Swan Michelle: Giving an Effective Dharma Talk in Your Yoga Class...

Swan Michelle: Giving an Effective Dharma Talk in Your Yoga Class...:     Giving an Effective Dharma Talk in Your Yoga Class.                   Theme:  “Your Beliefs are Pointless.”    At Swan River Y...

Giving an Effective Dharma Talk in Your Yoga Class. Theme: “Your Beliefs are Pointless.”

    Giving an Effective Dharma Talk in Your Yoga Class.
                  Theme:  “Your Beliefs are Pointless.”

   At Swan River Yoga, there are a few integral aspects of our Hatha yoga asana based classes that you will find that may be new or unique to you, especially as yoga grows and becomes ever popular, with many new trends and styles emerging.

One key aspect of importance we have found in offering deep, authentic yogic teachings is to include a dharma talk in every class. In this case, “dharma” means “to uphold the truth, purpose & teachings” as well as be committed to it. Our goal is to actually implement many of the “margas” or paths in one well rounded public class. Dharma, often spoken at the beginning, offers an activation of your mind with short but poignant philosophical discussions that you can then steep, cook and brew in as you move.

   There is quite an art to communication. I adore this art. I love hearing public speakers. As a “teacher” (and more so a student)  I have found myself constantly editing my words and searching for more effective language that hits the mark of receivers. I want to be concise and succinct.  I also want to mean what I say without the insecure use of filler or confusion of my own doubts or thought forms. There is also such an art to know whom you are speaking to so that it is well received.  I may know a topic extensively and be really into it, but it does not mean those receiving the talk are and may be turned off by my wild passions. It is my intent to invite the ears of those listening to perk up and open just slightly more than before by getting their attention, yet not allowing it to get so “out there” that I loose the relatable and thus loose them. I do also wish to push things just a bit. I am careful not to diminish or dishonor the depth of yoga since I have made a personal commitment to it.  Often fear of what others might think of me or a lack, economic based consciousness of loosing a more "pop based" or populated, trendy classes can be how a class is navigated. It is a tricky blend, offering these teachings just so, being both bold and available to the masses. I consider these goals each time I offer a dharma talk… I want to know their concepts are challenged. I want  new ways of perceiving thought forms to  be recognized. I want them inspired. I want them to feel uplifted when they leave the classroom. I am to be bare bones hones, moving and compelling. t I want to establish connection.

Below is a list of 5 Bindu (seed) points recommended for an effective, compelling, memorable dharma talk:

1. Name the title

2. Say the title 3 times during

3. Relate a personal story

4. Include and tie in a yogic philosophy

5. Relate to how they will practice this on the mat

   I often access our Jivamukti Yoga themes of the month for inspiration. It is also my suggestion to also align with what is already going on in the world when searching for themes, the community, to nature or deeply moving lessons or teachings you are currently working on so that your dharma talk is authentic and less scripted. It is not moving to read things nor speak of things you haven’t “got” on some level yourself. This is why experience and experienced teachers are indeed so valuable. This way it is far more likely to be received. This will also set the tone for your theme infusion throughout the class, give you ideas for your sequencing and a possible peak pose and allow this to all be threaded together, related to the title. The dharma talk is given at the beginning of class and a suggested length is 3-7 minutes and NO MORE as in the end students came to move and not listen to you talk the entire class.

 
   I am going to give a dharma talk here and now based on the 5 bindu requirements. I hope you enjoy it! Please note, I would never read this in class. This is my diagram for becoming a good story-teller from the heart. It is an outline to base my dharma talk from.

DHARMA TALK: Your Beliefs Are Pointless.

   “Your beliefs are pointless!” I  heard my teacher, Sharon Padmaji Gannon, founder of Jivamukti Yoga proclaim while we were in India on my most recent “Yatra", or pilgrimage. “Has she lost it?” I thought.  “What in the world does she mean?”

   On one of my journeys to India I went to Vrindavan. This is thought to be the “forest of Krishna”, where many of his stories and pastimes took place with the Gopis. There is a profound stunning statue of Laxmi, or Radha just outside the village, on the other side of the bank of the Yamuna River. (*Note…we just sang to Radha in this opening chant... "Jaya Radhe. Jaya Shri Radhe"). In looking up the etymology of Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth, abundance, health, value and generosity, another key root to the meaning of her name is “Aim.” Just outside of Vrindavan,  this Radha/Laxmi statue is deeply focused Krishna’s forest. It looks as though her focus and aim are just that, somewhere distant and forward. She is known to have unrelentless focus. She could be stripped down, in deep despair and agony, in so much pain, yet her focus and poignancy is stable and unwavering on her point.

   The statue doesn’t mean what it might look like to some. Her aim is not about the future nor something beyond her. It is not a projection. She is not projecting a future outcome or “believing” some “thing” better is going to eventually happen later for her. She is the full embrace and embodiment of her aim being clearly here and now. That is the point! Her unwavering devotion and faith has allowed her to fully embody and experience the now. She has not missed the point at all. It is her role and she cherishes the value of being present. She IS total sensual ecstasy and beauty. Her senses have become refined. All she desires is the point of it all. Her essence is a clear statement that “beliefs” are pointless, and a true embodiment of faith, called “”shraddha” in Sanskrit gets us to “point less”. 

   Many words can get lost when translating them from english to Sanskrit. Faith, from a yogic point of view, is very different from belief. Faith is the opposite of blind. It means you have tested it all  from all angles and sides and that you have sought out deep and rich experiences of it. It is said too that once you get it, once you really do step into the river of Real faith, there is no going back and you really do get that "beliefs are pointless", but until then, as we develop and it is refined, it wavers, yet EXPERIENCE (or the physical NOW) is the key to it’s infusion within you.

