The [Sacramento] Yoga Community

Friday I went to a "Sacramento Yoga Teacher Party".  I understood the intention to be about creating an opportunity for us all to connect as well as promoting the idea of a yoga community in Sacramento that reaches beyond each individual studio.

It seems that the climate many people see is the amazing community that develops around each individual yoga studio and the common theme of a studio owners focus on fostering community within their studio over the greater yoga community. This seems to bother some people. And honestly, when the subject is broached with me I sometimes feel a little guilty.   I wonder, is building the Asha Yoga Community simply what's "good for business"? I have chosen to teach yoga and build a yoga studio as a career path, but this choice stems from a deep passion for practicing and sharing yoga. I want to honor the practice AND make a living, but sometimes I fear that the two are not congruent. Luckily, that is generally a short term fear. On most days I believe the two can intertwine in perfect harmony. And I have come to see that this perfectly harmonious balance of business and yogic philosophy includes focusing on building the community of my studio while understanding that this honors the larger community of yogis in Sacramento and WAY beyond.

Here's what we do in yoga nowadays: We step onto a mat that is aproxomately 73 inches long by  24 inches wide.We take some long, deep, expansive breaths. We begin to pay attention. We begin to honor this mat that we stand on and we make it very, very important. We turn inward and we don't pay attention to what  is happening anywhere else but right here and right now, on this small rectangular mat. We believe this will make a difference in our lives and in the world. And in time, we experience that it does. Precisely because we narrowed our focus.

As owners of yoga studios: We build a space aproxomately 2000 sq feet in size. We take many long, deep, expansive breaths. We begin to pay attention.We begin to honor this space that we built, and continue to build each day (and sometimes late into each night!). We make it very, very important. We narrow our focus and we often don't pay attention to what is happening anywhere else but inside the four walls of our own individual yoga studio and community. And guess what? We believe this will make a difference in our lives and in the world. And in my experience, after building three yoga studios in the past ten years, it does. Precisely because I have narrowed my focus.

Our entire yoga practice is built on the idea that primarily we focus inward. So why would we build a yoga studio and do anything else?

This is my opinion: Focusing on building our "individual yoga studio communities" is the best thing we can do for yoga students and for the greater good. It takes a lot of attention to build a space where students can feel and be appreciated, welcomed, comfortable and connected. -All things that support one feeling safe enough to open up and begin to break down the barriers that keep us from accessing the state of yoga.

And what about how we each believe in and prefer our approach over many others? Is anything wrong with that? I LOVE the classes and the philosophy of my studio. I choose to cultivate a studio that shares what has most inspired me and opened my heart. I also want to keep what we share narrow enough that students can focus and precisely because of their narrow focus... they can go deep. I think there is a high value for the student who picks one studio for their primary practice because their immersion into a supportive community offers them a safe place to open up and they can narrow their focus to a very useful degree. This does not mean that I don't respect the methods and practices of many other yogis, traditions, styles and studios.

I have the cel numbers for 8 Sacramento yoga studio owners in my phone. I have taken a class from nearly every one of them and vise versa. I truly wish them all great personal and business success and I believe that the feeling is mutual. I also think that we each understand the importance of building the community within our individual studios and I would guess that we all believe we are honoring the larger community of yogis through our efforts. So I invite anyone who worries that our focus on our individual communities is anything but yoga in action to reconsider. I thank each and every studio owner in Sacramento and accross the entire planet for the work that you do! I hope that you will continue to turn inward and focus on your individual communities and allow the effects of that to ripple out.

I will continue to do so as well!


With immense gratitude for yoga and the Asha Yoga community,
Cori

Clearing the Path to Wisdom

"The Work" and The Psychology of Yoga

I was a transpersonal psychology major in college. Transpersonal psychology is a form of psychology that studies the transpersonal self-transcendent or spiritual aspects of the human experience. My introduction to yoga came via a class called “Psychology of Yoga”. That was 15 years ago and my understanding has dramatically evolved over the years. I am excited to share the following post with you! It could be a little heavy for some, and definitely LONG… but I hope many will find value.
 
