Moving the Skin You're In

What does it mean to you to "practice yoga"?  

I know...that is a BIG question, so when I was asked today how LONG I had been practicing yoga, I had to think about what those words really meant.  

But before we get into that, let me tell you about our last class today.  

Geeta taught an asana sequence intended to quiet the mind and nervous system before teaching some of the subtle work of pranayama and dhyana.  For those readers newer to the yoga scene, these are three of the 8 limbs (ashtanga) in yoga.  They include:

• Yama - a code of ethics...no lying, violence, stealing, coveting or sexual misconduct

• Niyama - personal practices - cleanliness, contentment, sincere effort, self-study of yoga and texts, and surrender to the Self

• Asana -  the Posture practice

• Pranayama - Breath Control practice

• Pratyahara - Withdrawal of the senses

• Dharana - Concentration

• Dhyana - Meditation

• Samadhi - A profound state of meditation where one "meets the soul face to face" as Iyengar described it.

You'll note that meditation is way down on the list as it is considered a more advanced practice in yoga, BUT even a newer student begins to taste a bit of it in an asana class, where one is essentially practicing meditation on the action or stillness in the poses. 

But just sitting or lying down to meditate? Either my swirling thoughts get in the way, or I drift in and out. 

Today's class was the culmination of a week of Asana and Pranayama for Meditation.  Toward the end of class today, I reached such a profound state of relaxation during the supine pranayama that when she instructed us to "move the skin" in one direction or another, I had so much spaciousness and sensitivity in my physical body that I COULD feel the skin respond.  My nervous system was QUIET, my senses were NOT directed outward (though technically I was listening to Geeta), my thoughts were NOT swirling, my mind was completely present on the very experience she was teaching and my body relaxed and responded.  

It was very, very interesting.

WELL, I probably lost you when I said "SKIN MOVING", didn't I?   

When I first ventured down this road, I recall hearing a teacher giving a skin-related instruction and thought to myself how impossible that seemed!  As I walked home through the usual cacophony of traffic sounds and smells, completely aware but undisturbed by any of it, that memory came back to me and I had to laugh at myself...it IS possible after all! 

Back to the question at hand.  When some one asked today, "How long have you been practicing yoga?" I said, "Well, it really depends on how you define it."

Like many, I came into my first class with curiosity, hoping to feel better, get stronger and more limber.  In 1998 I would have said I was "taking a yoga class", not practicing yoga.  When I enrolled in the teacher training program 10 years later, I'm not sure that I could call what I was doing then "practicing yoga" either as I really only knew about the Asana practice at that time.  

Lynn, an Australian yoga teacher who lives here, noted gently that even though it wasn't in my awareness yet, I was starting down that path back then, and that it takes years to build to an experience and awareness like today's.  

It's a bit like learning to read and write. 

We learn to read and write at say, age 5 or 6, but the type of reading and writing then is not the same as when you are 10 or 20 or 50.  Before you can write a dissertation, or even understand one, you first need to learn your ABC's -- How to recognize the letters, write them, say them. Then learn to recognize words, read and write simple words and sentences and books...then harder words, complex sentences, advanced books and so on.  

Equally, in a yoga practice, you have to learn your ABC's...First there is asana.  You can't learn to stand on your head until you understand how to stand on your feet and legs.  You have to learn learn how stretching and straightening the arms and legs stretches the spine.  You have to learn what Geetaji calls "the gross actions" of the body before you can learn more subtle and detailed ones.    

Little by little, you begin to develop awareness of the outer layer of the physical embodiment, moving gradually through the layers of your being, all the while, cultivating the discipline to meditate.  BKS Iyengar has referred to the asana practice as "meditation in action". 

So many years of exploring this, both in and out of class, on and off the mat, learning to appreciate and live the lessons in the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, trying and failing and trying again and succeeding, rinse...repeat...this is what "practicing yoga" means to me.  

This final post brings me back to the very first one. The intense experience of learning daily with the Iyengars and the many hours of practice in the hall every day have transformed my awareness, moving it along the continuum.  

As for my next visit, perhaps I'll take some inspiration from the Vibhuti Pada, the third chapter of the Sutras which describes the special powers that come to yoga practitioners....Invisibility has a certain appeal! 

Thanks for coming along on my journey of transformation this month.  

Please - Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section on what practicing yoga means for you.