   Even in India, pointing with the index finger, the mudra for our individual self, is rude. When using mala beads, the index finger is not to touch your malas. In chin mudra, the index finger is to touch the thumb (representing the Higher Self) so that there is a merge. It is not about pointing nor projecting, nor is it meant to be so personal, where we could easily disconnect from sharing and participating in the great abundance that we are currently surrounded by. In an individually based lens, we can easily hoard and believe in lack consciousness. Here we really miss the point of it all. Radha, or Laxmi, is getting us to point less so that it all, the here, does not become pointless to us.

   While I was in India, there was an evening that I experienced the essence of Radha in the form of a flower petal ceremony, called a “Pushpabishek”. For 2 days my Jivamukti brothers and sisters and all of the Indian devotees plucked 1.3 TONS of flower petals. It was truly almost too much to conceive of. These flowers were to be tossed over the deities and then all of us after. Many of the flower petals were roses from Vrindavan. I was utterly thrilled to participate in this!

   Once it began I had out of body experiences of such tremendous joy and ecstasy that it felt as though I no longer had a body. I also had moments of wondering…”ok is this almost done. This is almost too much. I am not sure how many flowers I can handle. It is like a flower petal blizzard. I can’t see. How much more beauty and abundance can there be?”…. and then I caught myself hearing myself, as in the end, I want to be able to handle as much as possible!

   A key aspect of our yoga practice is just this point. It is priming us in readiness to be able to handle more. We will and can only handle as much as we are full at this very moment. We can’t force anything else right now. The asanas are a wonderful way to empty our container so that we can receive more. Then our desires, practices and relationships too will also become refined quite naturally, as there is always more. Things might especially come that were totally out of your radar before and you would have never known of their existence otherwise. This idea also means that we will become less distracted by things that have less value or devalue. All we seek will become more sustainable, imbibe longevity & activate even more consciousness. We will truly embrace, not as a belief but a real life experience that there is so much beauty, magic and order. It is all perfectly orchestrated, this curriculum of your life. Expecting less and trying to predict (and then often ruin) the outcome of everything will in time cease. You will point less and less and less you will no longer foster the inert attitude of lackluster and pointlessness that is so painful on a daily basis. To me, this just sounds horrible and I do not want to wake up everyday like this.

   We will practice this in actual form in our bodies by really rooting into the foundation of every pose, grounding all 4 corners in pose and transition. By pushing down into the earth we will feel the value of everything in our bodies with hands and feet and rooting the base of the pelvis and tailbone down. We will also work on hip openers to get the “apana vayu”  (downward moving winds) to flow. Go out of your way today to establish a connection in every pose and anchor into the now, no matter what the foundation is. Consciously work on being HERE by also watching the mechanisms and responses of the mind. Now, like faith, must be felt and embodied. Never allow the practice to be shallow, on the surface, self absorbed nor pointless. Allow your asana practice to instill true riches and worth so that you do not miss the point. So… point less!

   We will now begin. Please apply ujjayi breath, your drishti (keeping focus, which helps rekindle our ability to narrow things down into the point,  and come into downward facing dog. Push down through the 4 corners of the hands and feet, connecting to the body and the surroundings of now. Become aware of the value of your breath... "Inhale, exhale 1...."

Quote used within class:  "Your idea of what is possible limits your possibilities."  Sharon Gannon and David Life

Swan Michelle: Be Like A Child. You Chose Your Family

Swan Michelle: Be Like A Child. You Chose Your Family:  Be Like A Child. You Chose Your Family.                                       Foster Home at Govardham Eco Village, India.    We...

Be Like A Child. You Chose Your Family

 Be Like A Child.

You Chose Your Family.

                                      Foster Home at Govardham Eco Village, India.

  We had the chance to do Seva (community service free of result expectation) for Yoga Stops Traffick here in New Orleans with all of the local yoga studios and teachers. This is an organization based out of Mysore, India to stop Human Trafficking of young children that are often sold into labor or sex slavery trades at a very young age. On this day, we dedicated our entire day to children.

  I lived directly across from an orphanage for my month stay in the Gokulum neighborhood of Mysore, India. I read a sign on the gate while walking to my morning yoga practice "Do not kill your baby. Leave it here". There was an actual cage with a metal baby cradle inside of it where you could. It had a plaque of Jesus Christ on one side and Krishna playing his flute on the other. On my first night in my new apartment, I heard an infant crying for hours quite late. I was disoriented thinking "who lets their baby cry all through the night like this?" Then I realized someone had left a baby just that very night inside of the cage.

   Have you been in desperate situations in your life, ever? This touched home for me as the Universe orchestrated my month long stay across the street from this sign. I read it everyday. I too am adopted, from my dear father and did not know until I was 21 when who I thought were my parents sat me down to tell me the news. It is funny, growing up before this I was always angry, rebellious and would scream haunting accusations at my parents like "I am not listening to you. I am adopted. Don't tell me what to do." I didn't mean it. I was just saying it to really get to them. I later found out instinctively I was right. I went through a few years of acceptance, abandonment, truth, anger, trust and self image after this that yoga really helped me work through. And it truly has. I love my family and would do anything for them.

   After really sifting through it I came to the conclusion that I had the "privilege" of being placed into good care and with a family that worked very hard to provide for me, love me and accept me, doing the best they could with all they had to work with and knew. This is truly how I feel now and if placed in the same desperate situations, who is to say how any of us would act.  They say in the laws of karma that you choose your family. It is said you are actually really lucky if you get a human birth at all. I use to very much dislike this one particular "law" of karma and would think to myself. "that is a bunk law. I don't believe that one. No one "deserves" some of the things they get put through in their families." As I mature I see karma doesn't mean "privileged, special, sin, guilt, someone who gets to judge nor judged." It is far more neutral than that, even much like the laws of science of cause and affect. I actually realize now that I am very fortunate. I have traveled the world to realize this. Yet I want to be careful to never act "privileged". I think it important that we remember. This sign reminded me everyday.

