,” for instance. The mind contains the seeds of all those wicked cravings, let’s not forget. And then there are those, well, you know, those delicious, though perhaps unsavory images that root about our gray matter when we least expect them.

Long ago, somewhere in India, some folks discovered another avenue for existence. It’s a path of union. Through their own experience, they found that the mind and body can be trained to work together. We call this journey, yoga.

I just finished reading a very powerful memoir by an accomplished and unusual yogi:

WAKING by Matthew Sanford, creator of Mind-Body Solutions in Minnesota. Matt shares the lessons from his own life and makes them applicable to every life. Because of a tragic car accident when he was 13, he is paralyzed from the nipples down. His struggle to become fully embodied in areas that do not have neural sensation are more intense, but otherwise not really different from every other yogic practitioner who tries to find the intelligence in their toes, or shoulder blades, or wherever there is numbness and lack of consciousness.

Matthew received the VOLVO For Life Award. The video carries an important and inspiring message.

Please watch it, and then listen to The Body’s Grace on Speaking of Faith, an interview on Public Radio with Krista Tippett. We’d love to hear your thoughts afterwards.

And next time your yoga teacher asks you to move your shoulder blades towards your kidneys, think of Matthew Sanford and try to go deeper with your awareness.

Panterrra Pre-Natal Yoga Workshop

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Dariel in empathy vest with Maureen (carolyn)

Saturday morning, I wondered what I was doing in a pre-natal yoga workshop; after all, I hadn’t had a pregnant woman in class for at least one year. Furthermore, my own pregnancies were more than 22 years ago! Something inside nagged me to attend the workshop though, and one thing I’ve learned from my years of practice is to listen to that voice, so I went. And how informative and fun, it was! I learned that I had A LOT of emotions that I’d been carrying with me through the years regarding my own birthing experiences as well as my experiences as a mother and my relationship with my own mother. There’s nothing like yoga to cause all the STUFF to rise to the surface! And what is the appropriate response? Be present; just be present and observe whatever happens, whatever you are feeling, or thinking, or dreaming. Accept the *stuff* as part of you and honor all of it. Let it go. Breathe and breathe another long slow breath, for all of us – you and your baby – and me and my fledglings.

The theme of the weekend, if there was one, was that pregnancy is a time of awakening intuition and pregnant women should be provided skills and opportunities to support the process of looking inward. This will support them as they enter motherhood as well.

Dariel in supported Hasta Padanghustasana

D. in wall chair pose with ball & bolster

The workshop was arranged with a mix of pre-natal information from an RN yogini, asana with Dariel and Maureen, and q & a with a practicing midwife yogini. We all had opportunity to wear the pregnancy vest that included enlarged breasts, belly, and baby weight sitting on the bladder. See Dariel’s photo on top above and below where she is demonstrating a great way for expectant moms to stretch their backs on a large physio ball placed on a chair. To the far left she is demonstrating a safe practice of hasta padangusthasana using chair, wall, and strap.

Maureen led us in a memorable wall sit. We each pressed an 8 inch physio ball between our knees, while keeping head and back on the wall. We attempted to keep it up for a full minute (thighs burning, I tell you). This would teach the pregnant woman how to breathe and focus even through pain. It was very effective and I will definitely use that in classes for everyone – students get ready! One of the great gifts of yoga and meditation is the ability to learn to stay present through turmoil and pain.

Lots of anecdotal birthing stories were shared among the participants throughout the weekend revealing the unique path each woman follows in the process of bringing forth a new life.

We enjoyed time on Saturday to walk in the gorge, or to walk along the street beside ripening vineyards, breathing in the intoxicating scent of grapes.

Panterra: Bell Creek Gorge Sept. 2008 (carolyn)

Sunday morning we covered deep relaxation, breath techniques, finding personal rhythm to assist the birthing process, several styles of vocal toning for Stage 3, and more asanas appropriate for supporting pregnancy.

By lunchtime Sunday, the weather turned rainy and we all wanted to chat and bond, or practice our own asana.