First, a message from the great Yogi: BKS Iyengar:

“You cannot hope to experience inner peace or freedom without understanding the workings of your mind and of human consciousness in general. All behavior, both destructive and constructive, is dependant on our thoughts.” – Light on Life
In the psychology of yoga there is a distinction between the “Mental Body”, where habitual thoughts, opinions and judgements occur and the “Intellectual Body”, where true wisdom and intelligence resides.

Yoga teaches us about something called Avidya. Avidya is a sanskrit word that means "false knowledge" or “incorrect understanding”. Avidya occurs consistently in the Mental Body. There are five main reasons for this.
 
Ego 
The “ego” lives in the thinking mind, or the Mental Body. The ego creates thoughts such as “I need people to like me.”, “I know that I am right.”, “I am better than other people.”, “I am not good enough.” If you paid close attention, you would notice all of these thoughts inside of you at one point or another. The ego is shallow and unoriginal but also, as you may be able to see from the example thoughts, inconsistent. Again, only if we pay close attention, we will frequently notice our ego thinking a thought like “I am better than him/her/them” about a specific situation one minute and then thinking the thought “I am not good enough” about the same situation the next minute. These thoughts are often fleeting, but they still affect our emotions and actions. The fact that we believe them even temporarily is an example of avidya.
 
Memory 
Memory is also a part of the Mental Body. Each time we plant an experience in our memory we make an association, which we later believe can/will be recreated. This causes us to want or reject things based on an association from our past. For example, if I have a memory of being praised by my co-workers and feeling really good in that moment, I will associate “feeling good” with being praised by my co-workers. This will cause me to seek the praise and approval of my co-workers in the future (often unconsciously) in order to “feel good”. Alternatively, if we have a difficult experience that we do not want to repeat we will reject the people, thoughts, or setting that relates to that experience. An example of this would be if we were treated very poorly in a past relationship we may develop a general association such as “men are jerks”, “women are selfish” or even more specific; “That man was a jerk”. These associations are being made constantly and avidya causes us to believe them without even realizing it. When we believe these associations we become oblivious to all the ways in which this belief is NOT true. Ie: all the ways “that man” was/is not a jerk. The mind will seek and find proof for all the ways our belief is true and even if these thoughts are fleeting, they affect our decisions, emotions, actions, and our experience.
 
Fear 
In the Heart of Yoga, TKV Desikachar says that “[Fear] is perhapse the most secret aspect of avidya and its expression is found on many levels of our everyday life.” Fear also lives in the Mental Body. We are afraid of being judged, of not having enough, of not being enough or doing enough. We are afraid of failing, succeeding, growing old, dying, and the list could go on and on. Yoga teaches that ALL of our fears come from false knowledge or incorrect understanding.

Side Note :) You may feel compelled to argue with the statement that all of our fears come from false knowledge. The idea is this: In the absence of avidya, there is a trust in life and a belief in “a friendly universe”. When this trust in life is unwavering, we understand that there is nothing to fear because whatever happens in a friendly universe is for a greater good that we cannot understand. Albert Einstein once said, “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly universe or hostile universe.” This decision will dramatically impact our experience of life and only if we choose the friendly universe, will we discover peace.

The Intellectual Body (Intelligence and Wisdom)

The outer edges of the Intellectual Body mingle with the Mental Body, but whereas the Mental Body leads to thoughts the Intellectual Body leads to intelligence and ultimately to wisdom. The challenge is that because of avidya and the effects of ego, memory and fear, we are regularly tricked into believing that the thoughts of the Mental Body are “intelligent and wise”. Avidya is seldom recognizable. The very definition of avidya is that the false or incorrect information remains disguised as truth.

In The Heart of Yoga TKV Desikachar explains that “We notice avidya more by its absence than its presence. When we see something correctly there is a profound peace inside of us- we feel no tension, no unrest, no agitation.”

There are two aspects of the Intellectual Body: Individual intelligence and cosmic intelligence.

Individual Intelligence

This is the place of self-reflective awareness. It is the place where descrimination and discernment occurs and where meaningful, freedom-enhancing choices are made. While this is a valuable and essential element of consciousness BKS Iyengar has referred to it as “merely a puny offshoot of cosmic intelligence.”

