It would be an understatement to say that I’m no stranger to illness. Both myself and the rest of my family has struggled with serious illnesses that have impacted our lives in inexplicable ways. I’ll also admit to being someone who occasionally allows disease to drag me down, depress me and all around get the better of me. But those days are few compared to the days where I challenge anything that comes my way, determined to learn every possible lesson from each life experience.

After my summer diagnosis with Grave’s Disease, I sort of felt I had already conquered the necessary health hurdle for the year. However, right now, I’m waiting on some test results as my doctor fears I might also have diabetes. Hmm. Not the way I wanted to start out 2012. With potential for another life-altering disease, I’ve turned to my typical method of coping: I read. So when I was handed a book that helped explain my current health problems, I couldn’t wait to tell readers all of the Yoga Flavored Life readers all about it.

“When the Body Says No” is written by Dr. Gabor Maté and details the documented connection between disease and our emotions and stress. On more than one occasion, I’ve described myself as an extremely stressed out individual, which is why yoga is such a vital part of my life. It doesn’t help that I’ve had a considerable number of health challenges, which contribute to my stress levels, and according to Dr. Maté, only increases my risk for further disease. This book seems to discuss the proverbial “chicken or egg first” question. Does stress cause disease or is disease the stress-inducer?

Initially, I’ll admit to being full of skepticism about this book. I would say that when it comes to illnesses, I like to be informed, but I don’t wish to be hit over the head with all the things that I’m “doing wrong” or “eating wrong,” mostly because to an extent, I feel like is just too short to operate in constant fear. I also feel that many of these kinds of books manipulate statistics into getting across their message, even if the results of certain studies weren’t at all meant to be bent to suit. This isn’t to say, of course, that I think that a diet consisting solely of fast food and potato chips is at all healthy, but I don’t think that a bi-monthly serving of ice cream will be the death of me either. So faced with a book that pointed to my well-acquainted issue of stress, I was nervous to read it. I was nervous because I knew it would appropriately outline all the ways in which stress is negatively impacting my body.

One of the best things I can say about “When the Body Says No” is that it doesn’t preach and it doesn’t bend scientists’ words into something completely unintended. Instead, Dr. Maté points readers to facts, studies that he in particular has researched and studied, and fact-based conclusions on stress and the impact it has on our mental and physical health. He even goes into details about our childhood stress coping mechanisms can affect the way we manage stress in the future, lending to the nature vs. nurture concept in relation to disease. All this to say, I’m now even more sure that stress, and the ways in which I cope with stress, is negatively affecting my health.

So if you’ve been wondering how to keep major disease at bay, keep up your yoga practice. Breathe deeply, enjoy each day, meditate, speak to counselors or therapists about anxiety and stress, read books, and pursue your passions. And always look to family history, to find ways to prevent history from repeating itself.

Kelly

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Cover of "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self"

When I get interested in a subject, I often hastily go out and spend hundreds of dollars on books I later find out that I don’t want, or need, on my bookshelf. And in fact, I really need to check out the library in order to save myself a few pennies! But I digress. One book that won’t be leaving my bookshelf is Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, by Stephen Cope. I say this, but I’m kind of lying…I’ve already lent this book out to several friends, all who return it and find the same infatuation with it that I feel.

I’ve been wondering lately if yoga is revered as a religion (more on that in my next post) or if it is simply a path to get to know myself better, to understand my body more clearly, and to have a better vision of what I am capable of. In answer to that question, Cope suggests that yoga is a method to find your true self, in all meanings of the term. Cope himself went to a yoga retreat, with the intent to only stay for a few months, and has ended up staying there indefinitely. This is how he came to write his book.

What I like about the book is the way in which the path to “one’s true self” is described using both humour and a realistic approach, especially when discussing how Cope came to end up at the retreat in Massachusetts (he got dumped by his girlfriend!).  In his book, we explore yoga through the perspective of yogis, students, teachers, friends and the average Joe, instead of being pumped full of a bunch of ideology and Cope’s subjective voice. But what we do end up getting, as readers, is a real account of one man’s journey to find himself, and in the end, a little advice about how we can find ourselves.

It’s a great book with great reviews from quite a few sites, so if you’re interested, I recommend picking up a copy.

I have to admit, Cope has me really itching to go to a yoga retreat so that I too can get to know myself a bit better. Sometimes, I worry that I forget somewhere along the way.

Kelly

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One of the Great Cosmic Jokes is that human beings rarely come to spontaneous realizations naturally.  Usually, we have to first stuff ourselves with information, knowledge, scripture, lectures…on and on, until one day there is a *POP!*, and in that moment of realization – everything changes.  Moments after, we become acutely aware that somehow nothing we have learned that exists externally could have ever made any difference, and that the *POP!* occurred right at the moment our overloaded intellect metaphorically threw up its hands and went for a coffee.

Does this mean that pursuing knowledge in the hopes of gaining wisdom and insight along our spiritual journey is a waste?  Not at all, but we do have to change the way we look at all that knowledge and information.  Rather than seeking the answer outside of ourselves within books, Gurus, Yogi’s and other external means, we can instead see these ‘helpers’ as exactly that:  Helpers that come into our lives as people, knowledge, or scripture to help keep us focused on the path, but the answers won’t be found there – just guidance and strength.  The only way to Truth is to turn inward…

Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk whose lifelong efforts to generate peace and reconciliation throughout the world led to Martin Luther King Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.  Aside from writing the book we are talking about today; Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go, Thich Nhat Hanh has written many others, but I highly recommend you consider adding three in particular to your reading list:  Being Peace, Present Moment Wonderful Moment, and The Energy of Prayer.

In Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go, Thich Nhat Hanh uses humor, compassion, and skill to show us how we may each grow closer to the ideal person within us, the person who simply IS…Thich Nhat Hanh does this as he explores the unorthodox teachings of Master Linji, one of the founders of Zen Buddhism.

One of the most striking paragraphs in Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go reads:

“In my last trip to the United States, a friend requested that I write a calligraphy for him of the phrase “Resting with God.”  I wrote it for him because it embodied the realization that God is here, he isn’t and old man sitting high above us.  God is here, is our true nature, our suchness, just as water is the suchness of the wave.  And if the wave knows how to take refuge in water, if it knows to believe in the water, then the wave loses all of its fears, sadness and jealousy.  If we take refuge in our true nature then we aren’t afraid anymore of gaining, of losing, of having, of not having, of living, of dying, of being, and nonbeing.”

Master Linji

Such few words; “Resting with God,” and yet they contain the secret to one of those amazing moments when everything changes.  It is true – if we can realize that the waves (you, I, and everyone else) are part of the water (The Creator, or God) and perhaps more importantly a function of the water, what do we need fear?  What do we need to strive towards?  Where do we need to go to find God?  According to Master Linji, there is indeed nothing to do and nowhere to go.  All the answers and that which we seek most are already here – all around us, and part of us, as we are part of it.

The essential teaching of Linji which was written some eleven hundred plus years ago is focused into something we can all relate to in Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go; The concept of the ‘businessless person.’  According to Master Linji, the businessless person is an individual who has simply stopped.  He or she isn’t caught up in anything, including teachings and theories.  This businessless person doesn’t chase enlightenment or grasp are anything, as they have learned to stop and be alive in the present moment.

Nothing To Do…

It is easy to get caught up in studying scripture, or spiritual books…I myself find reading an uplifting text as the last task of my evening before bed to leave me feeling calm and at peace.  In Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go, Thich Nhat Hanh states that studying and learning are all well and good, but it is only in putting it into practice that we can find our true selves. When we learn to simply stop and realize that in the present moment, there is nothing to do, we can then simply BE.

There is nowhere to go in search of anything; all we need to do is sit and look within.  There, we will find God smiling back at us, waiting patiently all this time as we stumble around searching for meaning.  In the present moment lies every outcome, and every possibility.  To come alive to the present is to cease to differentiate between subject and object.  You then realize that in the present, right now, you and the whole universe are one.  To help keep us in the present and maintain awareness, Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go provides five Gathas or exercises.  Of the five, I leave this one as a favorite mindfulness meditation and my final thoughts…As to this book; it rates a solid five out of five.

Taking refuge in the Island of Self
Breathing in, I go back
To the island of myself.
There are beautiful trees
There is water, there are birds,
There is sunshine and fresh air.
Breathing out, I feel safe.

Book Info:
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go: Waking Up To Who You Are
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Parallax Press; 1 edition (Aug 22 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781888375725
ISBN-13: 978-1888375725
ASIN: 1888375728

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I confess it has been a difficult couple of weeks – to the point where I found it necessary to take five days off work, retreat from the world – and regain balance.  Even my Yoga has suffered – too tired, too much on my plate, can’t focus… The day to day hustle, the mental and emotional stress of the work environment, bills, personality conflicts, and sometimes just plain old nasty people; they all contribute to this ‘yoke’ that modern culture has become.

When we are not engaged in our daily affairs, we stereotypically turn to TV or the Internet for what most call “down time.”  Little time is reserved for actively strengthening our commitments to higher ideals, spending time in nature (a healing place), or communing with ourselves…and our Higher Self.  Why does our own ‘inner voice’ seem so subdued, if audible at all, in today’s world?  Where is the Divine Nature of our existence in our day to day activities and especially, our thoughts?

The Bhagavad Gita

Yes, I have spoken of this tome before…although this incarnation is by far the most readable, understandable, and valuable of any read to date.  I have read this book over and over again in the last few weeks, and draw strength and faith from its pages.  The Bhagavad Gita is a love song sung by God to His friend man.  The Gita is a statement of the core truths which many of us already believe in our deepest hearts – making these truths clearer, and offering practical application in our daily lives.  More than just a book, the Bhagavad Gita has an ‘accumulated potency’ – full of the ancient but ever current breath of spiritual energy and strength.

Dr. Jack Hawley

In the course of writing The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners, Jack Hawley consulted over thirty different texts, and in doing so has synthesized the original languages into English in such a way that has preserved in ancient within the new.  The recently of late Sathya Sai Baba and many other contributors served as sounding boards and advisors during the creation of this English translation – rigorously testing the translations and their meanings to insure the heart of the Gita remained intact.  Jack Hawley is a student, teacher, consultant, and lecturer who works to instill new energy, heart, and spirit into large organizations and groups.  Over the last fourteen years, Hawley has spent half of each year in India learning, teaching, and living by the principles in the Gita.

What I needed

As I had said, it has been a rough while as of late.  There is a real downside to losing balance in life – once you start down the dark side… (Sorry, watched Star Wars on the weekend!)  It’s true, though.  Once my Yoga fell to the wayside, I of course began to beat myself up about it.  This eventually turned to becoming angry with myself, and then angry at others.  When my anger at myself spread outward, my meditations started to falter, and then I noticed my appetite changing, sleep changing…STOP THE BUS!  I’ve learned the hard way that there is a point we all reach at some time or another affectionately known as “The breaking point.”  Going past the breaking point is a one way ticket to the dark side, and I was teetering on the edge. (I know, enough with the Star Wars references…)

I took Jack Hawley’s advice and buried myself in the Bhagavad Gita…too unfocused to meditate or contemplate on it for any length of time; I read it.  I read it slowly, against my ingrained ‘research skim’ I treat most books with; stopping to go back and re-read when the end of a stanza forgot the beginning.  Over and over – no TV (well, except for Star Wars – again, sorry), no music, just the Bhagavad Gita and an intense hope that the accumulated energy of this work would somehow just seep into me.