The grand finale of the weekend was Maureen’s gentle voice leading us through a pre-natal yoga class complete with guided centering and a final blissful savasana.

By the time I sat up, I almost wished I were pregnant again!

Dariel practicing birth preparation with ball on chair (carolyn)

For FURTHER STUDY see Brenda K. Plakens (Grounding thru the sitbones) article in Yoga Journal:Tools For Teaching Prenatal Yoga

carolyn in side-lying savasana (Dariel)

Yoga Month

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For those of us who still live in linear or clock time, please join the celebration of Yoga Month! On the lower bar of the video above, there is a menu of short interviews of many different people sharing what yoga means to them. Though we are late to participate in the official month’s activities, we can still jump into the cultural movement inspiring a healthy lifestyle and contemplative life.

It’s a great time to share the gift of yoga with folks who, traditionally, have not been a part of the community: elders, kids, prisoners, mentally ill, rural folks, etc. I’m sure you can name a few more groups who’d enjoy the benefits of yoga and meditation. Perhaps you have family members who would love to learn some skills for increasing their awareness and happiness while alive on this planet. Offer what you’ve learned or invite them to join you in your class. If you are a teacher, you may want to look beyond the typical studio arrangement and bring your skills “out of the box” and into……. wherever! The river is wide and the currents are many.

Here in Fredonia, the Friday HAPPY HOUR relaxation and meditation has become a wonderful way to end the work week and begin the weekend. Collecting all proceeds for an international non-profit group adds an element of opening compassionately beyond our personal needs. The seeds of yoga practice grow!

Can we, as a culture evolve into a more peaceful, caring, and aware group? We, as individuals, certainly can – that is born our again and again in the lives of yoga students everywhere.

DE-LISH TOMATO SOUP

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A Yogin’s Cuisine,

Recipes for Health & Happiness

Panterra gardensprite with ivy (Barefoot Photos)

It was a VERY rainy summer in WNY and the tomato vines withered early. Though it’s unbelievable considering how pitiful the vines were, we did reap a decent crop of plump crimson fruits. Mike created a fantastic soup from the harvest. It’s so delicious that it’s hard to believe it’s so simple! Unfortunately, it does require a Foley, which is not a typical item in every kitchen. Trust me – the soup is worth investing in one, so head out to Target first thing on the weekend. Your investment will last a long long time and provide you many a bowl of sweet vegie puree. We received our Foley from Mike’s gramma, so I’m figuring ours is 50 + years old and going strong.

DE-LISH TOMATO SOUP

Cook about 16 medium tomatoes over low heat until they are totally soft. You can add a splash of water in the pan if you feel it necessary. Put the tomatoes through the Foley. You should end up with a bowl of puree.

Chop a large onion, preferably a Vidalia, and saute in butter.

In a large saucepan, combine the onion and tomato puree. Add some salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste.

Serve sprinkled with some fresh parmesan cheese if you like.

VOILA! a beautiful early autumn refresher that serves up beautifully alongside an open-faced peanut butter and homemade elderberry jam sandwich for lunch.

Tomato Soup (Barefoot Photos)

Practicing Gratitude, Head Balance

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HURRICANE IKE hit and the gang in Houston remains without power. Dinners have become very interesting. And the nights are long. A great time for meditation! By the way, Laughing Yogini’s server is wrapped in plastic in a bathroom until power returns. If you have left a comment, it won’t be approved until nutopia is back on line. Try re-submitting to the yogini at laughingyogini dot com and I’ll see what I can do from here. Lots of lovingkindness meditations going out to those whose lives have been shattered by the storm.