   Each morning after passing the sign I would head to Ashtanga practice at the Shala. I will admit it was tough some mornings and quite rigorous even though nothing changed about on the outside and it was the same sequence everyday. I kept things pretty light for the most part, joyously moving through it, especially after having spent so much time with my teachers Sharon Padmaji Gannon and Radhanath Swami, but towards the end of my month I was getting angry as it all got deeper. I couldn't pinpoint what from and was a bit shocked by it. Currently I am in probably one of the most stable, least dramatic and joy filled parts to my life to be honest and haven't felt anger boiling up inside of me in a very long time. I was even cursing Sarath, our Ashtanga Yoga teacher, inside of my mind as I was moving through the poses. I hadn't done that since I first began yoga, where I would often inwardly rebel, not liking the sequence or pose just for the sake of immature adversary like many youth (and still some adults) that are angry do.  Suddenly, well into womanhood, this young rebellious little girl was appearing, feisty & red in the face. I then began to put it all together. After walking by the sign at the orphanage again and again, it all clicked. I was venting the last of a very deep seeded anger within me from a past long forgotten of severed roots. I had really worked on forgiving it entirely but there was still some residual that needed attending to.

   At the orphanage there were always guards there, tall fences, gates, locks and adults watching over the children all the time. The children were asked to not get too close to the foreigners because we come and go so much and it best they not get too attached. But, the main reason for the lock down was because in India there are so many babies and children stolen from orphanages or streets and sold by desperate mothers all the time, sold as labor or sex slaves, often drugged to make them as despairing as possible. Many of them are especially women as it is still quite custom to congratulate a family that bore a son that will be heir to the caste system they were born into and a woman will one day leave the family and cost the family their entire life savings in the form of a dowry.

   Observing many children drugged, malnourished & visibly tortured with fake parents in the same state in the streets of Mumbai, Jaipur & Delhi just like in the movie "Slum Dog Millionaire", coming up to me for money, a "privileged one", I became extra cautious as to how to respond to this. How does a conscious being respond to this really? Do you give people money anytime they ask for it?  I was doing my best not to get angry at the "Lord" that owned them nor to myself treat them like dirt. I clearly couldn't give them money. They didn't get to keep it. What could I do? I often would sing to them. That always got us connected. Even though they were being watched, I could tell some part to their Soul was like "WOW"!... very turned on by the anomaly. For the children at the orphanage, since they were not allowed to talk to me, I began singing to their liberation from my balcony that overlooked their bedrooms in the form of mantra with my harmonium. In time, due to any child's curiously unstoppable nature, I would catch glimpses and sneak peaks of them dancing as though they were in a Bollywood flick while I sang to Durga or Sita and Ram. They had pretend lovers and roles in the dramas they would make as I sang. Ahh! We connected!  It was my way of showing them that we were unified and maybe less different from one another than they might have thought. It also healed me of my abandonment and sadness over it from a time long ago as my real father is no longer living. 

   Today I feel privileged and at some point, getting over our roots and adding to our genealogy and ancestral karma's to plant new seeds of evolved tribal settings instead of blaming must be our aim.  It is just a perpetual suffering we will continue to experience again and again otherwise. What we are born into is a primary test and curriculum of the exact situation we need to have karmic resolve. I feel this down to each DNA cell of my being. The total embodiment of this understanding  has been a primary incentive since I began this yoga journey. I also know that I am lucky so  I am committed to acting on my privilege.

   Please act on your "privilege" today if you feel you were born into or somehow got into a good family that did the best they could. Even if you feel they did not, still commit to it with more profound compassion than someone who had it easier in their family set up. If your roots challenged you growing up, the seeds clearly offered fruit in your garden if you are reading this. Not all children currently get this chance at present. You have the chance to free your immediate family and ancestral family tree of deeply imprinted group karmic bonds by simply freeing yourself.

   Today I am a child and feel younger than ever yet with the added bonus of being in a wiser, more experienced stage setting of the body I am currently in now. Often I have seen good yoga teachers that will trick students and say "come to yoga. It is the fountain of youth. You will look younger. You won't even need plastic surgery or botox." Even BKS Iyengar said this to a group in L.A.  I remember reading it in Yoga Journal some years ago and was surprised at the time. It grossed me out at the time. I laugh at this now. It is a good trick as our culture is programmed to be afraid of and hide aging and dying. You rarely see anyone over 30 on most magazine covers and they are airbrushed virtual beings at that. In our country, funeral processions are behind hidden walls where we wear black and don't talk about what really happened. (accept for New Orleans, I must add) These subliminal statements grab our programmed attention and it is hard to escape it. I live by a mausoleum that is often somber. Ancestry is often not advocated in the West. I never watch t.v. but if I go out in public at all, even if it is to stand in line at the grocery store to buy my organic non-GMO locally grown vegetables, it is there. 

   "I" actually do feel and look younger. I do cartwheels quite often, laugh, sing and dance more. My face is softening. Most of us will age at some point (unless we leave this existence earlier than expected). It is nice to have good role models & adults that don't hide it and aren't jaded. I want to be new, know nothing, be more adventurous and daring, more curious and less "know it all". I admit more freely that I too am vulnerable just like a child and I want to be loved, cared for and accepted. All children are relying on us for this. I also want to own up to my role and abilities to be a provider of all of the "children" of the earth whenever I have the space and room. And I do. Most of us do. If you are reading this, you do.

   This is the idea in the classic photo of Gopala, the baby Krishna stealing ghee (stealing our hearts). It is a reminder that we are all children. It is a plea of commitment to providing for all of the Earth's children (the elements, all animals, all humans). It is a reminder that Grace (God) also needs US. We can't blame it on our roots any longer, nor God. God needs us to care for, never abandon but to nurture and do all that we can to support sustain and protect everything that is to be cherished, not as our "property" but a borrowed, fragile, exquisite gift. It is equally important to truly grasp the Truth...we are not threatened, unsafe & have no reason to feel insecure.  We are provided for, never abandoned and loved more than we can ever know.