Where I Got It…

Miserable use of language, I know…but it fit the time.  Chapter Eighteen of Jack Hawley’s the Bhagavad Gita is entitled:  “Liberation Through Knowing, Acting, and Loving (Moksha Sanyasa Yoga), with a simple yet profound subtitle – “Give Me your whole heart.”  I think I reread the subtitle four or five times, as if stuck on it the first time I read the book.  A subtle little bell was beginning to chime softly in the distance of my soul…no nearer or farther than I imagined it, I suppose.

Years of searching, years of education in religious studies and ancient philosophies, thousands of books, and tens of versions of the Gita – none spoke to me as this did.  My heart has belonged to the Creator always.  Meditations and my day begin with prayer to be an instrument of The Divine, see that Divinity in all things, and act accordingly.  What part of my whole heart was I failing to give?  I realized that once I had been liberated from narrow-minded “it’s our way to heaven or you will go to hell” philosophies (no offence to anyone), I have been lacking something:  A practice I was totally comfortable with and could follow.

How one becomes Perfect

Stanza fifty as The Divine speaks yet again to Arjuna:

50   So learn from Me now, friend, as I briefly profile the qualities that make the loving Yogi one with Me.¹ There is no higher achievement.

51   Cultivate a pure intellect.  Free your mind and heart from delusion.  Be self-restrained.  Give up the ego.  Subdue your senses through steady will.  Abandon the sight, tastes, and noises of the world.  Put aside with no regret the likes and dislikes so burdensome in life.

52   Seek solitude; eat but little, lead a simple, self-reliant life, curbing your thoughts, speech, and actions.  Be detached, impersonal.  Engage your mind always in concentration, contemplation, and meditation on the Godhead.

The instructions go on, but at stanza fifty-five The Divine ‘stops’ to drive a point home.  In the midst of profiling the qualities one should develop, Krishna (The Divine) gives a ‘sacred shortcut’ to Arjuna:

55   Be very clear about the crucial importance of love.  To love is to know Me. The act of loving itself is indeed the experience of really knowing Me, for I am Love, Arjuna!  To love is to know My innermost nature, the Truth that I am.  It is through this sacred and deep knowing that you gain access to Me and become one with My own Self.  Loving is knowing God!  As a deep knower of the Godhead, you actually become the Godhead.

Give Me your whole heart

I have always loved God – in all the variations I have considered.  I understand that all our views on the subject are going to differ, and they will probably all turn out to be incorrect and inconsequential in the presence of The Divine once we have shuffled off this mortal coil.  My love for Allah is not whole, however.  I find it easy to see Brahman in the flowers and trees, and all of nature’s creatures and sublime beauty.  I confess that I have a lot of difficulty with seeing Krishna in others still.  Thanks to Jack Hawley’s the Bhagavad Gita, I have a practice to follow as Krishna drives home again and again:  The Divine is inside you and all around you.  Nothing exists outside The Divine, and all that exists within God has at its core Divine Consciousness.

To give God your whole heart is to realize that God is in everyone and everything.  You cannot give your whole heart if you are not willing to love all of Divine Creation as you love God.  That means the person stealing your purse, the beggar asking for money or food…even those who would do you harm, as Krishna speaks of in the Gita.  The only practice we need to follow is Love.

Before I leave you with something to ponder for a few minutes when you have nothing pressing, I wish to extol the love and power inherent within Hawley’s the Bhagavad Gita one last time.  Buy it from Amazon, loan it from the library…heck – go to Chapters with a Starbuck’s and plant yourself in an armchair if you have to.  Read the Gita over and over again, slowly, reverently; the spiritual power in the Truths contained in the Gita will seep into you and begin to resonate.  All Truth has this capacity, and you will quickly notice it working in your own life.

The end

Finally!  For those of you who have remained conscious through this entire article, I salute you!  Back to my ‘problem’ with seeing The Divine in others – here is a thought for both of us to consider:  Imagine that just one person you will run into today is someone God sent your way out of love and curiosity to see how you are progressing in your journey…and God decided he was going to go along for the ride to be there personally.  It could be a beggar, a thief, a close friend, a co-worker, an angry customer – anybody.  Now imagine God is doing that already, in everyone you meet every day…

Namaste

Dr. Jack Hawley

In the course of writing The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners, Jack Hawley consulted over thirty different texts, and in doing so has synthesized the original languages into English in such a way that has preserved in ancient within the new.  The recently of late Sathya Sai Baba and many other contributors served as sounding boards and advisors during the creation of this English translation – rigorously testing the translations and their meanings to ensure the heart of the Gita remained intact.  Jack Hawley is a student, teacher, consultant, and lecturer who works to instill new energy, heart, and spirit into large organizations and groups.  Over the last fourteen years, Hawley has spent half of each year in India learning, teaching, and living by the principles in the Gita.

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When we engage our body, speech, and mind with the motivation of achieving harmony with our own Divine Essence, we have created a ‘holy trinity’ of power within ourselves that allows us to achieve our goals with less effort.  Mantras and Mudras offers mantras that act as wonderful aids to living a more reverent life; these mantras have incredible power to awaken us to the spiritual path, and when coupled with mudras representing the same wisdom, form a subtle ‘inner reverberation’ within our core, awakening this three-fold power within us.

