Satya, or truthfulness, is another one of the "ten commandments of yoga" (the yamas and the niyamas).
Satya is defined as living in harmony and integrity with all things. Practicing truthfulness of speech, thoughts and deeds. Being honest, owning your feelings, giving constructive feedback -- in a loving, non-judgmental way, letting go of masks. Being careful of self-delusion, denial, and avoidance of telling the whole truth.
I am a terrible liar. I just can't do it convincingly. This is a blessing in that it helps me live up to the ideal of Satya, to be truthful all the time -- because lying is just too much work. So that covers truthfulness of speech.
But what about truthfulness of thoughts? Promising myself, "Tomorrow I will eat better" as I crunch through a bowl of popcorn at 10 PM in a futile attempt to combat stress... Sadly I'm not often very sincere in that vow. Or truthfulness of deeds? ("Oh, has that coupon expired? I didn't realize it.")
Self-delusion? I'm there! Denial? Highly skilled! Not telling the whole truth . . . well, if it will help me to avoid a late-night argument with my husband, then I'm all for it -- except somehow I always seem to end up paying for it later. Is anyone else guilty of these things? It's human nature. But that doesn't mean we can't work on it and try to improve our "truthfulness" skills.
What about Satya as it applies to our yoga practice?
Some of this goes back to what I wrote about Ahimsa. Be careful of self-delusion and denial -- especially where it pertains to what may or may not be good for your body. Are you skipping down down because your shoulder hurts. . . or because you'd just rather rest in child pose? Are you doing the full expression of the posture even though you're really tired, when you suspect you should be taking it easy today? Satya (truthfulness) and Ahimsa (non-harming) go hand in hand. Be HONEST with yourself about whether or not you are HARMING yourself. It may sound easy,but sometimes -- often -- it isn't.
This week I am going to try to pay attention to truthfulness -- to see if I can "bust" myself on some lies I tell myself again and again. We'll see how it goes.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
More on Ahimsa
This week: another perspective on Ahimsa, or non-violence/non-harming.
Many of my students already know the saga of my sore shoulder. Last fall, I put my son, Abel, up on my shoulders for a walk around the Farmers' Market. Bad idea. He had grown just a little bit too heavy for that, and I ended up with a bad muscle spasm in my upper back/neck/shoulder area.
This had happened before, so I did the usual home treatments -- ice, rest, ibuprofen . . . and monthly massage therapy. Plus a daily dose of stretching. Instead of getting better, my shoulder got worse and worse. By December, it hurt so much that I had a hard time falling -- or staying -- asleep at night.
I'm a yoga teacher -- I'm supposed to teach people how to make their bodies and minds feel better -- and yet there I was suffering through my yoga classes, wincing through any posture that involved putting weight on my right arm or shoulder.
As the new year arrived, I made a pledge to take better care of myself. It was going to be challenging, especially if I had new students in class, but I decided that I would flat-out avoid any posture that aggravated my shoulder injury. No Down Dog, no Dog & Cat, nothing in Table position at all. It was a big challenge -- but for the most part, I was able to do it (except for occasional instances where a new student really needed me to demonstrate). I would still teach those poses in my daily classes -- just not do them myself.
I resolved to wait three months before trying Down Dog again. But by the end of the second month, my shoulder was feeling well enough to begin putting weight on it again. And so over the course of the next month, I slowly eased back into my regular practice. And so far, so good!
This is what Ahimsa is all about. Not harming one's body. Giving one's body what it needs and avoiding what might make it feel worse. For me, the challenge was more in "How am I going to effectively teach these poses without actually doing them?" than the actual avoidance of the poses myself (which felt a bit like a vacation for me, truth be told).
