It's All About the Journey

"It is by the co-ordinated and concentrated efforts of his body, senses, mind, reason and Self that a man obtains the prize of inner peace and fulfills the quest of his soul to meet his Maker.  The supreme adventure in a man's life is his journey back to his Creator." - B.K.S. Iyengar, "Light on Yoga," Page 30.

I am on week 5 of Iyengar's asana course (detailed in his book, "Light On Yoga").  I've been doing the yoga practice most days of the week, though the weekends have been, well, weak.

I was drawn to the idea of offering a quote from Iyengar's book for two reasons:  (1) I am working from his book almost daily in my personal practice, and (2) because I wanted to write a blog post and I didn't have a topic.  ;)

The quote suggests an ultimate reason to do yoga, meeting your Creator, and that the soul's journey is the greatest adventure we can have in our lives on this earth.

The soul's journey is an adventure.  Um.  Yeah, it sure is!  Sometimes that adventure is a tumultuous and painful journey over the highest mountains imaginable.  Sometimes, the adventrure is exciting and fun, maybe with a little risk thrown in, like an all-expense-paid week-long trip to Las Vegas or Africa.  Sometimes the adventure is smooth sailing; everything goes your way and you have nothing to worry about.  You are "in the zone."  At times, the adventure isn't an adventure at all.  At those times we may feel bored, lazy, depressed, angry, uncertain or apathetic.  We are either crying out for a big shot of inspiration, or we really don't give a damn.

You can learn, and further your way along your journey, in any of these phases, some more than others.  Even the slowest path can be quicker than the shortest, all depending on what you learn along the way.  Even the smoothest journey has lessons.  Chances are that you are experiencing more than one type of adventure at any given time.

Luckily, my soul's journey isn't taking me on a trek over any treacherous, barely passable mountains, at the moment anyway.  I am experiencing some hills, some taller than others, along with a good portion of smooth sailing and a tiny bit of apathy (since I've been overwhelmed a bit lately).  While progression on the journey can bring about your best, it can also bring out the worst in us.

Inner peace is a pretty easy concept to understand; everyone has his or her own idea of what inner peace might be like.  The Maker/Creator idea is, for some, an uncertain idea.  I think what we are really talking about here is the full and complete union of our self and our soul, allowing for the full and complete expression of ourselves as spiritual beings.  It is my belief that my soul, my spirit, is made of exactly the same stuff as my Maker/Creator.  My soul/spirit IS my Maker/Creator.  My soul/spirit is the perfect, beautiful and eternal part of me, and of every other being on this planet.  We are all a part of each other.  We are one.

When we get to the part of the journey where we meet our Creator, our egoistic self falls away and we express our REAL self.  We live our life expressing our soul, and thus, our Creator.  We experience that desired inner peace.  But beware.  Inner peace can be fleeting.  You may have it one day, and not the next.  Our UNreal self is imperfect and enjoys keeping us on our toes with new learning opportunities.  After all, this is our human, ego self having a spiritual experience.

Next Up? A New Year

For many years I have tossed around the idea of doing B.K.S. Iyengar's asana courses, Appendix 1 of "Light on Yoga."  The courses detail 300+ weeks of personal practice, as if one were studying asana for the first time all the way to an advanced practitioner.

Michael Jordan was asked what he was thinking about as he was dribbling and shooting a basketball.  He said he was thinking of the fundamentals, the skills he learned first.  Being a teacher, and a long-time yoga student, the fundamentals are still important.  I decided to do Iyengar's course, starting from the beginning.  I started it on Monday, December 26.  I felt inspired; why wait 'til the new year?

Our lives can be seen as an onion whereby we continually move from this level to a deeper one, learning the next lesson, the next peel of the onion.  When we are consciously students, we learn more.  To consciously be a student, we need guidance.  Sometimes we guide ourselves, at other times someone else does the guiding.  This time, Iyengar will provide the guidance.  In doing his asana course, I will be learning another level, another peel of the onion, of the postures.  In turn, I will be learning about myself in the postures.