Mantras and Mudras provides not only a selection of Mantras for every aspect of living, but also includes English translations for those who are not comfortable chanting them in their original language.  Although there is additional power inherent in chanting these mantras in their native tongue, it is the spirit in which you absorb them into your being that will determine their effect.  A story told by Rinpoche explains the truth of mantras beautifully:

A monk once visited a hermit who lived alone on an island doing retreat.  The hermit had given himself three years to complete chanting ten million of the powerful six-syllable mantra of the Compassionate Buddha.  The hermit had been told that attaining this level of practice would awaken his Yogic powers.  The mantra was OM MANI PADME HUM…

The monk listened as the hermit did his mantra and, with the best intention in the world, leaned over and whispered:  “I think you have the pronunciation wrong.  The mantra should be chanted this way…” and he proceeded to demonstrate.  The hermit listened attentively and then watched as the monk walked back to his boat to leave the island.  Ten minutes later, when the boat was halfway across to the other shore, the monk heard his name being called and, looking around, spied the hermit as the hermit called, “Listen to this, have I got it right now? The hermit proceeded to chant the same mantra, but with the monk’s intonation.  Astounded the monk realized the hermit was walking on the water next to the boat.  In that instant, the monk realized that the hermit’s faith and sincerity had given his mantra recitation far more power than he had realized.  Getting the intonation correct seemed almost irrelevant…

Learning humbleness through prostrations

Buddhism is prominent throughout Mantras and Mudras, I’ll grant you.  In the book’s defense, if you look beyond the philosophy that Buddhism is and see to its core, it is truly your intent that will determine the results.  There is no difference in the truth of the spiritual life of a Taoist, a Catholic, or a follower of Islam. According to Mantras and Mudras, prostrations while repeating a mantra are a powerful prayer that crosses all belief systems and spiritual philosophies.  In example, reciting the Lord’s Prayer while kneeling at the altar, or performing daily prayers in Islam – both are forms of prostration and mantra recital.

To prostrate before an image or object that represents The Divinity within you is to surrender oneself symbolically at the feet of God.  It is a way of saying that we are nothing without the spirit that resides within us and all around us – a fundamental truth of our existence.  Prostrations teach us genuine humility and lead us to overcoming arrogance and pride.  Through our act of surrender, we open ourselves to the gifts of what is known in Buddhism as the “Guru-Triple-Gem.”  This three-fold strength unfolds in the following manner:

We take refuge in Buddha – again, substitute here as you need…The point of course, is to surrender to God or your own Personal Truth and realize the strength in that surrender.

We take refuge in the Dharma…Dharma in this usage is equated to Scripture.  When we are faced with problems or simply questions that arise in our own paths to The Divine, we have the gift of all of those who came before us – many who faced the same questions, and already found the answers.  To read the holy books of our beliefs or chant mantras aloud is to “speak Truth” and deepen our own connection to our image of The Divine.

We take refuge in Sangha…When the winds of life threaten to blow down even the most faithful, the third and final component of this powerful spiritual talisman is there to cushion us and provide assistance and guidance.  Sangha is nothing more, and everything that is – community.  Not one of us stands alone, no one ever has, and no one ever will.  Having faith in community is having faith in The Divine.

Mudra

The use of Mudras or ‘hand-gestures’ dates back far beyond recorded history, and yet is still prominent even in modern culture.  To repeat this gesture while focusing on similar intent or being mindfully aware of its meaning is to harness the power of all of those over many generations who have used it as well.  Performing a mudra is a conscious action that has the unconscious effect of aligning ourselves with the mudras meaning in body and mind – thus facilitating our spiritual growth.  A mudra need not be necessarily spiritually based to have effect…

Of course, an easily recognizable mudra in modern culture that exemplified a way of live and attitude towards life is the “hang-ten” mudra.  As far as religious and spiritual mudras are concerned, the most obvious is “prayer hands,” hands facing palms inwards and pressed flat together.  This mudra is one of not only reverence, but “bringing together” the elements of the body, mind, and spirit and focusing them all towards the same means.

Holy existence

Mantras and Mudras uses speech and body to guide us into a way of living a more reverent life.  The hidden secret that runs in the depths of the book is awesome in its simplicity:  Perform every action of life with reverence, awareness, and the realization that as a vessel of The Divine itself that you are indeed performing holy deeds.  When we give Life the reverence it is due, every task becomes an opportunity to serve our higher self and brings a level of joy and satisfaction beyond our expectations.

A housekeeping mantra

I used to hate house-keeping…you know; dusting, endless cleaning, vacuuming sweeping, washing…aargh!  Over time I learned to turn mundane chores into opportunities for mindfulness and reflection.  A powerful way to keep this at the forefront  of your mind is to see yourself purifying the space in which you do your Yoga practice (your home, classroom, etc…)  As you clean, think of anger, attachment, worry – anything that you see as a blockage in your life – all of them erased, disappearing as you physically renew your surroundings.  A powerful mantra found in Mantras and Mudras to recite while cleaning is “DURUPANG TIMAPANG.”  In essence, “this is to sweep away all negative thoughts and obstacles that block my true awakening.”

Modern Living

If ever there was a time in the history of humanity that reverence for life and all that it teaches us is a profound shortcut to The Divine, now is the time.  Our planet and her citizens are facing the winds of change, some of which may be difficult to understand or accept.  To find an aspect of God in all we do creates a positive environment from which our earthly viewpoints will begin to dissolve in the face of our own spiritual truths.  Mantras and Mudras reminds us of the ‘creative reverberations’ that mantras are:  Seed syllables from the beginning of time that ripple outward from the one who is chanting – a positive creative force that can alter matter itself.

