Fall 2009~ Yoga Level 2 ~essay response~
Three essay options. Please spell check and punctuate.
Effort & Ease:
1) The teaching of sthira and sukha goes back through history to one of the earliest written classic texts about the practice of yoga, The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. The qualities of sthira and sukha are essential to ones yoga practice.
Patanjali stated in section 2, verse 46… sthira-sukham-asanam
Sthira: to be conscious, steady, alert, present, firm, stable
Sukha (m): to be relaxed, happy, gentle, at ease, comfortable, soft
Asanam: yoga posture, seated, being seated, way of sitting, place
Patanjali reveals that stira and sukha must be present to the same degree, in each posture, in order for it to truly be yoga.
Why is this important and how is it applicable in your daily life ?
2) Yoga is often refered to as a ‘mind, body, spirit’ practice. Some proclaim a heightened sense of spirituality arises with their yoga practice. Others find that yoga conflicts with their spiritual or religious beliefs. Please discuss Yoga as a spiritual practice, is it a religion….does it enhance your spirituality or does it conflict with your faith based beliefs?
3) The Ayurvedic system originated in India more than 5,000 years ago and is one of the oldest continuously practiced health-care systems. It views health as a dynamic balance and looks to all aspects of one’s life, such as nutrition, natural medicines, exercise, rest, emotions, and lifestyle. Included in this science is the explanation of the subtle body or energetic anatomy ( chakra, koshas, nadis, prana flow). The dynamic balance needs to be achieved in all aspects of a person’s life – physical, biochemical, neurological, intellectual, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, familial, social, environmental, and even universal. Describe a scenario where you are treating a physical injury and emotional hurt w/ modified yoga postures and ayurvedic insights.
12/12/2009 at 9:38 pm
Flowing from the mat to the car, I breathe deeply while the car in front of me exhibits behavior that attempts to pull on my primal urges to shriek and throw things at it. As I drive up to an unexpected complete stop at road work site, where I must wait 30 minutes until my turn to continue on to my destination. I breathe deeply as little children tug and pull at my shirt sleeve, complaining that the other children aren’t playing fair. As I bend over to pick up a weeping child, I exhale fully as I squat low and remember to inhale just as equally on my way back up to standing. Reaching forward to grasp a scarf on a far hook, I extend my body into a warrior III to achieve the greatest stretch whilst obtaining my treasure. In moments of sheer distress or pain, I remember to surrender and concentrate on a single focus. Flowing from mind to body to spirit in a non-linear motion, throughout the course of my day, offers a connection between me, my mat, my life, and my guru.
12/13/2009 at 10:01 pm
Jessica, what a beautifully stated correlation between what yoga has taught us and everyday life situations. I wish that I had yoga in my life while I was raising my children. It has taught me patience and compassion for myself and others and I refer to yoga during stressful events such as yours. Thank you for sharing your stressful occasion and how you were able to breath through it.
12/13/2009 at 11:57 pm
As a mind, body, spirit practice–I have not had a class in my entire 6 years of practice that I have not felt these three forces engaged. The body releases toxins, becomes energized and recharged, and becomes as fluid as breathe. When the body is in this state, the mind is thus allowed to be at ease. It takes effort to do these things. Effort and ease. When I am full of effort and at ease in the body and mind, my spirit is rejuvenated. My spirit spirals within and without my body and mind. My spirit is awakened and happy and energized when I make the effort to be at ease. A religion it is not. It is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mindstuff. It is a way of life. Yoga unites the three forces that makes me who I am: mind, body, spirit.
12/16/2009 at 1:25 pm
Yoga postures and principles can calm my body on a physical and mental level. Recently, I suffered muscle soreness in my trapezius and shoulders; this was coupled with a tightening in my chest from the stress of final exams. When I consciously realized my ailments, I devised a plan to relax.
First, I applied one of the most basic yoga principles: breath. Previously, I had been breathing short, shallow breaths constricted in my chest. I consciously changed this to deep belly breathing, which immediately forced more oxygen to my brain and calmed me immediately.
Second, I applied ayurvedic principles, including diet and massage. I brewed a strong cup of herbal green tea and massaged my palms and fingers to release tension.
Third, I practiced a few gentle asanas. A sun salutation A cycle helped awaken my muscles, increasing blood circulation, and brought my awareness more within. I practiced a standing back bend with reverse namaste hands to open my chest and warrior II to center me.
I finished with an inversion. My assisted headstand intensified my self-awareness and blood circulation. When I returned to mountain pose, I felt much more centered and calm.
In conclusion, yoga asanas and ayurvedic principles help maintain homeostasis on a physical and mental level.
12/16/2009 at 3:20 pm
Explain the conflicting underlying spiritual intentions behind yoga..
I could see how people from more of a western christian belief system/backround could feel challenged by what the yoga philosophy teaches. It approaches spirituality on what seems like a whole different scale. Personally, it is all the same to me. Yoga is about giving thanks to whatever (whomever) your higher power may be- it is about shutting out the outside completely, while at the same time giving yourself up to the outside, to everything (the void). The practice is also about taking that feeling “off the mat and into the world.” Realizing that everything else in your life IS your practice- it’s karmic yoga (“it’s all chopping wood and carrying water”- ram dass). – What you put into it, comes back- the cycle. Yoga enhances my spiritual practice, it’s all about taking the specific out and molding the theory/philosophy into your life, into your own religious/spiritual practices..
