Inner Space, Inner Peace

It's my birthday week so I wanted to pick a thought of the week that was a reflection of one of my deepest intentions...finding a peaceful heart. The inspiration has partially stemmed from my Dad, Wayne, who passed away in 1982 but not before leaving an indelible imprint on the person I am today. He was a metallurgical engineer and researcher in aerospace back in the day when it was an emerging field of exploration in the late 50's and early 60's. He worked at a think-tank and, from a young age, I had the opportunity to see moon rock and liquid nitrogen. When Dad would talk to me about outer space, I would sit in a stupor trying to comprehend the vastness of it all. Here we are, on this little dot of a planet in the Universe and what's "out there" is mind-blowing. It was the new frontier and, to this day, continues to be. It's a place of apparent silence, radiant light, and endless opportunities to search into the unknown. It's a place where infinity has true meaning.

I then started to think about inner space...that dwelling within each of us that, like outer space, has unlimited potential for exploration. At one time, our body was thought about in limited terms of skin, muscles, cells, bones, etc, and today, we are able to SEE strands of DNA. For the longest time, we had no awareness of what was lying beneath the skin, a frontier awaiting exploration. Sitting within this inner landscape beyond the physical is thought to be the "Hridaya", the cave of the heart-that untouchable, unchanging, and steadfast center of who we are. As Eckhart Tolle said, "At the deepest level of Being, we are one with all that is."

One of my wishes for the world is peace. Yep, that hippie sounding affirmation of wanting peace throughout the world. I doubt we'll see peace in the world in my own life as we've been at war for a couple of thousand years, but that simply deepens the desire to be part of the peacemaking footprint. If I wish peace for others, I know that I must first have peace within my own being. Hence, the need to explore my own inner space. Meditation, slowing down, and living with intention, contemplation, and yoga are the doorways into inner space. Over the years, I have become "better" at finding the "Hridaya", the center of who I am. At times we can become lost and the consistency of our practice is what reminds us of that connection and helps us to find that place within.

As so often is said, we begin with the breath. We breathe into our own inner space, bringing in what we need and upon exhale we release that breath into the outer space. Our earthly outer space or atmosphere is one which all beings have been sharing since the beginning of time. I know that if I can offer through my breath, my own infusion of intention, a sense of peacefulness, then each out-breath is an opportunity to offer peacefulness to the whole. Just as a prayer is sent out each time the wind passes through Tibetan prayer flags, we can do the same with our own breath. So many opportunities to explore the infinite potential for living in presence with the intention of a peaceful world.

So my birthday wish is this: May all of us touch a natural sense of peacefulness, within and without. May all of us spend time exploring our own inner being and, in doing so, recognize how it is intertwined with everything else. And may all of us be inspired by those who have gone before us, exploring both inner and outer space.

Courage

As we have just passed Martin Luther King, Jr day here in the United States, I am inspired to write about courage. When I think of Dr. King, I am reminded of the immense courage it takes to stand up for something that is calling to you from the depths of your soul. And with the current "#Me too" movement, I am also reminded of what it takes to speak out against injustice. As I draw these thoughts inward, I reflect upon my own life and find myself asking, "How have I lived courageously?". I am hardly a suppressed person as I feel I've been blessed with unlimited opportunities throughout my life. I, like so many others, have had my "#Me too" experiences, but it truly hasn't stopped me from pursuing what motivates me. I have sat on the cusp of opportunity which offers me the chance to lend my privileged voice to others.

One of my most recent exposures to feeling the fear was experienced as I undertook the Global Seva Challenge for Off the Mat, Into the World in 2012. I had all sorts of fear of not being able to raise $20,000 towards organizations rescuing and rehabilitating young girls in India who had been trafficked, and often sold, into the sex-slave trade. My fear was around failing, about appearing incapable of reaching a goal, of not having enough of "whatever" to make it happen. I felt the vulnerability of this, reached out to my community, and with their tremendous support moved forward. 