We all have an opportunity to practice gratitude – name 5 aspects of your life that you are grateful for. Can be anything …here are a couple of mine: the smell of my shampoo, the delicious cup of coffee I enjoyed this morning, the sweetness of the breeze upon the skin of my face, being able to tie my shoes, a very cool student who smiled at me this morning. Do this every day, either in meditation or in your journal, and the practice will go far towards alleviating sadness and depression – those “I feel so sorry for myself” moments that come upon us even in the best of times.

chair head balance


My own many years-long struggle with head balance surfaced in a dream. Yogis need to constantly work against the inevitable frustration that comes from self-imposed goals and standards. I work at letting the frustration become the guru! Sitting in my heart, the frustration offers a lesson of acceptance, very tangibly. Surrendering into self-acceptance, my asana begins to take off. And if it doesn’t soar in a way that LOOKS better, it most certainly FEELS better, enabling access to the particular energy flow of the asana.

********************************************

Dream of a Perfect Head Balance

In the screened sunroom of this dream,

your long white hair and fierce sapphire eyes

shone like far-away stars. I was teaching you

how to stand on your head—

separation from your wife had left you

a quagmire of guilt, a swamp of suffering.

Night surrounded the room as it usually does

in my dreams, but we worked in a circle of light.

Kneeling in the middle of the reed rug

I explained how to press your ulnar points,

how to lift through the shoulders, how to reach

through the balls of the toes.

Though I have yet to do this in my life,

I demonstrated a perfect sirsasana

without any wall for support.

You nodded, attentive to every detail.

I assured you regular practice of head balance

would discipline your mind, broaden your spirit,

and warned heart trouble was a contraindication.

*********************************************

Then there are those poses that, well, you really can barely make an attempt. For me, those are the arm balances. I set up my props, and psyche myself by visualizing myself in the pose, and blam…the lift-off does not happen. At that point, it’s either a flop into frustration OR I can choose to enjoy the ride. In this case, the ride doesn’t go very far, but hey, it was fun falling on my face a few times. Afterwards, as I curl into Child Pose, the seeds of gratitude for even being able to attempt such the inversion, germinate, filling me with light. Laughing at how silly I must have looked trying fuels the spirit of exploration that’s so important for a healthy yoga practice. It breaks the chains of competition in class too because every student is trying to challenge individual, personal edges.

How do you deal with frustration in your daily practice or in group classes? Do your frustrations surface in your dreams? Have you written about them?

Have you found any satisfaction from practicing gratitude?

How does this relate to contentment …to peace…to compassion…in your life?

Why Practice? A Disaster Named Ike

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What is life? What do we expect?

In the Western world we have expectations of personal as well as global peace and happiness every single day. Of course, that is NOT the case. As Jon Kabat-Zinn reminds us in his book, FULL CATASTROPHE LIVING, life is more or less a series of catastrophes, one after another. Why we expect it to be otherwise, who knows?

This has certainly been true during the past few days as Mike and I waited anxiously to hear word of our boys and Elisabeth in Houston, hunkering down during Hurricane Ike.

They are OK, sleeping on the tile floor in the RICE University Campus Center – better than so many who lost everything they owned. D. volunteered to cook for the “refugee” students holed up in the Center. He made a couple hundred gyros. Nate & Elisabeth’s apartment suffered minor water damage. One of the labs Nate uses has water pouring out of the electric sockets – probably not a good thing, but his ultra-high-speed laser is OK – so he’ll probably be able to get back to work on Tuesday. Fellow physics grad. student, Mark Knight rode his bike ten miles into Houston center to shoot some video of the after-effects of the storm, only to get a flat tire from broken glass. It was a long sorry walk back.

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What are we learning as we practice yoga and meditation day after day? We discover that this is drama, pure and simple. We find that there is a place within, a center of equanimity and stillness that we can access, even during our most troubling times. Is that happening for you? Are you finding some semblance of quietude during your catastrophes? Do you think this is possible? Can you sit in the anxiety? I had trouble sleeping as well as meditating.

Mudpuppy

Stretching out in forward bends helped when I wasn’t on the phone to family. Let’s remember that this is a practice, not perfection. In the face of something as large as Ike, we are only human after all, despite years of practice. Acceptance of our suffering and raggedy edges comes with the territory. Despite saltines and peanut butter, no electricity and a mere trickle of water, day after day, even in 90 degree heat, there is opportunity to practice compassion from whatever softening crying hearts can muster.