Meaningful moves

In Yoga or meditation, we consciously perform many various mudras, often with only half-conscious awareness of their meanings.  Developing awareness of their meaning and consciously focusing on this while performing these mudras will enrich your practice as well as your own spiritual growth. (Reverence, respect and ‘bringing together the three holistic elements of mind, body, and spirit; the meaning of prayer hands, in example…)

Don’t be afraid to have some fun when it comes to life.  All of nature loves to fool around (just look at otters) and one way to worship The Divine and show reverence to Life is to play.  In my garden, I have one of my own mudras similar to the one followed by the phrase, “These are not the droids you are looking for…” in Star Wars…Except after I wave my hand I say, “These are not the plants you are looking for” to the robins who have taken to ripping the young juicy leaves directly off my vegetable plants.  Does it work?  I guess so.  I still never get mad at the birds, and they continue to treat me with playful, mocking indifference as they mow down my hapless plants in small but growing numbers.  All is as it should be, and I remain focused on the Divine Light within me…AUM MANI PADME HUM!

Book Info
Mantras and Mudras
Meditations for the hands and voice to bring peace and inner calm…Lillian Too, (1^st)2002
ISBN: 0007129602
Lillian Too 2002
Harper Collins Publishers 2002

Related posts:

1. Integrating Chants or Mantras with Yoga

I often find myself hesitating, if ever so briefly, when it comes to writing reviews of books; for I am somewhat split in my opinion.  On the one hand, I have garnered quite a bit of knowledge from many Yoga texts – but on the other…it can become confusing.  And what of contradictions between authors, often two or more disparate opinions or “essential practices?”

In the final analysis, books are not to be opened lightly.  Books serve as conveyors of many things, including wisdom and knowledge.  The duality of an object lies not in the object itself (the book); but you and I, the readers…  The two books we are going to review today are both ‘books of light and knowledge,’ and as a pair could easily be the only Yoga companions anyone would ever need…from a scientific point of view.

The Key Muscles of Yoga

The Key Muscles of Yoga: Scientific Keys, Volume I offers a scientific approach to understanding Hatha yoga and the major muscles, tendons and ligaments that come into use.  The finest quality of this book is revealed in the full color three dimensional illustrations – imagine watching someone perform an Asana after stripping off their skin – able to see the effect of the pose on every muscle.  Very precise anatomical and physiological descriptions serve to point out how the antagonist, synergist and agonist muscles act with each pose and how the body utilizes them in the movement.

Anatomical mumbo-jumbo

Although there are many anatomy books on Yoga available, they tend to require deep reading and a whole new vocabulary.  The Key Muscles of Yoga maximizes the images and minimizes the paragraph upon paragraph of anatomical mumbo-jumbo.  As a Yoga instructor, this book will enable you to work more closely with yourself and your students, as well as open up new doors into your own understanding of the mechanics of each pose.  New and experienced Yoga practitioners will find The Key Muscles of Yoga and invaluable companion and will aid in sharpening awareness of your body’s responses and reactions during your practice too…which brings us to the second book!

The Key Poses of Yoga

As with The Key Muscles of Yoga, The Key Poses of Yoga: Scientific Keys, Volume II is authored by Ray Long, M.D.  Ray Long is a board certified orthopedic surgeon and the founder of Bandha Yoga.  Dr. Long graduated from The University of Michigan Medical School with post-graduate work at Cornell, McGill, The University of Montreal, and The Florida Orthopedic Institute.  Ray has studied Hatha Yoga for over twenty years and has trained extensively with the likes of B.K.S. Iyengar and other Yoga masters.

The Key Poses of Yoga is illustrated by Chris Macivor, who has been involved in creating digital content for over a decade.  A graduate of Sheridan College and Seneca College among others, Chris brings to life these books of Hatha Yoga through illustrations he has digitally reproduced -what Chris calls “the biomechanical perfection of the human body.”

From the inside…out

As the companion to the first book, The Key Poses of Yoga now turns to the Asanas themselves and reveals the wisdom and workings of each specific pose.  Hatha Yoga is ultimately about control and mastery of the body, as the book points out – in order to ultimately gain control of the mind.  The inside-out (literally) knowledge this book provides will serve to help you reclaim the inherent wisdom within yourself by bringing you closer to your body than ever before.

In addition to specific poses, The Key Poses of Yoga includes additional chapters on hip opening, forward and back bends, as well as twisting motions and others still.  There are two full appendices referencing individual joint movement, muscle and bone names and location within the body.  Teacher, student and home practitioner alike can benefit by becoming more aware and mindful of the function of their muscles through this book.  Both The Key Muscles of Yoga and The Key Poses of Yoga deserve a full !

Parting words

As it turned out, the duality of these two books as far as my perception that they may unwittingly remove focus from what is truly important in Yoga belonged exactly where I said it would – with me.  Another of Life’s little lessons on the subject of preconceptions and their dangers, and for that I am grateful.  Both of these books have drawn my attention deeper within me during practice through recalling the images and then visualizing that particular muscle or tendon and its movement during a pose.

And let’s face it; looking at pictures is always more fun!

Book Info

The Key Poses of Yoga: Scientific Keys, Volume II

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bandha Yoga; 1 edition (November 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1607432390
• ISBN-13: 978-1607432395

The Key Muscles of Yoga: Scientific Keys, Volume I

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Bandha Yoga; 3 edition (November 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781607432388
• ISBN-13: 978-1607432388

Related posts:

1. Yoga Anatomy

What is a Shaman?