One of our first fundraising efforts was a community garage sale, held in a local parking lot. It was one of those too-early-in-the- spring-to-be-hot-days, and we were hustling and sweating and trying to raise money.  The local IHOP manager was annoyed at our presence and called the police. They were kind and allowed us to stay. At the end of the day, we then had to schlep what wasn't sold back into a storage area. I was hot, hungry, and tired as I'd been at it since before daylight, not to mention what it took to gather items a few weeks before the event. As I noticed my grumpiness, I paused and thought about some 9-year old girl in India, sold by her family into an unimaginable situation...I immediately got over myself. That's all it took. Me getting out of my own way and thinking about someone else and the opportunity I had to offer my voice to those who have none.

Sometimes, when we think about how we can serve others, whatever fear, trepidation, or harm is holding us back dissolves. It hardly seemed courageous looking back, especially upon meeting those girls in India. They were the ones with the resiliency and brave hearts. They were the ones who simply needed someone to offer them a moment of freedom and the chance at a different path. Their courage in absorbing all of this was astounding.

The word "courage" stems from the French word, "Coeur" which means heart. And when you think about it, if we are able to drop into the essence of our hearts, into the energy of love and compassion, courage is present. I had to get out of my ego-driven mind, away from my intellect and find the connection to the energy of my heart during the Seva challenge and I know that if we can drop into that space, we realize that courage is always within us, simply waiting to roar when called upon. In some ways, it's easier to shrivel than blossom. It's easier to stay with what we know instead of stepping into the scary abyss of the unfamiliar.

So my thought this week is to simply honor those courageous moments we've experienced in our lives, whether they be something that is seen on a broad community level or something like stepping into an unfamiliar yoga class for the first time. If we allow ourselves to drop into our heart space, we can hear the deeper calling of courage. My suggestion is that you trust that voice and let it guide you. 

In gratitude for all of those who have laid the footprints of inspiration for us to follow.

Personal Practice

When I first began practicing yoga, I'd show up to the class, do the practice and then leave. At the time, that seemed to be meeting what I needed and expected from attending. I wouldn't necessarily leave the class with a precious nugget that I was going to install in my next week of intentional growth. I would reflect on the class largely because of the sore or aching muscles reminding me of the previous. I saw my practice as the time I spent on my rectangular rubber mat. Yet, something somewhat buried within was asking for more...it had been beckoning for quite some time to seek something meaningful, even spiritual in life, but I was yet to discover what that calling was. Well, the call was answered during my training to become a yoga teacher. We began to look at the ancient history and philosophy that much of yoga had as its foundation and it was during this time that the switch was flipped...This is what I had been looking for! A way to connect to something deeper, yet practical, that would give me better skills at coping with my life.

It was at this time that the idea of a personal practice took root. I knew I wanted to live from a compassionate perspective as a way of being in the world, and not just when I was on the mat. In adopting a yogic lifestyle, I now see that the entire world is my yoga mat. The practice is carried within (embodied) and not defined by where it's undertaken. If you want to read more about embodiment, check out last week's blog by clicking here.

A personal practice is what we do once we leave the larger environment of the class. It's our solo journey through inner space. And it's completely personal, custom built by ourselves based on what feels right in our life in that moment. I have no idea as to what your personal practice should look like, but I can tell you what's worked for me and offer some guidance, but that's about as far as it goes. It's something that we need to uncover for ourselves and it can look completely different from someone else's practice.

This week I've been asking the questions: Do you have a personal practice? If not, do you want one? And if yes, what does it look like?

People have answered in a few different ways about what their personal practice looks like ranging from "finding present moment awareness", to "being flexible in how it can look each day", and to "making a consistent commitment to some aspect of it". Does it need to include yoga poses (asana)? I don't think so...it can, but that's not what constitutes it being a practice. It might be something as singular as being kind. Kinder to ourselves, to each other, and perhaps kinder to the planet. And if that's the case, what does that look like in practical terms? We've been repeating affirming statements that connect us to the present moment and to our practice this past week. These can be repeated if we find ourselves wanting to come back to center or having self-talk that is less than loving.

