Difficult Simplicity

One of the gifts I have received over the many years of teaching is that of an ever-expanding community. Each week I get emails from people, locally and globally, particularly from people in Australia and Canada. So, it's a really cool thing when someone I have worked with in one of those locations sends me a message about their practice. One of the main intentions I had years back in starting an email list was to stay connected to people I wasn't able to see year round, so it's deeply gratifying to stay in a role of supporting people on their yogic journey.

Such an incident happened this past week which was the catalyst for my thought of the week-Difficult Simplicity. A student who I've been working with in Australia over the past few years has made tremendous progress in their daily meditation practice and was beginning to wonder if these gains had evaporated due to a recent bout of thoughts pulling him all over the place. He likened his experience to the Sharon Salzberg metaphor of sitting on the banks of a river (meditation) with boats floating down the river (our thoughts)...and realizing that sometimes we find ourselves on the boat without knowing how we got there in the first place. My student said that he had an entire "flotilla" of thoughts floating down the river and was doubting his ability and the gains he had been making. Here was my reply to him:

Sometimes what we need to be reminded of pops up in front of us just at the right time. These are turbulent times...it's truly a challenge to find our center and, in that, to realize that there is no loss of gains as this present moment is the only one that truly has power. It's the difficult simplicity of that...remembering to be exactly where we're at. I am constantly being reminded to focus on my own path, to keep my eyes within my vision as the moment I start looking outside to what this or that person is doing, I question my own journey. I love being reminded to stay within my own heart. 

But it ain't easy!

It seems to be a human condition that we like to make things more complicated then they need to be. Confucius, who died in 479 BC, said, "Life is simple, but we insist on making it more complicated". And Henry David Thoreau (who died in 1862) said "Life is frittered away by detail. Simplify. Simplify." What these two people and statements have in common is that they recognized how we like to make things harder than they need to be and, in the process, we create more suffering than is necessary. And both of these people didn't have iPhones or advanced technologies to add to the complexity and yet, they still recognized the human condition of busyness and complication, supporting the notion of simplification.

If we explore the path of yoga and meditation, it can sound quite basic. Can you find how your breath is moving in/out of your body? Can you relax any tension found in your body? Can you come back to present moment awareness? Do you carve out 10-minutes/day to sit in contemplation? Do you have non-negotiable "me time" scheduled every day? It sounds simple, right? Well, the ideas may be simple, but that doesn't mean they're easy. So many people I come across find it challenging to answer the above questions. It's as though carving out time to look inward is the last thing on the to-do list, I mean, most of us are just trying to get through the day with our basic needs being met along the way.  And this is the difficult part of these simple practices. We are challenged to make it a priority and when we do take the time it can feel selfish and "unproductive".  Sometimes when we make the effort, it's anything but zen-like so it can feel discouraging. We're seeking inner calm and we come face-to-face with our inner storm instead.

This is why we need people to support us along the path. To reflect back their own and others experiences of turbulence, which is a normal part of awakening consciousness. We want to take a look at the long-range forecast, not tomorrow's prediction, as this practice deepens over countless times of coming to it on and off the mat or cushion. It sounds simple and parts of it are, but that doesn't make it easy. My thought this week is to honor the idea that being human, we have a tendency to make it harder and more complex than may be required. To hold patience in our hearts every time we step onto our mats, releasing expectations as to what may happen or what experiences we may have previously had. To know that the difficulties we face in the practice bring us more mental and spiritual agility for when things get even more challenging in our daily lives. Yes...it's simple and difficult. And we can trust those who have gone before us that the ride is worth it

Quiet Mind

Sunday afternoon I sat in the afterglow of the weekend's events. We celebrated the graduation of my yoga teacher trainees following the completion of their 200-hour course. We'd been working together for eight months and it was a feeling similar to having planned a big event that was now complete- exhilarating and exhausting! With all of the crazy news of natural disasters, violence in the world, and a full workload, I realized that what I needed to bring energy to this week was a quiet mind.

So many people who come to class, when asked what they need for that day, often reply "To relax", "I need a new brain", "To just be here...so anything you do will be good!" Of course, one reason we come to the mat is to connect to our body in a loving way and another reason is to help manage the daily stressors we face in life. So often we find ourselves spinning with what seem uncontrollable and rampant rogue thoughts...they just keep coming. In the meditation and yoga worlds, these out-of-control thoughts are often described as having a "monkey-mind" or more appropriately, "a drunken-monkey who's been stung by a scorpion!" And it seems that these thoughts love to arrive around 2-4 AM, keeping us awake as we toss and turn, seemingly unable to "stop thinking".