 

Gopala... Gopala... Devaki Nandana Gopala.... "I am both the child and the caretaker of all children."

Swan Michelle: Flight or Fright?... The Yatra Of Our Lives.

Swan Michelle: Flight or Fright?... The Yatra Of Our Lives.: Flight, or Fright?         I woke up this morning a bit confused, still somewhere between the dream and waking state and not sure...

Flight or Fright?... The Yatra Of Our Lives.

Flight, or Fright?

  

    I woke up this morning a bit confused, still somewhere between the dream and waking state and not sure where I was. I had very deep and poignantly informative dreams about shiny empty homes and Universities where I would begin new curriculum, new understanding, relationships and ways of being. I was gazing into my new rooms that had infinite amount of storage facilities yet none of them were used. They had been left unnoticed for infinite years and where just being recognized for the first time by "me". I wondered "why in the world have these storage units of information not been accessed before? What have I been doing all this time?" Possibly my consciousness was emptied to an entire new level of being so that I could finally, really begin, where before I was to full or plugged into something else.  After a 2+ month pilgrimage to India and Indonesia I looked around my bedroom on the bayou in New Orleans… “where am I? This place is so nice, so lovely! Where have I landed now? I just love it here and can't wait to explore!” It was as though I was reaching my most familiar destination for the very first time.

It reminded me of a favorite quote by T.S. Eliot…."We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

  After some groggy Sadhana I opened my email to read that the Malaysian flight from Kuala Lumpur was still mysteriously missing. It is simply no where to be found. This has never happened before in aviation history. 300 people were on this flight. I was on a Malaysian flight headed to Kuala Lumpur over the Indian Ocean myself the very exact day it disappeared. I missed the other flight by just a few short hours. I remember on that flight thinking that the airline attendants were unusually nervous. At one point in our flight the air was the bumpiest I had ever experienced on all of my flights. It was a wild one. So turbulent that our drinks flew up into the air and spilled everywhere and we were not to move from our seats for the duration of the trip. I considered even at that moment that this was unusual and that something might happen. I was strangely calm about it. Once we landed and entered the airport I saw the headlines about the flight number, just a few numbers different than ours. I looked around and everyone realized this slight by chance fate. It was as thought we were looking at a lottery board and won, but it was a flight departure board and many were missing. I must say it was a bit unnerving and I held hands with those around me in touching gratitude. We could feel and we were still here. The edge of our lives sometimes reveals itself to be quite near, in this case, by just a few simple numbers.

  I thought to myself, “well if I had left my body today I would have had a much smoother flight to the next adventure than ever before, having just experienced deep resolves within myself and others, having close association with many Saints and doing very seriously deep work and sadhana on myself, so stripped down and emptied out.” There might be a thing or two that I still truly desire to experience for a deeper fulfillment of my life’s mission and personal need to evolve, yes, and I am working towards this with full focus now, but truly, I feel the best I have ever felt. It was interesting contemplating even these thoughts as a Jivamukti Yoga teacher/brother that I met in Mumbai on this exact trip, who also was just with Saints and full of memorable laughter unexpectedly left his body right after our pilgrimage together. I learned about his passing while in Bali. I was just with him. His Soul is now in flight and we will miss the body we remember him in.

  A pilgrimage, quest or exploration, called a “Yatra” in Sanskrit, is thought to be a very important part of our personal spiritual journey. I never quite grasped it’s efficacy until making treks to India, as India really can takes it toll on you by deprogramming you. It is quite a bit of money to save, time to get there, long waits in many lines and layovers and couldn’t be more different culturally in every way. The amount of people that live there, the customs, the space, the water supply and quality, the cultural nuances from Caste systems to the treatment of women/Goddess to poverty to animals to the earth’s cleanliness is enough to keep many Westerners home or on edge and overwhelmed as you really have to embody surrender. It is work to get there and be there as it works on "you", or in other words, works your karma out of you. I have dealt with qualities of humility, self image, being female, being in relationship, abundance, "spiritual" and being patient and overwhelmed in India on major scales. I also always come home with deeper appreciation and more profound insights as each time I get deprogrammed to what I got “use to” here. After being put through the washing machine (and not on the gentle cycle) I always yearn to go back for more. It may be because I also experience the most unreal, unimaginable insights, teachings, people and experiences of my life as I set out on these adventures. These explorations have gotten me to shift dramatically (inwardly) each time. Even if every time I am somewhat nervous to go, the overwhelming sensations become an imbibing elixir of overabundance and ambrosia that I remember each time I return home, as though my Soul is happy and yearned for it. 

   A teaching we had with one of Radhanath Swami’s key disciples while at the Govardham Eco Village was an “order” to our Soul’s craving to have experience.

For our Soul’s journey to latch itself into the physical experience so that it sticks and becomes real, one must first:

1. Hear it. The teachings were traditionally passed on through an oral tradition. There is a reason for this. It is thought we all came from sound. The teachings are best absorbed orally, not visually be reading it or by seeing it. This is exactly why sound and Sanskrit (thought to be the first language) are so sacred and important to us.
2. Observe it. Next we take the time to assimilate what we heard and what it means. Observations also including reading from spiritual texts or philosophies.This is where we begin looking for it in our everyday experience, all around us.. We try to see if others are doing it, research it, "see" if it is possible, if we can do it and if we really believe it our not.
3. Live it. Next we do out best to actually live it once we have decided on an intellectual level that it does seem to make sense, so here, we test it out through trial and error. 
4. Experience it. Through action and following the guidelines we have heard, the way it gets infused into our being, is through an actual experience. Until then, it is not fully lodged in and is still a concept. It is still a bit shaky and unwavering within us. Experience itself is THE WAY into actualizing our meditations, the books we read, the people/role models/teachers in our lives that we look up to. 

