by Brianna | Mar 17, 2011 | Chanting, practice
Since my post last week the earth has literally shifted beyond comprehension. What has unfolded and continues to unfurl in Japan is simply overwhelming. My heart goes out to those who are actively undergoing these experiences and I wish them healing and light with every exhalation of my breath. Years ago on September 11th, when I was alone in a brand new city, I turned to Yoga as a way to have an immediate community. During times like these, when the world is more out of control then normal, I actively try to draw my students together – chanting as one voice palm to interconnected palm. It makes me uncomfortable, in fact it scares me to do it but at these moments I teach prayer anyway. I think at times like these, it is too important not to – basically it is worth being uncomfortable for. Last night, my beginning students stood in a circle. One palm to the next chanting with the intention of generating healing for those with them and those in Japan. We imagined filling the circle with light, filling ourselves with light, and then sending that energy we created over the water to Japan. After all, energy moves with intention: “May they be well, may they be free from suffering.” There is a feeling that comes over a room when it shifts into “like mind.” It is a beautiful and distinct energy and one that I recognize immediately in a group that I am leading. It happened last night, like I said – leading prayer, it is worth being uncomfortable...
by Brianna | Mar 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
I know through my own personal journey that we are all connected. That the energy of each of us reaches out and connects to the rest. No matter how hippie dippy it may sound, I believe that we are all one. Recently, scientists have been studying a subset of neurons known as mirror neurons. These neurons show that we do experience in our minds what is happening to those around us. Turns out, we are programmed for compassion: ...
by Brianna | Feb 25, 2011 | practice, Yoga
Sustaining stillness in postures requires strength, concentration, and will. During an extended period of holding, proper alignment becomes a necessity. After all, stacking your bones correctly affords a lot of extra strength. It also safeguards you from injury, trains the muscles, and teaches you how to breathe through uncomfortable and difficult positions. I have found that stillness and strength, just like balance and focus, reside in the same space. Vinyasa or flow is the fluid elongation of the breath to generate movement. Inhale up dog; exhale down dog; inhale right for forward; exhale left foot forward, each wave of the breath generating a distinctive motion in the body. It is fast, it is powerful and if allowed the sustained focus can become so deep that it shifts to moving meditation. Flowing is liberating and makes you feel empowered; even brand new practitioners can whip there way through poses and feel like yogic rock-stars. But herein lies the rub; they will not be in alignment and they will struggle with the most basic aspect of Vinyasa, which is linking of the conscious breath to movement. In all actuality appropriate flow only grows from exploring stillness. In Yoga there is really no beginner class or advanced class there is only practice and the willingness to work your own edge. Often what we perceive to be easy is the most difficult. Next time you go to class, put your ego down and give yourself the opportunity to learn alignment and explore your breath. Then from that place of awareness, take on the challenge of hurtling yourself through the poses while riding the...
by Brianna | Feb 16, 2011 | Change, Chanting
When I first started teaching I basically taught Yummy Yoga. I did anything I could to keep my classes and students inside the comfort zone. I didn’t make them chant, I didn’t focus on the breath, I didn’t offer extended relaxations. Basically I taught stretching with a little strength thrown in. People liked it. I liked it. But truth be told – none of us grew. I didn’t grow as a teacher and while my students were safe and secure they didn’t really transform either. My students now would be hard pressed to find the “me” they know in my first years teaching. Now I push myself to teach what is difficult for me. Make people hug each other? Let that love OUT. Chant for a fifteen minutes with arms in the air? Watch those limiting thoughts just melt away. Ten minute guided relaxation at the beginning? The type A’s hate that until one day they LOVE it. So what changed? Why the shift? The reason is simple, I just realized through my own practice that it was when I made myself uncomfortable, when I pushed the edges of not just my practice but my beliefs that I really and truly started to transform. As with all my work, I base my interactions with my students, on my own experiential understandings. If being uncomfortable and doing it anyway transformed me – chances are it would transform them. With that said, I must admit: I still turn to my comfort zone when I am over stressed and under-slept. During those times I melt myself back into the safety of a...
by Brianna | Feb 11, 2011 | Breathing, Change, Chanting, meditation, Uncategorized
Learning to draw our mind to focus is a powerful tool both on and off the mat. But just like every other part of yoga, meditation, is a practice and imperfection is inherently implied. When we have spent years multitasking and treating life like it is a sprint, is it really any wonder that focusing is a challenge? I know when I first started meditating I thought it meant emptying. Achieving a space of no thought, no awareness – a completely altered state of being. But as humans we are thinking machines, many of you like me have monkey minds that are constantly whirring; no matter how much I tried to just “let go” thought was somehow always there. Over years of practice and many good teachers I finally accepted that meditation is not the absence of thought. Meditation is focused thought without attachment. Very nice right, but now: “what on earth does that mean?” Simply put, meditation is an exercise in focus where what you are focusing on is arbitrary. That is why the breath is such a powerful meditative tool – it is completely unconscious yet it can be made into a conscious act. When the breath is used, you can focus on it but if you stop focusing nothing will happen. It will continue to roll. You will continue to live and all will be well. It then becomes your responsibility to remember that it is the nature of the mind to wander. It is the practice to draw it back to your breath. I think it is also important to realize that meditation, while it...