Cosmic Intelligence

Cosmic intelligence is the intelligence of the perfectly ordered universe. If you have no objection to the word- it is the intelligence of God and it is an infinite, universal, nourishing resource available to each of us. When we access cosmic intelligence, we experience true wisdom. Sometimes we feel this as intuition. The information at this level is “known” in an unwavering way, though it often cannot be explained since it is information that does not come from the Mental Body or the material world.

So how can we clear avidya and therefore the path to wisdom?

Yogic philosophy says we can do this through tapas, self study, and surrender to a wisdom greater than our individual selves. Tapas includes a dedication to keeping ourselves healthy and cleansed internally through asana, pranayama, and meditation. Surrendering to wisdom greater than our individual self is about embracing and honoring all that comes to us and trusting in the process of life. It is about believing in the “Friendly Universe” and leaving the final result in the hands of God, or the Universe. (Whichever term you prefer.)

Self Study and “The Work”

I want to talk in particular about self-study. In the philosophy of yoga much of this is about getting to know our individual self and the inner workings of our mind. You might say, waking up the mind to the reality of itself. As our Mental Body becomes increasingly aware of it’s ego, memory, fear and the how they influence our actions, avidya is reduced and replaced by its opposite: vidya, or true understanding. With true understanding, more of our actions can be influenced by the Intellectual Body.

“The Work” is a powerful technique I have mentioned before in this blog. It was developed and introduced to me by a teacher named Byron Katie. The Work is not an ancient yogic practice, but it is one of the most effective self-inquiry techniques I have experienced for “waking up the mind to itself” and finding the freedom and “profound peace” that comes from the absence of avidya. 

Side Note: You can learn more about The Work HERE

Also, after completing “The School for The Work” with Katie in 2010 I have begun to integrate this technique into many of the Asha Yoga programs. You can experience it in Living Yoga and the Advanced Studies and Teacher Training Program. Stay tuned for more opportunities to experience “The Work” and yoga.

The Good News

I’d like to close with a passage from The Heart of Yoga. 

“Although in yoga everything we see and experience is true and real, all for and all content is in a constant state of flux. This concept of continual change is known as parinmavada. The way we see things today does not have to be the way we saw them yesterday. That is because the situations, our relationships to them, and we ourselves have all changed in the interim. This notion of constant change suggests that we do not have to be discouraged by the existence of avidya. If things go badly, they can always change for the better. Of course, they could always get worse too! We never know what may happen in life, and that is why it is important to be attentive. Whether things get better or worse depends to a considerable extent on our own actions. The recommendation of a regular yoga practice follows the principal that through practice we can learn to stay present in every moment, and thereby achieve much that we were previously incapable of.” -TKV Desikachar

Namaste to you all,
Cori 

Meditation Guidance

(In particular... for all those joining me for the next 5 weeks in a Living Yoga Wellness Program at Asha Yoga- and committing to meditation every day for the next 35 days!)

Dear Student,

The most important thing I have to tell you about meditation is this: Meditation is worth your time. Do it regularly and you will be forever grateful.

Getting Started

It is important that you make yourself physically comfortable in a meditation posture while following the one, unbending rule for meditation posture:  Spine erect and holding it's natural curves. 

If sitting on the floor:

• Prop your sitting bones up on a cushion so that the hips are at least 3 inches higher than the knees 
• Thighs slope downward toward the ground 

If sitting on the floor is too uncomfortable, sit in a chair. Either way:

•  Pelvis vertical
•  Inward curve in the low back
•  Shoulders over hips
• Chest open
• Chin slightly tucked 

If it's hard to sit upright, sit against a wall and stuff pillows behind your lower back. Use as many as you need to support your spine and hold you in an upright posture. Your aim is not to create a perfect meditation pose but to support your body so it will let your mind turn inside.

Technique- A Core Practice

We live in a world rich with abundance and variety. Our options for meditation practices are practically unlimited. You could spend years trying them out and yet, despite the time dedicated to practice, you may never go deeply inside.