You see how the first letters are H-O-L-E… sounded out to be Whole.

   Our Soul desires to have experience, which means all of the teachings must become physical. The two must link for us to finally “get it”. (not just one) This is the reason why getting out of everything we are use to, going on personal explorations and treks, as a spiritual practice, is very important. You may have a  Sadhana ( spiritual practice) that does include meditation, yoga & mantra. Have you considered “Yatra” as one of your Soul’s desires, in the form of an exotic retreat, or personal inner silence retreat, near your home or the other side of the world? It is a vital ingredient to establishing the order of your aim. In India, after all familial obligations are fulfilled, each person is to make this trek and flight, both in and out. It is part of the standard workings of the Culture.

   On each flight I take, I have a deeper understanding of fears instilled within me from within or from my culture or surrounding, of opportunities I overlooked to be kind, of my availability to serve, to love and to ask for and be loved. Without pulling out completely, how are we to know? It is like the classic Zen koan…"ask a fish how the water is".  On personally imposed adventures, whether they look exotic on the outside or not (as some are deep meditations or periods of mauna, silence) I give myself the chance to unplug, whether I think I enjoy being plugged into what I currently am or not. There is thought to be a very deeply ingrained, innate remembrance of being enlightened within us. If we are plugged into falsehoods of any sort, consciously or not, this memory pulls further away from our Soul’s fulfillment and purpose and it is more difficult to access. I personally do not want to let fear rule my experience. I also personally want to be bold enough to live my life fully and wake up like I did this morning, thinking…”where did I land today? It is so exquisite and beautiful.” 

  I want to wake up like this every day and each time I go on a “Yatra”, I find a complete cycle ascending into a new brilliant one, with less gaps of lackluster, uncertainty & imbalanced restraints in my life. What if each day, every day, you woke up wondering “wow, where did I land today? It is so brilliant!"

Yatra helps us to step back and consider…”am I living in flight, or in fright?”. Please choose flight, and if you are uncertain as to how to begin to pull out as you may be afraid of what will indeed be sustained and remain once you begin “undoing", find a  well versed, well intended flight attendant that wants you to find your inner guide. If each day becomes a Yatra, you will know it because you will find yourself in the flight attendants role with your Soul saying "Welcome aboard. Fasten your seat belts. In case of emergency, place your mask on first before assisting others, and most of all, Enjoy your trip!"

  What are you waiting for?  I am talking to you. Love someone new now.  Tell someone you love them. Give someone a secret service or offering without them knowing it was you. Tell them something. Forgive someone. Make love to someone you love. Let go. Move on. Let them Be. Face your fear. Walk your dream into being. Befriend your Soul. Live up to your purpose. Be Real. Be bold, wild and joyfully humble. Be a lover. Enter and be love itself.  When did you plan to start living?  Do you wish to live in flight, or in fright?  We just don't know when it all could change on this particular life pilgrimage we are on.  

Swan Michelle: Silence, Science & Samskara's. My Experience with ...

Swan Michelle: Silence, Science & Samskara's. My Experience with ...: "Whats Your Hurry?"  Personal Experiences With Ashtanga,  Yoga  and Mysore, India   Stories of our yogic roots, my beginn...

Swan Michelle: Silence, Science & Samskara's. My Experience with ...

Swan Michelle: Silence, Science & Samskara's. My Experience with ...: "Whats Your Hurry?"  Personal Experiences With Ashtanga,  Yoga  and Mysore, India   Stories of our yogic roots, my beginn...

Silence, Science & Samskara's. My Experience with Ashtanga & Mysore, India.

"Whats Your Hurry?" 

Personal Experiences With Ashtanga, 

Yoga and Mysore, India

  Stories of our yogic roots, my beginning in yoga, the beginning of yoga in New Orleans, yoga trends & modern yoga,…..to experiences in Mysore, to India, to intention, Silence, Science, Samskara’s, the Guru, fire and beyond. Enjoy!

  I can still hear him (the Guru, Sarath Jois) testing the Ashtangi’s from all over the world…”whats your hurry?” each time he offers a lead class early Friday morning. It is both funny and clever, invoking self-inquiry. “Yes, indeed, what is my hurry exactly?”. I can’t help but lift my head…”is he talking to me?”

   I am here in at the busiest time of year that Mysore experiences along with 400+ other yogis from every corner of the world…Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Canada, The United States, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico. Ashtanga Yoga is the reason why we are here and Shri K. Pattabhi Jois is the Guru & roots to our lineage of my certification as a Jivamukti Yoga teacher. It is also why every Hatha yogi has heard of Mysore, due to Guruji’s studentship at the Palace here with Krishnamacharya, the well respected  Grandfather of Hatha Yoga. Now in the year 2014, Gokulum, the neighborhood that we practice in is quite a wealthy affluent one due in large to the growth and popularity of yoga. Many yogis here say this was destined since Guruji made his first trip to the United States, invited by Tim Miller, in the 70’s.

   Ashtanga was the first type of serious asana based yoga that I practiced in New Orleans after my very first certification in Sivananda Yoga in 1998.  I was introduced to Mysore style Ashtanga, which is unique as it is not vocally lead. It is a silent self practice within a group where poses are memorized and you do not move forward in the sequence until you are able to do each of the poses in order by yourself and correctly. To be honest, perhaps because of age or evolutionary readiness, it was too “quiet” for my active, rajasic mind at the time since there was no instruction with words.