The term “Shaman” (pronounced SHAH-MEN or SHAY-MEN) is a loan from the Tungusic word “Saman” which is defined as “priest of the Ural-Altaic peoples.”   In order to become a Shaman, one is first ‘called’ to Shamanism through a long-term illness which in failing to heal in the physical world must be instead healed through other Shamans in the spiritual world.  The anthropological archetype of the wounded healer is the basis of the experience:  The young Shaman first experiences sickness pushing him to the brink of death – where he passes into the spiritual world to receive healing and come back with the knowledge necessary to return at will to non-physical dimensions in order to affect the healing of others – as well as vital information that can affect the entire tribe.

A guide of souls

The Shaman can act as psychopomp (literally, “guide of souls”), healer, story-teller and mediator within his or her culture.  The Shaman communicates with the spirits on behalf of the community – including the spirits of the deceased. The Shaman speaks with both living and dead to alleviate unrest, unsettled issues, and to deliver gifts to the spirits on behalf of an individual or the community as a whole.  As a story-teller, the Shaman preserves and transmits the history and traditions of his or her peoples to teach the young and remind the old of past lessons.

The Spirit calls

It is worth noting that the viewpoint that Shamans enjoyed a more luxurious life and lived off the village is far from true.  In point of fact, the male or female called to Shamanism did so as more of a part time position, as they were still responsible to fulfill their usual role within the community.  Payments to the Shaman were (and are) usually in the form of goods and useful items – food included; and although this was welcomed, it did little to improve the daily life of a Shaman as opposed to any other community member.  The call to Shamanism is a spiritual calling and certainly does not equate to a life of luxury, but a life of healing and giving of oneself.

The Shaman’s Way

Illumination: The Shaman’s Way of Healing guides us on a healing journey of our own, forged by the timeless wisdom of indigenous cultures and the latest theories of neurobiology. Throughout the stages in our path to becoming our own Shaman, we come to realize the causes of our suffering and are shown how to free ourselves from the pain and drama of our unhealed emotions and their effects on our programmed responses. Life itself invites us to be initiated through many means-the possibility of love, the loss of a parent or friend, the birth of a child, or a serious health crisis. True initiation is empowered by facing personal challenges and experiencing the spiritual rebirth or illumination that follows.

A joyful goodbye

Completing this book is the sacred process of transforming toxic emotions into sources of power and grace. Illumination shows us how to bid a joyful goodbye to the people and places we have met, discovering a sacred space where the spirit inhabits, and uniting the body and soul. When we learn to let go of difficult situations and problems, to accept our lives as they are, we can begin to identify with a self that is eternal. Recounting his own experiences, tracing the mythologies of an array of cultures, and expanding his inquiry into the field of neurobiology, Alberto Villoldo shows readers how they can benefit from these sacred practices.

The author

Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., is the author of several books, including Shaman, Healer, Sage: How to Heal Yourself and Others with the Energy Medicine of the Americas; The Four Insights: Wisdom, Power, and Grace of the Earthkeepers; and Mending The Past & Healing The Future With Soul Retrieval. A psychologist and medical anthropologist, Villoldo has studied the healing practices of the Amazon and Inca shamans for more than 25 years. While at San Francisco State University, he founded the Biological Self-Regulation Laboratory to study how the mind creates psychosomatic health and disease. Dr. Villoldo directs The Four Winds Society, where he trains individuals in the U.S. and Europe in the practice of energy medicine and soul retrieval.

(excerpted in part amazon.com item description)

Illumination: The Shaman’s Way of Healing
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Hay House (Feb 15 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401923291
ISBN-13: 978-1401923297

Related posts:

1. Healing Yoga: A Book Review
2. Healing Holistically
3. The Emotional Healing Powers of Yoga

Teachings of Yoga
Shambhala Books, Translated and edited by Georg Feuerstein

Hello again! Before we dive into the untold wisdom of this book I found hiding in the dusty shadows on a shelf at my local library, I have a small confession to make: As I write this, I am eating a reasonable amount of chocolate covered almonds…and some leftover Christmas candy from work that only cost me twenty five cents for a one pound bag. Funny (or sad, I haven’t quite decided which yet) that I can buy a pound of pure sugary, gummy nothingness for almost as little, but a pound of bananas is three times as expensive! As for the candy, my own guilt will demand five miles out in the hills tonight in an attempt to compensate.

Gummy wisdom
Where was I? The library! Our town library has apparently won approval and funds to build a new modern structure sometime in 2011, but in the mean time the old library (reputed to be haunted) serves very well. Selection can be scarce, but the old shelves of reek paper dust and the ink of billions of words as if they had become a permanent part of the shelf itself. Hard, balled-up pieces of chewing gum can still be found under some of the tables, and thanks to that thirty year old piece of what appeared to be Hubba-Bubba gum – I found Teachings of Yoga.

Right now you are asking how I knew the gum is thirty years old, and you are right – nothing is for certain. As an avid bubble gum fanatic (especially grape Hubba-Bubba) in the seventies and first year or two of the eighties I consider myself an informed opinion, and given the level of petrifaction of the gum in question…Anyhow, I banged my knee on it under the table, bent down to see what it was, saw the gum first, then the book sitting in a dark corner on the bottom of a shelf in the children’s section. I took a second or two to admire the multi-colored constellations of gum in a variety of flavours stuck elsewhere on the table bottom, happy that the gum’s original owners were reading at the time and not sitting at home staring at the television, and then retrieved Teachings of Yoga from its hiding place.