This is why, when you begin your meditation practice, and as you're establishing the habit of sitting, it is best to choose one simple yet structured technique. Stick with this one technique as you develop the discipline of regular sitting. Learn to get your body comfortable, find inner focus, and gain a mental understanding of the practice.  This is your core practice. It is your foundation.  Doing the same practice every day to build this solid foundation clears a path in your consciousness and eventually this path can be followed into the state of meditation with greater ease. Establishing a core practice and developing this foundation is essential. In time, you can play with other practices and build upon this foundation.

Most simple practices fall into five basic categories: mindfulness, mantra, inner body, visualization, and self-inquiry. Breath awareness is generally an aspect of each category.  They are often combined, but when you are beginning your practice just start with one. Explore a few options at first and then choose a core practice that you feel drawn to.  If the technique doesn't feel pleasurable at least some of the time, it's not the right technique for you. If you don't get some enjoyment out of it, you won't do it. But don't let this be a reason to keep skipping around. Don’t get sucked in by "The grass is always greener on the other side" syndrome. Nobody's meditation is always enjoyable. Meditation can be boring at times. It can feel torturous. And there will be days when sitting for your allotted time seems impossible. This is normal. Only if your practice is consistently unrewarding, you may be better off choosing a new type of core practice. (Sample core practices will be given later.)

Length of Time

Start with 10 minutes of meditation and increase the time by one minute per day until you've reached a half-hour. Spend a month or so sitting for 30 minutes. Eventually, when you feel the tug to go deeper, begin to sit for 45-60 minutes.  Many people find that they need to sit for at least 45-60 minutes to get quiet enough to sink deeply inside. But this is often too much to start out with. I can also assure you: A daily 20-minute practice will improve your focus, balance your emotions, give you greater clarity, and allow you to connect with a deep sense of inner peace. Your outlook and your understanding of life will change from 20 minutes a day of meditation.

What (Not) to Expect

Your mind will not immediately go quiet. Your mind will never go quiet for your entire meditation practice. This does not mean you can't meditate. It does not even mean you aren't meditating. The goal is not to stop thinking. But with consistency, you will soon begin to experience periods of quiet, even contentment, as you sit. You will realize that meditation is actually a natural state and that it will arise on its own if you give it time. You will discover some of the benefits of sitting for meditation—how your life seems to automatically get easier, simpler, an more enjoyable, You will notice your opinion of others improve and your relationships and interactions with family, friends, and even strangers will feel deeper and more authentic. You will feel tethered to something solid and calm in times of emotional turmoil. Solutions to problems will seem to present themselves naturally, with less mental debate. You'll find that even when you don't think you've had a "good" or "quiet" meditation, the rest of your day feels sweeter, calmer, or more energized because of the time you spent sitting.

Have Patience

Understanding that the mind does not need to be silent will keep the mind from entering into war with itself. There have been studies to prove that if you say to your mind (mind says to mind) “Do not think the word banana.” it will be impossible not to. Your life could depend on it and the moment you tell the mind NOT to think the word… it will. This is exactly what happens if we sit down to meditate and we say to the mind, “Ok, now be quiet.” The moment we say that, it will never happen. But we cannot simply “play” reverse psychology with the mind either. It’s in there with itself- it KNOWS what’s going on. We have to really and truly understand that it’s ok for the mind to talk. This is a training process for the mind to learn to focus and there is going to be a learning curve. Like training a wild puppy to sit still, it takes time, patience, understanding and dedication. Ultimately the mind will learn to “sit”. But remember, it will not stay forever. And that’s ok. It will, however, settle down with time. Just like the puppy as it ages. J

Dedication

In addition to being dedicated to sitting down each day for your practice, you must be dedicated to each moment of your meditation. Each time you notice that you are thinking, spacing out, or wandering off, it takes effort to bring your attention back to the mantra, to the breath, or to whichever core practice you're doing. Over and over again, you'll lose your concentration, get lost in thoughts or stories. It is your dedication to “coming back” that will make all the difference. Your dedication to coming back is the thing that makes it meditation. It might be helpful to employ a strategy of saying to you yourself “thinking” whenever you notice it or “thank you for sharing.” and then come back to your point of focus. If you are more visual it may be helpful to imagine thoughts as clouds in the sky and see them drifting away. Once you have experimented a few times, pick one strategy for dealing with thoughts and stick with it.