   At that stage as a yogini, I had a serious amount of agni/fire and no understanding of how to temper it. So, for this reason, the affects of my personal Ashtanga practice were also still a bit immature, unharnessed & underdeveloped. I was ripe but had so much shakti releasing from me that the fire of impatience and residual anger of my youth ( I was a punk rocker & grew up in Seattle, so to me, anger was justified) was really amplifying. I have been known to be a bit of a rebel.

   Now here in Mysore, one day while I was practicing, I remembered Ram Dass saying when we were swimming with him a few years back in Maui that  “if any of those emotions come up, they are all from the ego, remember this…”, but, I was in my early twenties when I started Ashtanga. I didn’t know that at the time. No one told me anything. There wasn’t much yoga in New Orleans or people to ask about the pyscho-kenetic depth and affects of yoga where I lived. My kundalini was quickly altering & expanding. It wasn’t just a physical experience for me. I was hitting new levels of ungrounded euphoria that were quite addictive but untamed. I was also going on a deep Samskaric purge quickly. I needed some guidance. 

   My prior experience with Sivananda was basic but had philosophy (Advaita Vedanta), meditation and bhajan chanting (melodic mantra love songs). Those additional introductions of the various paths of yoga helped me to remember to cultivate a high purpose as I excelled pretty quickly physically in the beginning of my yoga introduction even though I wasn’t interested in exercise in my youth. Practicing these paths along with my asana practice got me interested in a greater purpose, cooled me down and centered me so that I kept in mind the reason for it all. 

   In Ashtanga back then, I felt like a child with lots of fuel and a large stack of wood. Without close supervision I was confused, so I kept looking. This was when I met Sharon Gannon and David Life, the following summer, in the foothills of the Catskill mountains of NY, where I was a lifeguard for a place they held one of Sharon and David’s first yoga retreats at a Jewish Bungalow Retreat. They offered dharma that really resonated with me and took great care to promote kindness and ahimsa. I was both mesmerized and intimidated by them so I knew I was onto something life altering.  Their teachings helped me to stay in the constant practice of purifying my heart and intention, “sankalpa” in Sanskrit. It was just what I needed.

   It is interesting to come back to the roots (and the roots of Jivamukti Yoga)  after so many years of tasting numerous flavors of schools, styles and approaches, which is one of many priceless gifts in co-owning a yoga studio. Now I have a deeper understanding of alignment, the benefits of practicing over a long period of time & experience in the whole history of the yoga explosion in the west. I can now better discern what is effectively good, some not so good, some pretty far off the mark lacking depth and what I need to get me to evolve. My intention has also finessed itself a bit according to need and where I am at in readiness. The shape of my body is also a bit cleaner as I started with pretty serious scoliosis in my spine. As a result of straightening that out it feels as though I also have less unsteady samskaras that needed channeling.

 I got inspired to consider Ashtanga again when David Swenson, one of the original Ashtanga practitioners, taught a workshop at our yoga studio, Swan River Yoga, hosted by Jessica Blanchard of Balance Yoga. You will find me at Balance 2-3 early mornings a week religiously studying in silence under their impeccable guidance. Those mornings have changed my life pretty noticeably. They have cooked me and simmered me down and brought quiet to my mind. My body feels great because of my dedication to those magical mornings,  actually the best it has ever felt.  Even better than my 20’s. It feels lighter, brighter, younger & more consciously alive. I also feel myself noticeably evolving once again. There was a short while in my practice where I wasn’t feeling much of anything but maintenance. I don't feel like that right now.

   Since I go to India once per year, I decided to test the source of Ashtanga out full on since I have been enjoying it’s affect on me. I am now in Mysore in the state of Karnataka, steeped in the original sequences of Krishnamacharya, now taught by Shri K. Pattabhi Jois’ grandson, Sarath Jois and his daughter, Saraswhati Jois. I have been personally curious as to how I would respond this time, some 14 years later, doing the same thing 6 days a week with hundreds of others that are quite serious about Ashtanga for an entire required month. I decided to apply to study with Sarath and I was accepted.

    Ashtanga seems to have a few strong reputations. One is that it is too hard for most people. Another is that many say you will get injured in due time. I have not witnessed either of these things to be so.  I do not consider myself an Ashtanga practitioner alone and I do not teach it, but I find myself appropriately challenged by it and have discovered radical transformative shifts. I was yearning for a push in my asana practice for quite some time now.  Ashtanga is orderly and I have not found Sarath to encourage anyone into something they are not ready for or jump ahead, which is often something I would do. In fact, he himself, like BKS Iyengar, did not have a healthy body growing up and so he tends to wait and practice serious caution to the point that people complain because they (or their ego, I should say) wants it all to go faster. I haven’t seen or heard of any unskillful adjustments from him. I have heard of unskillful practitioners that push themselves. I feel very safe. 

   As for the challenge to others, it is difficult, so it requires commitment free of gap, but the system in and of itself doesn’t push you beyond your means. It is also interesting to practice the same asanas over and over again so on can intimately observe the direct progress of dedication & the medicinal affects of each particular pose.There is an art to keeping something exciting after the novelty wanes, just like anything, any place or one you love. I enjoy the chance to cultivate enthusiasm as a spiritual practice in doing something the same way regularly.  I also love shaking things up creatively. Doing something the same way though often pushes my buttons. I enjoy more than ever getting my buttons pushed. The older I get, I want all the triggers out in a deep innate yearning to embody equanimity. There is simply more room for light to enter in.

   I adore being a student of yoga. Even if yoga seems trendy now, it hasn’t been a trend for me or the teachers I continue to surround myself with. They are all still going at it pretty full on. It was very esoteric & mysterious in the West and especially the Dirty South when I first started. I have enjoyed having new company in a shared love & growth of this ancient art that we have probably all done together before. I purely love yoga and the more I rededicate to it I continue to discover new unveiled wonders about it. It works for me and has been the path that has brought to me all of my most cherished experiences, awakenings and blessings. I love being around groups of adults (animals and all ages) that want to keep learning, remaining adventurous and are willing to be child like together.