Age old knowledge
Teachings of Yoga is not a book by any one man, but a collection of thousands of year’s old wisdom gathered and translated into English to benefit the Western world. Georg Feuerstein has done a wonderful job in not only translating this Yogic wisdom, but artfully and mindfully choosing which treasures to include. The contents pages at the front of the book read like a self-help diagnosis and prevention/treatment guide – proof that as a species we may have moved ahead technologically, but we are still assailed by the same issues that man and womankind faced thousands of years ago. Such subjects as overcoming depression, impulse control, truthfulness, humility, non-violence – to name only a few – are answered or explained with guidance to overcome these issues through the path of Yoga as a holistic and all inclusive lifestyle. The wisdom of men and women thousands of years in our past speaks with equal power today as it did then because of the truth their words contain and the harmony of existence their lives represent.

Teachings of Yoga
Teachings of Yoga starts with words that are powerful in their simplicity and clearly state the author/editor’s position on the subject of Yoga:

Yoga is the Greatest Virtue
Verily, there is no virtue greater than Yoga,
no good greater than Yoga,
and no subtlety greater than Yoga.
There is nothing greater than Yoga

~Yoga-Shikha-Upanishad

We as humans are by nature both Self (or Spirit) and self (or ego-bound personality). To the degree that we may transcend this duality by conquering the self, we become more aware and present in our true form of Self. Teachings of Yoga is designed to help accomplish this task (or at least give you the tools to begin) and does so by laying out the life of a Yogi or Yogini and providing the tools to overcome the obstacles so many others have found along the path.

Wacky Wisdom
The wisdom contained within Teachings of Yoga is simplicity itself; shrouded from the callous eye by riddle and contextual allegory, or what the Taoist refers to as “crazy wisdom.” Rather than be confused or frustrated by the writing style, the reader has the opportunity to think deeply about the text and ‘feel’ his or her way to the truth within. This allows the wisdom of Teachings of Yoga to transcend our intellect and resonate at a deeper level inside of us. An example will make this clearer:

One of my favourite texts within Teachings of Yoga is by Swami Sivananda. The passage is called “Commune with Nature” and speaks to the wondrous classroom that nature is and that I have come to call my own home too. As of late, I would add to this text; “Wander the snow-covered hills after dark with your coyote companions. Join them in their howlful play – for another voice is never begrudged.”

Commune with Nature
Smile with the flower and the green grass. Play with the butterflies, the birds, and deer. Shake hands with shrubs, ferns and twigs of trees. Talk to the rainbow, wind, stars, and the sun. Converse with the running brooks and the waves of the sea. Speak with the walking-stick. Develop friendship with all your neighbours, dogs, cats, cows, human beings, trees, flowers… Then you will have a wide, perfect, rich, full life. You will realise oneness or unity of life. This can be hardly described in words. You will have to feel this for yourself.

Or a second, less obvious poem by Kabir in Teachings of Yoga on the subject of pride:

Give up Pride

Kabir, be not proud of your body-
A sheet of skin stuffed with bones;
They who rode stately horses
Under canopies of gold
Now lie wrapped in earth.

Kabir, be not proud
Of your lofty mansions:
Today or tomorrow
The earth will be your bed
And grass will cover your head

Kabir, be not proud
Nor sneer at the forlorn;
Your canoe is still in the sea,
Who knows what its fate will be?

Kabir, be not proud
Of your beauty and youth;
This day or the next
You will have to leave it,
Like a serpent its slough.

I freely admit that Teachings of Yoga is far from being a new release, as it was way back in 1997 that this miniature treasure trove of Yogic wisdom was first brought to type. Then again, the information contained within its cardboard and paper walls spans millennia as it is – and yes, Amazon still has new copies of this book! I give Teachings of Yoga a solid . Until next week, may your search for your Self lead you right to where you are.

Book info
Paperback: 236 pages
Publisher: Shambhala; annotated edition Nov 25 1997
Language: English
ISBN-10: 157062318X
ISBN-13: 978-1570623189

No related posts.

You will have to forgive me, as I get a little giddy this time of year.  Perhaps it is the knowledge that the one day of the year where we all try to be a little nicer to our fellow man fast approaches – or maybe the smiling faces of children when they see the Christmas decorations in the storefronts and malls.  It isn’t the gifts, or money spent – but the love and thoughtfulness that goes into each one.

I will confess I was a little nervous as the festive season drew closer – for I will be alone on Christmas for the first time in many years.  I am grateful that it hasn’t done anything to affect my possibly just a little over-joyous mood – if anything, I’m even happier.  Part of my happiness is directly linked to my retail job position – I have met so many joyful shoppers and cute little babies – how could anyone not be happy?

Yes, we all need to be mindful of those in need, all year long – but especially now.  My own gift to myself is to anonymously (where possible) buy gifts and food for as many as I can afford this year.  It feels wonderful! Please try it yourself – find someone in need, and surprise them with a Christmas they would not otherwise have.  It will be the greatest gift you will ever receive.

Time for a little Christmas cheer!  We’ve just passed the one month mark – less than thirty days before Christmas!  In celebration of a Yoga Christmas this year, I’ve made a few ‘modifications’ to a very famous little Christmas poem written by Henry Livingston…or was it Moore?  The jury is still out – but I would like to think Henry Livingston wrote it in 1808…

A Visit from St. Nicholas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a yoga mat was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of stretch pants danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of asana guides to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature yogi, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old book, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
and he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!
To the prop of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

As bamboo towels that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with a water bottle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in yoga socks, from his head to his foot,
and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of candles he had flung on his back,
and he looked like a pedicure just opening his pack.

His eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
and the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a cookbook he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
that shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know meditation cd’s had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the incense he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

I hope these suggestions gave you some great ideas for friends and family – or even yourself! Yes, a pedicure may seem like a bit of a stretch, but I see a lot of my feet when I am doing my practice! Here are my suggestions in the order in which they appear in the wonderful poem I hacked to pieces above (I’m sorry…really) – linked for your convenience:

Yoga Mat	Yoga Pants	Asana Guides
Buddha Statue	Raja Yoga Or Conquering The Internal Nature	Yoga Blocks
Bamboo Towels	Water Bottles	Yoga ToeSox
Pedicure/Footbath	Cookbook	Guided Meditation
	Zen Scents Incense

Happy holidays!

No related posts.

At my core, I am a creature of ritual with a very well-defined sense of what constitutes ‘giving due respect and honor’ to certain types of activities.  In the past (yesterday), I have been guilty of quite forcefully and almost angrily projecting my ‘lines in the sand’ onto someone else.  Without boring you with all the details, the essence of the conversation which quickly turned into an angry-preacher monologue involved an unfortunate soul making a comment about meditation and his use of acid rock and heavy metal as background music.

Blown Gasket

I nearly blew a gasket.  In retrospect, I behaved like a sanctimonious !$#*&%$^, that is all there is to it.  In my nightly self-examination of the day’s events and my moments of mindfulness and mindlessness, I did learn something else though; I began to think about what constitutes fitting music for Yoga practice.  In this case, we are going to talk about the use of music both as background ‘white noise’ and as a primary attention focusing instrument.

Music is vibration

Music can be defined in a number of ways; but at its core, we are talking about vibration traveling through air as a medium and impacting a highly sensitive membrane in our ears, thus allowing us to ‘hear’ the vibrations.  More so with music than with speech, the vibrations also impact and pass into our bodies as well, creating sympathetic physical responses, triggering memories or emotional states, as well as directly affecting lucidity, focus, and levels of consciousness.

The confirmed romanticist in me likes to think of good music as reflections of the vibratory harmony that nature and even stars and galaxies produce as part of their daily existence.  It turns out that there are in fact quite a few statistically proven research papers which help to break down different genres and there known effects:

Classical Music

Classical music rarely has any vocal accompaniment and therefore relies on the harmonies between the various instruments to convey the message.  Regardless of taste for classical music, it has been proven to reduce stress, calm the body and help stimulate and focus the mind.  Specifically, time-space reasoning and verbal acuity are directly affected.  This is accomplished by the music creating an ideal environment for your mind to function efficiently.  Classical music has also been documented to slow down heart rate, relieve high blood pressure and lessen such chemical imbalances as anxiety.

Country Music

I can say that this did not surprise me the least, as I have no use for “my dog died, my wife left me, my truck broke down and I’m outta beer” music!  Country music has been clearly linked to both depression and suicide.  Although the newer artists tend to be more upbeat, older country music places those already at risk of suicide in harm’s way through depressive themes which foster suicidal thoughts.

Rock Music

Rock music is the one genre that can actually stimulate your adrenal glands into releasing adrenaline as if in a fight or flight situation.  If you do not like rock music by nature, its effects on you can include discomfort and rising anger.  At a physiological level, both blood pressure and heart rate are known to increase as much as twenty-five percent.  If you are a fan of rock music, it can relieve stress without any noticeable effect on blood pressure or heart rate.

Mice exposed to rock music for prolonged periods while running mazes grew steadily slower at finding their way out to the point where total disorientation eventually set in.  When dissected, the mouse brains revealed that there were significant increases in messenger RNA, and wild neuron growth without proper linking to existing pathways.  These reasons among others are why rock music listeners have higher suicide rates, and are more prone to use street drugs.

Hip Hop/Rap Music

Music in this category can program teens and young adults, especially in the music video industry.  Studies show that teens and young adults who avidly watch overtly sexual and violence-based videos regularly are more likely to exhibit similar behaviour in reality.  Hip Hop tends to trigger stronger emotional responses, both negative and positive.

Classical Indian Music

Classical Indian music is based on ragas and taals.  Ragas are a traditional melodic type in Hindu music, consisting of a theme that expresses an aspect of religious feeling and sets forth a tonal system on which variations are improvised within a prescribed framework of typical progressions, melodic formulas, and rhythmic patterns.  Certain patterns in Indian music are well known to activate all of the Chakras within the body, and when used as therapy can relieve migraines, hypertension, anxiety, and chronic headaches.  Indian music is also quite effective in improving sleep quality among people with symptoms of depression.

The Practice

So here we are, about to pick our first selection of music.  What do you pick?  There are days where I prefer only the sound of my breath, and others where Indian Yoga music or classical music has fit the bill.  Up until now, there wasn’t much chance I would consider any other music fitting enough to honor the practice and provide benefit, but I tried something last night I have never done before…I completed my evening practice while listening to a collection of favourite eighties songs.  The music brought back many good memories (love the eighties!) and I must admit, my practice flowed along just fine.  In some ways, my level of happiness while doing Yoga was augmented directly by the music not only through the memories it brought to the surface, but by the melodies themselves.

To sum it all up…

To sum it up, we have an idea of some of the effects of various genres, as well as the realization that as everything is in a state of vibration, we should give attention to those things which can alter our own vibrational states – for good or bad.  Being mindful of your intention and what ‘sympathetic vibrations’ you wish to foster during your Yoga routine is a sure way to help in making the right music decisions. Choosing to use music as either background noise or as a primary focal point to hold attention during your practice is one of personal taste….and volume.  Here are a few of my favourites for use during my Yoga routines:

Yoga One (Compilation CD) ASIN: B000MV8D7E

Music for Yoga & Other Joys ASIN: B0001HK09S

Sacred Hindu Chants & Mantras ASIN: B000BS6XYS

Related posts:

1. Does Music Inspire you During your Yoga Practice?
2. Yoga Music for Meditation