You can apply the principle of Ahimsa to your yoga practice, even when you don't have an injury. Perhaps the person seated next to you in class is doing a more advanced variation of a posture. You want to "keep up with" that person so you do it too, even though it makes your body hurt in a way that feels more like a strain than a stretch. Stop! Wait! That's harming yourself! Practice Ahimsa and listen to your body. If you want to do more in a posture, proceed slowly, breathe deeply, and avoid straining. It's not always easy to keep one's ego out of one's yoga practice, but if you see it as a way of caring for yourself actively not-harming your body (or mind, or spirit), you might feel a little bit more "in control."
Be compassionate with yourself.
p.s. In case you're wondering how my shoulder ultimately got "fixed" . . . Amazingly, I changed the way I was sleeping, and it cured itself, practically overnight. I had observed that while I was lying in my son's bed, propped up on pillows while reading to him, my shoulder felt much better. But when I would lie down in my own bed, on my foam contour pillow, the pain would flare up. I had always been a back-to-side sleeper, but the shoulder injury forced me to stay on my back all night. The contour pillow wasn't providing enough support. I switched to a traditional "fluffy" pillow and slept through the night for the first time in months! That way, my shoulder was able to rest and relax throughout the night, and the deep spasm within it finally released itself. Ahhhhhh . . .
Many of my students already know the saga of my sore shoulder. Last fall, I put my son, Abel, up on my shoulders for a walk around the Farmers' Market. Bad idea. He had grown just a little bit too heavy for that, and I ended up with a bad muscle spasm in my upper back/neck/shoulder area.
This had happened before, so I did the usual home treatments -- ice, rest, ibuprofen . . . and monthly massage therapy. Plus a daily dose of stretching. Instead of getting better, my shoulder got worse and worse. By December, it hurt so much that I had a hard time falling -- or staying -- asleep at night.
I'm a yoga teacher -- I'm supposed to teach people how to make their bodies and minds feel better -- and yet there I was suffering through my yoga classes, wincing through any posture that involved putting weight on my right arm or shoulder.
As the new year arrived, I made a pledge to take better care of myself. It was going to be challenging, especially if I had new students in class, but I decided that I would flat-out avoid any posture that aggravated my shoulder injury. No Down Dog, no Dog & Cat, nothing in Table position at all. It was a big challenge -- but for the most part, I was able to do it (except for occasional instances where a new student really needed me to demonstrate). I would still teach those poses in my daily classes -- just not do them myself.
I resolved to wait three months before trying Down Dog again. But by the end of the second month, my shoulder was feeling well enough to begin putting weight on it again. And so over the course of the next month, I slowly eased back into my regular practice. And so far, so good!
This is what Ahimsa is all about. Not harming one's body. Giving one's body what it needs and avoiding what might make it feel worse. For me, the challenge was more in "How am I going to effectively teach these poses without actually doing them?" than the actual avoidance of the poses myself (which felt a bit like a vacation for me, truth be told).
You can apply the principle of Ahimsa to your yoga practice, even when you don't have an injury. Perhaps the person seated next to you in class is doing a more advanced variation of a posture. You want to "keep up with" that person so you do it too, even though it makes your body hurt in a way that feels more like a strain than a stretch. Stop! Wait! That's harming yourself! Practice Ahimsa and listen to your body. If you want to do more in a posture, proceed slowly, breathe deeply, and avoid straining. It's not always easy to keep one's ego out of one's yoga practice, but if you see it as a way of caring for yourself actively not-harming your body (or mind, or spirit), you might feel a little bit more "in control."
Be compassionate with yourself.
p.s. In case you're wondering how my shoulder ultimately got "fixed" . . . Amazingly, I changed the way I was sleeping, and it cured itself, practically overnight. I had observed that while I was lying in my son's bed, propped up on pillows while reading to him, my shoulder felt much better. But when I would lie down in my own bed, on my foam contour pillow, the pain would flare up. I had always been a back-to-side sleeper, but the shoulder injury forced me to stay on my back all night. The contour pillow wasn't providing enough support. I switched to a traditional "fluffy" pillow and slept through the night for the first time in months! That way, my shoulder was able to rest and relax throughout the night, and the deep spasm within it finally released itself. Ahhhhhh . . .