12/16/2009 at 3:23 pm
alexia- i love that- “helps maintain homeostasis on a physical and mental level.”.. so great!
12/16/2009 at 5:18 pm
Effort and Ease
I must say please
with an ember of surrender thats got me down on my knees
The breathe and the breeze
Is not a disease
just a course of the force that moves through the trees
Sometimes you got to give it all you got
sometimes you got to ease the weight of your thoughts
sometimes you have to hold the pose for three breathes longer
only to unfold a person thats stronger
It takes effort to ease the mind you see
It takes effort to ease the gaze which we see
It takes ease of the will to fulfill and accomplish
It takes ease to approach a task that is dauntless
Effort like doing the pose of the boat
Effort like the serpent to d-dog your stooked
Effort like the road of an African sol ja
Effort like the yoga that makes you less older
Ease like the breeze on a warm sunny day
Ease like the ocean makes it feel ok
Ease like a restorative practice
Ease like the whispers of the yoga masters!
HEY! HO! HEY! HO!
Yoga loft HEY
yoga loft ho
yoga loft HEY
yoga loft ho!
GO yoga go yoga go!
NAMASTE!
12/16/2009 at 10:25 pm
I’ve only recently understood how to use effort and ease outside of yoga. I knew how to use breath and to relax my face so that even the most intense poses (forearm plank, for example) were suddenly manageable. I was able to push myself farther without giving up to the strain. One day in school I realized how I could apply this calmness and ease into other challenging situations as well. When faced with a daunting classroom essay I felt unprepared for, I took a deep breath, trusted what I did know, and let the words flow. On the day of my speech final I felt anxious for hours, right up until the moment I went in front of everyone. I froze at first, then again took a deep breath, let the tension melt off of me, and went for it. With everything that I do, I realize that there will be a challenge, but if I stay focused and relaxed, I’ll be able to accomplish my goals without worry. Effort and ease, every day!
12/17/2009 at 12:19 am
Yoga is often refered to as a ‘mind, body, spirit’ practice. Some proclaim a heightened sense of spirituality arises with their yoga practice. Others find that yoga conflicts with their spiritual or religious beliefs. Please discuss Yoga as a spiritual practice, is it a religion….does it enhance your spirituality or does it conflict with your faith based beliefs?
“Good Nature is True Religion”
I believe that we are all already in the flow of, but it takes that inquiry, breath working, and body movement to really awaken shakti life force. Yoga has transformed me into the being that i have always known was inside of me, it has allowed me to transcend into ancient wisdom…which gives rise to the truth in the ability that yoga has in heightening ones sense of holisitc awareness, yes, mind body spirit, tapping into the eternal flow of infinite consciousness. When i started practicing yoga 4 years ago, i could see immediately how i was begining to be a healthier spiritual being in a human existance. In the early days of my practice when i was 15, i would do yoga, at least two hours, because it just felt SOOO good, and the it was like at the time i started practicing spirit was giving me all of these other tools to fulfill my life,a little bit after i began a yoga practice, i began study of energetic anatomy viaCrystals and Colors Journey through the Chakras book by Joy Gardener, and it was so EXPANSIVE because i was waking up my own energy through yoga practices, and also study the very energy that it is working. I can still feel the transcendence the practice of yoga offers, even the philosophy. I have read in a great yoga book, dont exactly rememer which one at this moment, but it said, ” You don’t have to be Hindu in order to practice yoga, in fact Yoga is not required to be Hindu either.” Once again, after i began my asana practice, and started learning more about energetic concepts, and really being able to see and expereience this way of seeing and feeling, I just have be so much more aware of my actions, and the potential consequence of my actions. So blessings on the Yoga spirit, it has healed me, and will continue to, and i look forward to teaching yoga more, because it is one of the most sacred practices in life. Yoga has proved to me tie and time again, the way energy is conserved when you practice, and with a constant practice you tap into universal strength, on every level, you are able to do things that you wouldnt be able to do if you didnt have that practice. Every practice i feel the beneficial effects and i feel closer to who i truly am. Namaste*I am thankful for the awareness of life and to that symbolic realm that we cannot always see that yoga has offered me intuitional awareness in. forever grateful namaste
12/17/2009 at 5:20 pm
Organic Flow:
With sthira and sukha my soul will flow
It takes some effort to get where you need to go
And if you don’t get there you ease to your knees
And be thankful for guidance and protection please
Sometimes the flow will throw you in the air
Then you may release with ease, without a care
Back down to the ground which is so round
The firmness of mountain you have finally found
With breath and agni you begin to climb
To the highest source beyond your mind
Without the effort you wouldn’t have found this place
Of the utmost ease and purity of grace
Thank you Cherie for creating space
Uniting effort and ease for a heavenly taste