  After our practice here at the Shala here in India, we can come and observe the more intermediate levels in the hallway. I like to do this because it becomes vivid that I really and truly am a beginner and I want to be reminded of this. My practice is not advanced at all physically. Watching some of the students in the second or third series has really revealed to me an entirely new level of masterful physique and sculpting of the body as such a beautiful art form.

    In all of my years of studying numerous styles and being around thousands of yogis from remote obscure villages in the Himalayan’s doing very trippy things to their bodies to the trendy Yoga Journal or other various wander lust conferences which I tend to not be so drawn to now, to giant styles of yoga rising and falling, here I find myself amongst the most physically advanced yogis I have ever seen. Hands down. The art of the breath, fluidity and focus ( drishti) is a spectacular art form.

   Another consideration of Ashtanga is that you are requested by Sarath to go to India if you really want to get into it. India itself, as much as I love her, is not easy. It is my opinion that every yogi should make the trek here if the means are possible. India is a very different, complex culture for most Westerners. I have watched many of them have pretty difficult times here and understandably. Coming here reveals to you that yoga is a deeply embedded cultural practice where behind it lies a thick spirit that can not be described nor compared to practicing yoga anywhere else. The air here is literally thick with history and a pantheon of realms and spirits. Also getting here is a serious “tapasya”. (applied discipline or hardship for a greater goal), pulling you out of everything you are use to and giving you the chance to change deep patterns. If you are really into something, why would you not want to come to it's origin? I have felt a stronger, more well established foundation within me by going to the literal, physical source of yoga here in India that I didn't understand until I came. It would be like being really into or teaching say Spanish Culture (art, music, history) but never going to Spain to steep in it.

   Now, back to Ashtanga specifically, please note that I did say that the Ashtangis are “physically” advanced. I have no idea if they are advanced in any other way because in Mysore style you do not really talk. I assume it is just like any other style. Some are in it to go all the way, and deeply, some are in it more on the surface. A thing I enjoy here is that for the first half of my day, until I get to Sanskrit & philosophy class, (which you really have to seek out due to the asana emphasis) I talk to no one and practice mauna (silence). If you do talk a lot, as do a few, it just seems somewhat out of place & insensitive to the environment we are currently in, and in the Shala, there is no talking, even outside. I kind of like it. The more Ashtanga/practice of silence that I do I think we humans talk far too much. We tend to lose an incredible levels of shakti coming out through our mouths. Silence in the practice is helping me to really notice the art of listening with greater spacial sensitivity. I have found myself desiring less words. It creates greater potency to the dialogue. I also find myself editing my words altogether. This is important for a teacher. I truly appreciate clarity and economy of words. The quiet has been profound and informative for me.

   The focus here for yogis, having traveled many places in India as a comparison, is predominantly physical. It is nice to have the time to address and really investigate the physical body and container. I desire to be healthy and understand where I hold my energy and karma's in my body so that I have an optimal ability to serve, to be kind, and to be happy. This is something that is unique about Mysore. It is why we all came. How often will you be in an entire international city devoted to this? I have appreciated having the single pointed focus to delve deeper into my physical practice. I know it is a rare gift to have the time. We all work quite hard here in our sadhana & I am learning a lot about my physical body & personality. As an “adult” (whatever that means), there have been numerous new discoveries this past month.

   As I watch interactions with Sarath, the students are here also for another reason, him. You must apply and qualify to study with him in the Shala. Not everyone gets to be here ( where the energy/shakti level is packed and through the roof due to it’s history of sadhana) and you must win his respect to have approval to teach Ashtanga if that is part of your incentive, which often takes at least 3-4 visits here with him for at least 1 month each time and getting through a good portion of the second series ( no small feat in and of itself as I personally witnessed). To have approval to teach Ashtanga is not easy. This is also a good thing. I do like that about this lineage.  I also do not have interest in his approval so that has taken some pressure off of my enjoyment of the series as a pure student.

Spice Market. Mysore, India.

   I also think to myself often here that the whole yoga charade might look a bit funny as a bystander from the outside looking in. We do wait fervently outside until there is space for quite a long time. Nothing is on “accurate” time but on “shala” time.  There are days I get no adjustments at all. It is a bit on the higher end in terms of investment from an Indian/Rupee standard. It is unbelievably crowded even from a NY city perspective and sometimes that practice is in the bathroom. My very first day this is what he told me, “you, practice in the bathroom. Go.” I think since I was new it was my initiation. There is a seniority here that we all fall into and he remembers the order. Having come all this way, there are no special privileges. I couldn’t even see him and of course did not get one adjustment from him or anyone as all the helpers are male. And again, this too revealed to me personal work and tapasya.

   Since my start time was the latest one when I first came, which starts at 4am, Sarath was reading the newspaper (still common in India) on the stage and stopped adjusting by the time I arrived. I simply didn’t see him moving about any more. I got a bit confused by this. Can you imagine me or any of the teachers doing that at Swan River? .  But thats just the thing, we are not in the United States and he has been into this thing called yoga far longer than I have. He still had everything under total control and didn’t seem to miss a mark. He was very sharp, aware, concerned and present. We are in a different culture all together and that is indeed a part of the teaching in coming to India.

   My attitude and pace have softened tremendously. I too am a bit less impatient, edgy or critical internally. In my practice, I have delightfully had the time to notice new nuances I hadn’t considered in each of the asanas before even in doing yoga pretty consistently since 1996.  I have also really found this new level of harmony in my approach, somewhere in the dance of the middle of effort and effortlessness, neither one greater than the other…. just enough of both so it is more elegant and fluid, moving in graceful waves.  I have been able to notice when I just fly through the practice with my ego, acting like it is so easy, but missing the juicy details that are fun to recognize and work on. In the transitions and I have noticed my tendency to over- effort at times, where I then get tired more quickly. It has been quite a treat to have the time to step back and observe myself intimately “doing” yoga for such a long immersion.