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Practicing Non-Violence, aka Ahimsa
For the next two months, I will feature some fundamentals of yogic philosophy here on the blog.
Many of my students have heard me talk about the Yamas and the Niyamas -- sorta the 10 commandments of yoga. Today I'll discuss Ahimsa, or non-violence/non-harming.
Ahimsa is not harming any living being by speech, thought or action. Having awareness and gentleness in action, thought and speech. Since violence rises out of fear, anger, ignorance, restlessness, or selfishness, let yourself practice compassion, love, understanding, patience, worthiness. Avoid blaming and judging. Apply this to how you treat yourself and others.
I try to bring the principle of Ahimsa into my daily life, as well as my yoga practice. At home, I do my best not to yell (not always easy with a preschooler), and I never, ever hit. Unkind thoughts and words are harder to tame, though. When I hear myself being judgmental of other people, I try to see things from their perspective. When I find myself being judgmental of myself (all too often) I try to counter it with kindness. Life is a constant process of self-improvement. But we must be kind and accepting of ourselves as well.
The yogis often carry the principle of Ahimsa into their diets -- choosing a vegetarian diet so that other beings are not harmed in order to nourish ourselves. I realize that the vegetarian diet does not work for many people. Still, adding an occasional meat-free meal to one's routine can have all sorts of health benefits.
You can find some of my favorite vegetarian and vegan recipes on my food blog, http://eatbaconbernstein.blogspot.com/
Many of my students have heard me talk about the Yamas and the Niyamas -- sorta the 10 commandments of yoga. Today I'll discuss Ahimsa, or non-violence/non-harming.
Ahimsa is not harming any living being by speech, thought or action. Having awareness and gentleness in action, thought and speech. Since violence rises out of fear, anger, ignorance, restlessness, or selfishness, let yourself practice compassion, love, understanding, patience, worthiness. Avoid blaming and judging. Apply this to how you treat yourself and others.
I try to bring the principle of Ahimsa into my daily life, as well as my yoga practice. At home, I do my best not to yell (not always easy with a preschooler), and I never, ever hit. Unkind thoughts and words are harder to tame, though. When I hear myself being judgmental of other people, I try to see things from their perspective. When I find myself being judgmental of myself (all too often) I try to counter it with kindness. Life is a constant process of self-improvement. But we must be kind and accepting of ourselves as well.
The yogis often carry the principle of Ahimsa into their diets -- choosing a vegetarian diet so that other beings are not harmed in order to nourish ourselves. I realize that the vegetarian diet does not work for many people. Still, adding an occasional meat-free meal to one's routine can have all sorts of health benefits.
You can find some of my favorite vegetarian and vegan recipes on my food blog, http://eatbaconbernstein.blogspot.com/
Friday, March 12, 2010
Yoga Wisdom
Some of my favorite yoga-related insights.
The highest quality of a spiritual seeker is self observation without criticism.
- Swami Kripalu
Emotion is energy in the body with a label from the mind.
Meditation is like watching fish in an aquarium. You can watch the fish go by, but you don’t have to get in and talk to or swim after them.
In yoga class, as well as in meditation, just be a “C” student. Just show up & keep showing up.
The highest quality of a spiritual seeker is self observation without criticism.
- Swami Kripalu
Emotion is energy in the body with a label from the mind.
Meditation is like watching fish in an aquarium. You can watch the fish go by, but you don’t have to get in and talk to or swim after them.
In yoga class, as well as in meditation, just be a “C” student. Just show up & keep showing up.
Friday, January 15, 2010
New & Improved Website
Visit www.hellokezia.com for up-to-date information on my yoga classes and workshops, my Gentle Yoga CD, and Yoga at the River's Edge. You will also find resources such as downloadable info sheets on meditation, yogic breathing, the basic warm-ups we do at the beginning of every class, and much more. Check it out!
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