I have the audiobook by Stephen Levine, "A Year to Live."  It is an awesome audiobook!  I have been very busy and have lost a bit of myself, the last year or so.  This year, 2012, I am taking my life back! Committing to such a long program is a bit daunting, to say the least!  LOL  But I will learn more about myself, as well as the postures.  My goal is to commit to the first year of the course.  I'll see what happens at the end of the year.

The first two weeks of the course contain postures, all of which I have, obviously, done before.  They are: tadasana (mountain pose), vrksasana (tree pose), utthita trikonasana (triangle pose), utthita parsvakonasana (extended side angle pose), virabhadrasana I and II (warrior 1 and 2 poses), parsvottanasana (pyramid pose), salamba sarvangasana (supported shoulderstand), halasana (plow pose), and savasana (corpse pose).

I can't wait to see what I will learn!  And if anyone wants to join me in this endeavor, I'd love the company!

Yoga Challenge - Day 21 - The End???

Hello Faithful Challengers,

Today was a fine day.  I did 1 1/2 hours of asana, 20 minutes of meditation, and 40 minutes of yoga nidra.

Some of you have told me about the difference this Challenge has made in your life.  I am thrilled for you!!!  And, I am very proud of you for sticking with it.  You inspire me.  I've had a great deal of fun hearing from you and experiencing the Challenge along with you.  Although I said the Challenge was 21 days long, I actually planned for 22 days.  I did this to say that just because the Challenge is 21 days long, that doesn't mean your practice has to end.  So, I challenge you to take this a step further.  Take your practice from 21 days to 22 days and beyond.  You have had a chance to feel the difference a consistent practice can make in your lives in just 21 days.  How much more can you do for yourself?  How big a difference can a long-term, consistent practice make for you?  Now that you know what it can do for you and for your life, how can you not continue?

Feel free to use the Facebook discussion page and wall to tell me and each other about your practice, or you can email me.  Feel free to ask questions!  I'll still tell you about my practice here and there during blog posts and newsletters.  (If you haven't signed up for the newsletter, there is a link on the website and the blog site, or you can ask me to add you to the list.)  Whatever you do, don't stop your practice!  You've got a jump on it; keep it going!  This won't be the last challenge, even for this year, but don't stop and wait for another challenge to get back into your practice.  You are worth it!

Namaste,

Julie

Yoga Challenge - Day 20 - Today's Practice

Hi Yogis,

WOW!  Day 20 has come so quickly!  I hope you have been having a good time with the challenge.  Today, my practice consisted of 1 hour 10 minutes of asana and 20 minutes of meditation.

"See" you tomorrow!

Namaste,

Julie

Yoga Challenge - Day 19 - Today's Practice

Hello Challengers,

Today's practice was 20 minutes of asana, 20 minutes of yoga nidra, and 15 minutes of meditation.

Namaste,

Julie

Yoga Challenge - Day 18 - Yoga and Aristotle

Hello Fellow Challengers,

Today was a fairly busy day with class this morning and busy work around the house.  I moved some things and cleared out some clutter.  You have to get the old out to get the new in.  Or, as Aristotle once proposed, "nature abhors a vacuum."

That idea can apply to your yoga practice as well.  It is easy to get stuck in a yoga practice rut, doing the same thing every day, not challenging yourself.  When you don't challenge yourself, you don't grow.  When you do the same practice every day, you might become bored and drop your personal practice altogether.  If you challenge yourself to practice a pose you find difficult, for example, you might find yourself becoming more at ease in that pose.  You might even come to like a pose you didn't think you ever would!  Try some new music, or no music at all.  You get the idea.  Let go of your standard daily practice and add something new every now and then; change things up and see what it brings into your life.

Today I challenged myself with a bunch of forearm and "regular" plank poses, and other arm-strengthening poses.  My arms might be a bit sore tomorrow, but I will have achieved something in the process, and not just stronger arms and back.  I will have achieved just a little more self-confidence because I challenged myself.  My practice today was 45 minutes of asana and 25 minutes of meditation.

Keep challenging yourself!

Namaste,

Julie

Yoga Challenge - Day 17 - Short and Sweet

Today's blog post will be short and sweet as I am ready to go to bed!  I did 25 minutes of asana and 10 minutes of meditation.

I hope you all had great Saturdays!

Namaste,

Julie