One way that we can begin to find a quieter mind is to understand the nature of the mind. Just as the heart beats, the mind thinks. If we wanted to ask the heart to stop beating, it wouldn't. Its job is to dictate and respond to the rhythm of our lives from beginning to end. And just as the heart's nature is to beat, the mind's nature is to think. We do ourselves a tremendous disservice when we think that in order to find a quiet mind we must stop thinking-it's not going to happen, even with the most practiced of meditators.

Instead, we practice by not attaching ourselves to all of those thoughts.  Buddhist meditation teacher, Sharon Salzberg, shares the metaphor of meditation as follows: "You're sitting on a riverbank, watching boats float down the river. Being on the bank represents being in meditation. Then, without knowing how, all of a sudden you're on one of the boats. You begin to think, how did I get on this boat? I wonder where it's going? Does it have a captain? Are there snacks? Being on the boats represents thoughts and how we've attached to them. The magical moment is when we realize that we're on the boat. We can now awaken and recognize that we can get off the boat and put ourselves back on the bank". And, of course, this takes practice.

Another way of shifting our thoughts is through the practice of "Citta Bhavana", or moving the mind. In this practice, you can create any state of mind you would like to cultivate, according to Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D. In order to do this, we bring to mind a memory of the state we seek, such as deep relaxation or connection to something greater. Once we find that memory, we recreate as much of the feeling of that memory as possible: Where were you? What was the light like? Were you alone? How was your posture? Were there any sounds or smells? Really bring what this experience felt like and locate where you're feeling this in your body. Then...let the memory go and stay with the feeling of it.

Most recently, I had this feeling of deep peace and inner stillness while at Sanctuary Retreat in Far North Queensland. I had been teaching for a few days and was back in my cabin. My husband, Ed, had gone up to the longhouse as it was getting close to dinner. The sun had set and the rainforest was growing dark. I had the screen door closed and as I sat on the bed, I realized I didn't need to do anything. I didn't need to review the day or plan ahead for the next, but to simply be present. As I closed my eyes, I simply listened to the sound of the evening frogs and crickets, feeling the light breeze pass over my skin created by the ceiling fan overhead. A deep sense of connection and peace arose and I could feel myself being part of the beautiful and simple moment of connecting to nature. As I conjure up this memory once again, I can sense the tension releasing from my forehead and my shoulders relaxing. This is a form of Citta Bhavana...creating the desired state of deep relaxation and connection. I was able to find my quiet mind as I do now in simply writing this.

So if you find you've been hijacked by a monkey mind and it's drawing you away from how you wish to be, remember that you have some options in shifting the current state. Get off the boat and head back to the bank or step into the memory bank of past desirable states of mind. After all, you are the captain of your own ship!

No Mud, No Lotus

Sometimes I'm not quite certain where inspiration will come from as I look for my weekly thought and theme for classes. Next week marks the celebration of Diwali, a 5-day celebration of lights in India. It's a big deal and I would love to be there one of these years to see it in full action. So, I began to think about light as I contemplated my weekly theme which led me to think about darkness. It seems that the past several weeks have been rife with tragic events: hurricanes, mass shootings, and deadly fires in the public realm, and a host of other occurrences in my own personal sphere. I kept wondering what my thought of the week would be, but unfortunately, the difficulties that are present are good fodder for spiritual growth and teaching.

As I thought about darkness and light, I recognized that it's the darkness that gives more power to the light. I love to head out on early morning bicycle rides, right at dawn just before the sun peaks over the horizon. Some mornings it's a striking pink and orange, others just a lightening of the sky. But it's when the sun first strikes the local mountains that always takes my breath away...they ignite in an earthy pink and it's the preceding darkness that makes it so powerful.

When we have the contrast, the light seems more effulgent. I once heard a powerful statement that "our hearts break open so the light can get in." The dark times that we experience are a natural part of living and further along this thought inquiry, I remembered the saying popularized by the Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, "No Mud, No Lotus". What this basically means is that the radiant and stunning lotus flower is anchored in pond water which is often muddy, murky, and lacks clarity. Yet, the flower buds, rising up through the muck and mire to blossom on the water's surface into its full beauty, apparently untainted by the muddy waters. Yet, it needs the mud, as it's the mud that provides the soil for the anchor of the flower and gives it nourishment to grow into its full potential. And once the lotus comes to the end of its bloom, it returns to the mud and becomes compost...readying the soil for the next cycle.