Do it Anyway

Sometimes your practice will be inspiring and transformative. Other times, it may feel boring or particularly challenging. There may be extended periods of peace in your practice and times when emotions like anger, sadness, or fear arise. If you can be willing to sit through the boredom, resistance, and rise and fall of emotions you will build the foundation for doing this same thing in your life. Life is a rich tapestry of experiences and it is possible to learn to appreciate the full spectrum. Grief doesn’t have to be painful. It can be healing. Boredom doesn’t have to be avoided. It can be welcomed. Anger doesn’t have to be hurtful. It can be an opportunity for self-discovery. When we are willing to be with things as they arise, they are allowed to run their course in a way we can grow from and therefore appreciate.

The people who get the most out of their meditation are the ones who do it consistently. Even if they don’t feel like it. Though many try, as I have in this very letter, the ultimate gift that meditation offers is beyond explanation.

A Basic Core Practice- Mindfulness of the breath

Prepare your seat and posture for meditation.

Close your eyes.

Notice your breath.

Begin to fully experience each breath.

Notice the coolness in the nostrils and the warmth, the rise and fall of the belly and the chest. –The expansion of the ribcage. Notice energetic sensations. 

Notice without altering, but allow the breath to alter itself as it does.

After a few minutes, choose one aspect of the breath to direct your focus. Maybe the rise and fall of the belly or the cool and then warm air in the nostrils.

As you notice thoughts arising, simply note "thinking" and return your focus to the breath.

When your meditation is complete, before opening your eyes, begin to fully experience all the details of the breath once again. Take a few deep breaths and maintain an awarenss of the breath as you open your eyes and begin to transition into your next activity.

Thank you for reading, for practicing and for making a difference.

Warmly,

Cori 

Grocery Store Small Talk

Dear Nancy,
I saw you in the grocery store last week. At first, I looked the other direction. Honestly I hoped you wouldn't see me. I have recently felt... betrayed I guess, by you. I knew if we made eye contact I would have to smile and say hello. Who says I have to? You might ask.  And the answer could only be: me. For one, I hold tightly to the belief that people should be nice... but more importantly that I should be. I also don't want to admit to my feeling betrayed because I'd rather not have that reaction. But I do. That's the reality. I would much prefer not to fake my "niceness" either. I very deeply want it to be sincere. And so when I got closer, I made eye contact with you. I smiled and said hello. We had a few moments of small talk and I noticed, despite my desire, I was not sincere. It's so hard to know sometimes what is the kindest choice. So I'm writing you this letter as an apology- to us both really. I'm sorry that I have harbored anger and resentment and that I have chosen to bury it rather than face it. I'm sorry that I couldn't be sincere that day and that instead I will go on, currently unable to forgive you, all the while pretending everything is fine. I'm sorry that my apparent need of your approval and societies approval is right now stronger than my desire to be true to myself and honest with you. I'm sorry that your real name is not Nancy, and that I am not yet brave enough to write this letter directly to the real you.

Namaste,
Cori

P.S. Dear Readers, What if we could be this vulnerable on a daily basis? (Well, more actually, like use the real name!!!) Give it a try. Let me know. I'll keep at it. :)

Three Words Only.

Did this exercise. Every single sentence. Three words only. Not almost three. Not four sometimes. Fill two pages. 12 point font. Your life story. Cover ten years. It was interesting. More than that. Highly recommend it. Let me know. Considering a book. Apparently not alone. Big American dream.
-I would not write the book in three word sentences!
Namaste,
Cori

What is the Reality?

As I sit to write this post, I am noticing the thought that I have got to be crazy to take the time for this right now. I have a million things to do.  A yoga studio to manage, a teacher training program to lead, a "living Yoga" wellness program to prepare for teaching, a retreat that needs to be marketed or else I won't be able to cover the contract minimum with the retreat center, laundry, dishes, phone calls, a husband I'd love to see, a daughter I'd love to play with and a second yoga studio opening- this weekend.... "Why should I possibly take the time to write a blog post????" Next, I hear the familiar question in my mind. What would this moment be like and what would I be like in this moment without these thoughts?- Without this whole story of my busy life, in fact? 