Chamundi Hill. Mysore, India

   It’s also quite a game doing the same exact sequence each day for the mind too. Sometimes my mind is thinking “this again. Can’t we do something different today. Why am I so crazy to keep doing this, and with all of these crazy, type A ,over the top ,extreme people?” Again and again. Or “can he please give me a new pose? I already know how to do all of this.” Which by the way, he gave me one (yes only one) new pose the entire time I have been here, even though I can physically do all the poses. “Whats your hurry…”

   I am beginning to realize there are so many layers to this thing, this Sadhana, that I am just scratching the first layer even if I think I can do it all and have done yoga for a few years now. Just this week even, I felt a new block in my mid -thoracic spine that I have never tapped into in all of my years of asana. It is my new focus. I am delighted at the assignment of releasing this. Now when I flow from up to down dog my spine feels more like an undulating snake. It just glides and leads the rest of the body into the movement. It is an incredible feeling I have never felt in this body before ever.  My body already feels so light and emptied out I was surprised to discover this. I thought I knew where all of my blocks were.  And it was funny, it was that day that I discovered it that Sarath came up to me and said “you are blocked here…” and pointed to it. “you must get this open to do all of the backbends well.”

   Now that I am working on this newly discovered block, there is a deep emergence of emotions freeing. Deep anger, qualities of pride and needs of acceptance that I had the chance to work through. For the first time in a long time I was cursing and swearing inside this week as I practiced.  I haven’t done that in years. I was tapping into some old grips of “egoness”. I remember in one Swan River Teacher training someone coined that “the inner shitty committee”… Loved that one. If I hurried through all of that I might have overlooked this entire new teaching and layer of release. Being in each fluid moment, the same one you have done, again and again, yet allowing it to be different, is quite a teaching.

   Working with asana and pranayama is such an incredible release, ascension and purification of our samskaras. The science of yoga is often forgotten but it is important to remember and respect. You are doing some serious manipulations to your karma, history and future by moving the energy at this accelerated yet grounded, visceral rate. Ashtanga requires 6 days a week from you at 6am if you follow the tradition fully. And many do. I have witnessed them. It is pretty inspiring. I like being around people that are driven, revealing care for what they do. Work is love made visible. I truly do bow to their level of discipline. 

  They say that the first series of Ashtanga is all about purification. It really takes your ego on a trip, because once you uncover a physical block, you are not allowed to go any further. Your block is not taken lightly by a good teacher. If it is a led class (which happens once per week), you sit and humbly watch everyone else do inspiring, picturesque poses that you can’t do yet and you are told to stop.  Now, with a healthy attitude, you realize the amount of work it took for all the able others to get there, yet there is no self aggrandizement here and Sarath is not trying to win your approval, impress anyone or fluff any words (which are little). I do like that about him. The little he does speak is direct and commanding, yet, when you leave the Shala each day after getting stripped down in a drenched, tattered, fresh mess, he looks at you in kind, caring understanding. When you turn around to bow to Guruji’s, his Grandfather’s altar, he notices that you have done so, and he makes an effort to clearly look at you in the eyes and smile at you, no matter what he is doing, every day, and even if you feel like a hot mess, of which I did often. He does this to everyone while assisting and running the whole show. It is quite remarkable. It is a sweet, sincere smile. It is obvious how much he cares.

   Today I go for what Guruji would recommend doing once a week for Ashtangis… a full Ayurvedic castor oil bath, where your entire body is dipped in a pure freshly ground thick castor seeds and 2  well known nick-named “Sisters” climb all over you, hanging by ropes, pushing your excess heat out with their strong feet. One of the “sisters” was the only Indian female in the first Primary Series Ashtanga video shown with Guruji. She has also practiced along side our teachers, Sharon Gannon, David Life & Lady Ruth. The whole web is connected. I enjoy being connected to this story and following in my teachers footsteps, being in their literal location or shared states of consciousness.

Vande Gurunam Charanaravinde. Sundarchita Svatma Sukhava Bodhe. Nishreyase Jagalikaiyamane. Samsara Hala Haalaa Mohashantyai. Abahu Purushakaram. Shankachakrasi Dharinam. Sahasra Shirsam Shvetam. Pranamami Patanjalim. Pranamami Patanjalim. OM.

   In the Tibetan Book of the Dead it is stated that when one is dying, the elements of the body are the first signs to look for, as they too become imbalanced. The excess earth will make you feel more heavy, the water will dry up, the fire will burn you, the winds unruly, unless tempered. Something in me has died in the commitment of my Ashtanga practice here and a tremendous amount of fire like traits has harmonized as I recalibrate my elements and connection to the earth. I felt it this last week especially. I am grateful. I must say I feel very very different.

   In Mexico, where I go each year to lead a yoga retreat, we have meditative bon fires to learn how to be  a “keeper of the fire” and meditate on the fire for 10-12 hours with the indigenous Huichole there, lead by a fire Master, called a Maracame. The practice is for innate understanding & relationship with fire’s nature and it’s “rasa” ( essence). We are not to move at all, trying our best to not lie down or move but to just fixate on the fire alone with our drishti as our Source of inspiration. Once “seen”, anything damaging about fire is no longer. It is instead illuminating and light shedding on deeper levels unknown before, be it toxic emotions or gripped memories that created fire like habits or qualities in our bodies. Without this light & depth, even our spiritual practices can remain superficial or inflate our tendencies.   I want to be sensitive and miss no-thing…so in the fire, the spark of our lives, I will remember Sarath…”whats your hurry”  with gratitude for the teachings this experience has brought in a full cycle.