So, in a sens, we need the mud even when it feels like the only thing that exists is the mud itself. We can feel covered by it, unable to recognize the inherent and always present beauty that is ready to awaken. And boy, it seems like there's been so much mud of late!

This week has evolved into thinking about our own inner radiance and when things get murky, we turn back into ourselves with practices of loving kindness. And when we connect into our inner light, we recognize that it's the same light that all beings have within them. The mantra, "Om Mani Padme Hum" is related to this week's theme and is often translated as "the jewel inside the heart of the lotus".  This well-known mantra reminds us that lying within our own hearts, within our own lotus is a multi-faceted jewel. When the light shines onto the jewel, it reflects and refracts the light in a way that is unique to us, our individual selves. The same light will manifest in a different way for all beings, but the source in common is the same light. We connect to our inner radiance with this unique gem sitting in the center of who we are. When the conditions are right and we manifest the metaphor of the lotus, we realize that although we may look different, we are inherently connected.

During these dark and muddy times, it's even more powerful for us to connect to each other and to shine light into the darkness of others. In the process, we know that the mud is a reflection of our challenges, but without it, the beauty of the lotus is unable to manifest. So let's tenderly and with tremendous compassion, honor the suffering within ourselves and to all beings. Let's honor the mud for it brings us into the light and beauty of all that we are.

One-Heart

Before I had even heard about the tragic events in Las Vegas this past week, I had planned to talk about the mantra - Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu as a theme for the upcoming weeks' classes. This Sanskrit mantra is often translated as "May all beings be happy and free" and further to that, "may the merits of my own life and practice contribute to this happiness". So when we step into our own practice and begin to awaken to the energy of our truest selves, it not only benefits us individually but collectively. Just as a stone dropped into a still pond sends out ripples, we have the capacity to raise a collective intention based around happiness and freedom.

Andye Murphy wrote in an article for Gaia, "Recognizing we are all one, we can move into sincerer compassion for ourselves and those around us. According to Insight State, "we cannot achieve true happiness if we cause unhappiness to other living beings, nor can we be free if we deprive others of their freedom." The mantra moves us into the one-heart.

Ironically, this past week on 60-Minutes they were reporting on the refurbishment of the Hubble Telescope and how its aim is to now look so deep into space that they are looking for the origins of the universe and hence, when it began.  The NASA scientist being interviewed was talking about the formation of stars and planets and basically said that our existence is based on the connection that we are all stardust. Yep...top NASA scientist stating that we have all come from the same source. So when we create suffering by focusing on what divides us, this humble reminder begs to differ. We are all connected. The one-heart.

When tragedy strikes, and it seems to be doing so ever more frequently, how do we manage those feelings of grief, anger, and helplessness? Now, more than ever, we need to step fully into the light of our own inner strength and affirm that the direction we want is one of love, hope, tolerance, and compassion. The practice of beginning with our own suffering, offering ourselves loving kindness is vital. When we sense our knees buckling under the heaviness of our times, instead of pointing fingers and looking outside ourselves, we offer ourselves kindness. As we dig into that intention with an authentic dedication, affirming repeatedly that what we wish for ourselves, we wish for all beings everywhere. To be safe. To be free. To be happy. To live with peace and ease.

Sanskrit mantras are old, especially if you recognize that Sanskrit was one of the originating languages on earth and is now "dead". The words of the mantra, Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu, have been repeated for millennia, billions of times by billions of people. Each and every time those words are spoken, it's as though the intention for happiness and freedom are once again thrown into a universal prayer.  We have been gifted these mantras and they come fully loaded with energy, having been passed through the generations. In my own personal practice, if I repeat the phrase 108 times for 21-days, do the math-that's a strong setting of intention. And if I share that with others in my community and they do the same thing, the energy exponentially expands with the intention of raising the collective affirmation of wanting happiness and freedom for all beings.

Some say there's a tipping point, that if the collective energy grows stronger, we will begin to exit these dark ages (the Kali Yuga). I know that when I feel the deep despair of such tragedy in our world, I trust what I have been taught---to offer myself compassion. To continually build that well and fill it up so it spills out of me as naturally as an exhaling breath. I am reminded to stay focused on building a conscious and compassionate community. And I am reminded that we are all in this life together, coming together in the one-heart.