I love my body and trust its wisdom.

I'm always safe at the center of my being.

I peacefully detach from negativity.

So, if you lack clarity as to where to build a stronger personal practice, start here in the repetition of one of the above statements, slow down, and pay attention to what's happening in the present moment. Perhaps set an intention of a daily connection to it and see where it takes you.

Having come from a sports science and fitness background, I came across many people who were 23-hour couch potatoes. They'd spend an hour at the gym and be sedentary for the remainder of the day and would wonder why their health goals were seemingly out of reach. By building a personal practice, we can connect to our practice through mindfulness and intention and perhaps, begin to see the whole world as our own private yoga studio. Are you ready to begin?

Embodiment

As we have flipped the calendar into a new year, I thought it would be a terrific time to launch straight into the idea of embodiment. What does it mean to be "embodied"? One definition that resonated with me is: "the representation or expression of something in a tangible or visible form". The reasons I like that definition is that the words tangible and visible, as in embodiment, are things we can see and sense. This was true of a couple of my teachers who possess a certain quality in how they relate to the world.   As soon as they enter the room you can sense they have an energy about them which is calm and centered. When I came across this, I recognized it as something that I desired for myself...so, how does one go about embodying these qualities? Consistent and long-term practice, that's how. These teachers have been living their yoga practice for decades and it was simply who they were.

As I researched embodiment more deeply, I began to realize that it's the physicality of our yoga that gives it meaning. And I don't mean that it has to be strenuous physical activity but more that we sense our experiences completely through the vessel of our physical body. When we have a powerful emotional reaction to some event, we feel it. It may center itself as a kick in the gut, an electric zing in the heart, or through forming beads of sweat on our brow. We sense the experience as it's not just a theoretical event, but rather something that actually happens to us or someone we know. So if that's the case that we feel our way through the myriad of experiences in our life, then we can perhaps learn to read the language of our body to get greater insight into present moment awareness.

I studied French as a second language for over five years, so when I had an opportunity to speak French, I received a wicked awakening as I had no idea of what was being said. I'd ask a question in French and, lo and behold, the person would respond in French, but at a speed that was completely foreign to my untrained ears. I learned how to ask people to please speak slowly so I could grasp the gist of a reply. The same is true for our bodies...we so often zoom through our lives that we don't speak the language of our own body. We miss the cues completely and then wonder why we're taken down with injury or illness. One of the beautiful things about undertaking a yoga practice is that it has the potential to invite us to slow down. When we tap into the slowing down of our breath and begin to match our body to it, we are able to feel and sense the subtleties our own body is speaking. And over time, we create a deeper connection to that dialogue and gain clarity as to what we need. We begin to embody our practice through consciousness,  making gentle changes each time we come to the mat.

A growing field of interest in the yoga therapy realm is around the concept of "interoception" described by Bo Forbes as "the art of paying attention to momentary fluctuations in bodily sensations-purposefully, non-judgmentally, and without needing to change or fix anything. Think of interoception as mindfulness in the body." She goes on to say that interoception has a positive impact on our physical health, benefiting our immune system, gut microbiome, and connective tissue matrix. Interoception also helps with emotional resilience: among many things, it turns down the volume on the negative self-referential thinking characteristic of anxiety, depression, chronic pain, addictions, and other "diseases of disembodiment." 

Another hot topic in the medical field is that of systemic inflammation, thought to be the root cause of many modern day diseases. It's incredible to think that by tuning into a daily practice of yoga, meditation, tai chi, qigong or other wisdom traditions, that we can positively influence not only our state of mind, but the cascade of physical responses responsible for keeping us in good health.  It seems that many ideas of the yogis which have been practiced for millennia are starting to be supported in our current scientific research. Basically, it boils down to incorporating a daily practice, where you learn to listen to what your body is saying and respond from a place of non-judgment. Okay...sounds easy enough! Next step? Roll out your mat and get going!