Our prayers go out to you Texans. May you experience an eye of stillness within your storms.

THE GARDEN WITHIN

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The morning sun shines a luminous shower upon my face and the coolish breeze softly combs through my hair. Kitchen baskets of apples, tomatoes, squash, and peppers overflow. Mike made elderberry jam with fruit from a bush planted two years ago. We smile in abundance. Western New York September proliferates in fecundity.

And when a writer can gather and share the sense of the season’s days, every reader whistles in delight. Every yogi merges into the essential nature. It’s been a pleasure to spend some time with longtime friend, Penelope writer, artist, mindfulness practitioner, and wild gardener, Sara Baker Michalak’s collection of essays, THE GARDEN WITHIN, published by FOOTHILLS.

Sara’s writing is saturated with the essence of a life embracing the earth. The strength of her vision has charged my own. As soon as I step outside, the echo of her voice resounds within my own. How deep was my blindness before reading TGW? It’s through seeing that our boundaries dissolve. Our vision widens and penetrates ever finer levels, so we grow richer, connected in wonder, joy, and spirit to all beings.

From “October 18″ by Sara Baker Michalak


October’s declining has drained the creek. The higher channel, described a few short weeks ago by rushing waters, is marked now only by water’s channeled way, by dust.

In a slightly lower spot, a lone water bug – moored, stuck, dead, whatever – hangs at the scummy edge of a puddle’s remnants. I think: wouldn’t a lush place be pleasant now for focusing my spacey staring; and bugging, not not bugging, nice to marvel at?

Yet, when I really see scum’s variations – crust, skin, foam, froth – it, too, describes this creek’s floody life, apart from the meanings, or no-meanings, I construe. Seeing leans on wanting, watching, waiting.

Raindrops, then more, enough for water bug to boogie her way about the small sea. Enough for me to wonder at drizzle chiseling such abundance out of this dry day.

Living YOUR Life TODAY

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The question is whose life ARE you living? As you go deeper into meditation and yogic practice, as you connect regularly with your core self, your True Self, this question rears its, often, ugly head. For me, there was a feeling for years that I was living a life that was not my own. I don’t know exactly how I came to this place; I try to work it out in my memoir essays.

Furthermore, I didn’t know how to change, nor did I know what exactly I wanted to change. There were many voices clamoring and flapping around like a flock of hungry starlings inside of me. They created a loud, unhappy chorus. But what to do??? I didn’t have a clue.

Finally, there were some rather emotional events that catapulted me into action. People close to me were going through serious life events, the kind that they might not make it out of alive, and I wanted to be there for them. Unfortunately, with my teaching schedule, I had nothing left over to give–always grading or prepping. Giving everything I had, even though I never felt I had enough.

I looked beyond the poverty-level wage because I loved my students; I loved my department; I loved the field; heck, I even loved my little cubby-hole office. Could I love anything else as much? The love always won out over the obvious mental depletion. It wasn’t an easy decision.

Thankfully, I couldn’t even think whether what I was choosing was right or wrong. Would I regret my decision? Would I land in a morass of deeper unhappiness? Who knew? I knew that I HAD to change and so I left my teaching English post. Fortunately, I was able to leave it open-ended, able to return, should I desire.

At this point in time, the desire is certainly not there–I have no thoughts of returning. WHY? Because now I feel I am living my OWN LIFE. And that has generated much happiness. The ripples flow outward in all directions to those near me. And the happiness grows deeper by the day. A deep well of satisfaction and equanimity grows. Fundamentally, that is really what yoga is all about.

Watch this video and tell us what you think….what changes have you made in your life to stay true to your path? Click the little VIMEO star to view it in full-screen mode.


University Lipdub (HS Furtwangen) from DASKAjA on

Breathe in and out of your heart center. Practice Savasana. Everyday. Over and over and over. Keep connected with your source. Keep listening with your inner ears. Eventually, the voice that is yours will surface. Eventually you will know what it is that you want. Meanwhile, enjoy the trip.

FURTHER PRACTICE:

Authentic Self audio meditation with Marie Rosin.