And then I notice that despite all I have to do,  without the thought that I have a million things to do,  I am  just sitting. Writing.  I am fully supported by a comfortable chair in a heated house with a laptop at my fingertips. I am content. I have everything I need, and then some, to do exactly what I am apparently choosing to do right now.  For a moment,  I experience a deep sense of peace. I acknowledge that the story in my mind IS there, but that's all it is. And when I kindly thank my thoughts for sharing, for doing what my mind believes must be done in order to motivate and support me, it is easier not to get sucked into the story.  The truth is, I cannot control my own thoughts any more than I can control anyone else's. Though in spiritual practice we may hear that we are learning to control our mind, I don't actually believe this to be true. I believe that when we allow our mind to be as it is, our mind and thoughts stop fighting for control. Then there is peace. 

Does this realization mean that I will let everything else slide and forgo my other commitments and responsibilities because it is all just a "story"? No. But it is a reminder that I will always loose against an argument with reality. If the reality is that I am sitting to write in this moment, it is futile to attach to the thought that says I shouldn't be doing it. The reality is, I am. Until I'm not.


So how often do your thoughts argue with reality? Who would you be in those moments without those thoughts? Don't try and change the thoughts.  Can you just look with curiosity?

I wish you a peaceful day, or at least a few peaceful moments. If this process was interesting to you, know that it was a brief glimpse into The Work of Byron Katie. Learn more at www.thework.com


Namaste,
Cori

Dear Santa, Please don't get me any gifts this year because I haven't been good enough.

My husband sometimes complains about the way I do things. --And in the heat of the moment, I can be so afraid of not being good enough that I am compelled to defend my position. I can be so desperate to convince him that there is a good and valid reason for my behavior that I will attempt to turn the whole thing around on him. I will list his "faults" and make sure he is clear that it's not ME who isn't good enough, it's him. But deep down I sense how far removed I am from the truth... and I begin to believe that the truth I am hiding from is my own "not good enough-ness". (I do know that's not a word!)  Eventually I feel guilty for my behavior and, as crazy as it sounds, sometimes this guilt starts the whole circle over again and before I know it I am listing his faults... again. Of course I don't always behave like this. --But still I'm sure you will agree, Santa, that I truly don't deserve any presents from you this year. I have so much more work to do. Hopefully this next year I can be a much better person. Thank you for your time.
The average <married woman>?

Hmmmm. The other day I sat with a group of students and asked them each to share something they were afraid of. Bravery conquered in that particular moment as, one after another, each confessed to things like: exposure, failure and not being good enough.  I have heard a quote before that if we all sat in a circle and confessed our deepest darkest secrets, we would laugh at the lack of originality. And I have personally witnessed proof of this in a group of 250 people once. In that case, person after person stood to share the thing they were most ashamed of about themselves- to all 249 others in the room. Each time the group facilitator would say to the rest of us, "Please raise your hand if you have had this thought before, or if you have said something or done something similar." Hands went up. Often, all hands went up. Over and over again I witnessed expressions of shame, guilt, and intense pain transform. First into shock and then into pure and indescribable relief. People looked younger, lighter, freer, in only a matter of seconds.

I propose (as many others have done before me) the possibility that there is "One mind". --That all thoughts are shared within this one mind between billions of bodies and recycled constantly. That our fears of failure, exposure and not being good enough come from states of insanity. That it is insanity to believing that we are, first, separate and then somehow different from everybody or anybody else.

With this understanding, I can relate to my husbands frustration because it is also mine. I can have compassion for the weakness, fear, anger, and selfishness I see in others because all of that is also mine. Perhaps this is the truth I sometimes sense I am missing in the midst of reacting to my husbands words:  No one can be "the one" who is not good enough, because when there is one mind there is no one separate to compare to. Well, it sure sounds better than a debate over who is and who is not this... or that.

Thank you, Jennifer BV, for The Gift. I sat in the silence of the yoga studio today and read to myself:

How do I listen to others? 

As if everyone were my Master

Speaking to me

His 

Cherished

Last

Words.

Peace to us all!
Namaste,
Cori