Some people think of yoga as a stretching or fitness class, but yoga is more than a series of poses or asanas. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali talks about the eight limbs of yoga: yamas (abstinence), niyamasa (observance),  asanas (posture), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (contemplation). 

These eight segments of yoga bring together the movement of the body (posture), with fluctuations of the mind (sense withdrawal, concentration, and meditation), and breathing techniques, along with guidelines to living a virtuous life (abstinence, observance, contemplation).  The connection of the mind, body, breath and spirit helps direct our attention inward.  By focusing our attention inward, we learn to recognize our habits and thoughts without judging them, or trying to change them. We become more aware of our experiences and live more in the present moment. The awareness that we cultivate is what makes yoga a practice, rather than an exercise.

To learn more about the Yoga Sutras, you can read some articles online at YogaJournal.com, or you can buy one of the translations of this ancient text from Amazon.com.  I like “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali” translation by Sri Swami Satchidanana.

Posted: March 3rd, 2008 under Stained Glass, meditation, mindfulness, present moment, yoga.
Comments: none

Are you stressed out from a busy day at work?  Are you looking for a way to relax?  Try one of these 10 techniques:

1. Meditate.  If you’ve been reading my blog, you are aware that I meditate regularly.  Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor, close your eyes, and breathe.  I like to concentrate on my breath.  I follow the air as it enters my nostrils, filling my lungs, then exits through my nostrils or mouth.
2. Visualization.  If you have a busy mind and find it hard to meditate, visualization is a great technique.  Picture yourself on a warm sunny beach or lounging by a pool with a cool refreshing drink in your hand.  If you are not into warm vacations, picture yourself skiing down the mountain in Vail, Colorado with the wind blowing against your face and the exhilaration of being surrounded by a snowy landscape.
3. Breathe.  I know, everyone breathes every minute of every day, but try breathing deeply.  Really feel your belly, diaphragm, and chest expand as you inhale and deflate as you exhale.  Really empty all that stale air from your lungs.
4. Be Mindful.  Be aware of everything around you, whatever you are doing at this moment in time.  How does it feel?
5. Drink Chamomile Tea.  While green tea has plenty of antioxidants, some brands also have caffeine which can stimulate your agitation.  For a change, try straight Chamomile tea, a blend of Chamomile and mint tea, or another herbal tea.  Now sit back, put your feet up, and sip slowly.
6. Cuddle Up.  Show someone a little love.  Cuddle up with your pet, your husband/wife, your boyfriend/girlfriend.  A little hug goes a long way.
7. Massage.  I love massages and schedule one once a month to get all the kinks out of my neck and back.  If you can’t afford a masseuse, rub a little oil on your hands and give yourself a massage.
8. Take a Time Out.  When I find myself getting cranky, I like to lay on the floor and extend my legs up against a wall or raise my legs higher in the air in Sarvangansana or shoulder stand.  If you need a time out and you’re not at home, try closing your eyes, taking a few deep breaths, and visualize a quiet space.  Another great time out activity is to find a nice quiet corner and curl up with a good book.
9. Soft Music.  Soothing sounds rejuvenate the mind, body and spirit.  Listen to some natural sounds like ocean waves or the wind rustling through the trees.  Music made from pure quartz crystal bowls is also extremely relaxing.
10. Positive Thoughts.  If your heart starts to race from all the stress building up during the day, take a few minutes to think about something positive in your life.  Think of a newborn baby, or someone you love.  If you can’t think of anything positive, go buy yourself a bouquet of flowers.

Ahhhh.  I’m feeling more relaxed already.  How do you relax?

Posted: March 1st, 2008 under meditation, yoga.
Comments: 3

I am sure you’ve heard meditation described as sitting crossed-legged on the floor, either in silence or repeating a mantra.  But those aren’t the only techniques you can use to meditate.  As we become mindful of the activities  in our lives, we can transform most any activity into a type of meditation. 

For example, you can meditate while you walk.  Go for a walk outside and focus all your senses on the process of walking.  Feel your feet touch the ground.  Listen to your footsteps as they crunch on the sidewalk or gravel path.  Smell the flowers you pass along the way. Observe the leaves swaying on the trees.  That is a walking meditation. 

You can meditate while eating.  Look at the colors and textures of the food on your plate.  Smell the aromas.  Chew slowly and savor the flavors.  Take small bites, putting your fork or spoon down between bites.  Eat in silence – without thinking about your next bite of food.  That is an eating meditation.

You can also meditate while you exercise.  Practice gentle stretching and strengthening yoga postures.  Bring total awareness of your breath.  Feel your muscles as you move from one pose to the next.   That is mindful yoga meditation.

As you live more or each day moment-to-moment, you begin to let go of all the baggage you’ve been carrying around for years.  Your past can not be changed, so let it go.  No one knows what the future will bring, so stop thinking about it.  Enjoy each moment of every day and experience the joy of living in the now.

Posted: February 28th, 2008 under Stained Glass, meditation, present moment, yoga.
Comments: 6

How many times have you driven to work and thought about all the things you have to do that day?

How many times during the day are you at work and thinking about your children at school?

How many times each day does your mind wander from the task at hand?

If we ever stopped to count, I’m sure it would come to hundreds and maybe thousands of times a day.  Yet each time our mind wanders from whatever our body is doing at the moment, we are not fully experiencing the present moment.

It is natural for our mind to wander.  We have busy minds and busy lives.  Yet many of us don’t get the amount of sleep we need to not only calm our body but also calm our mind.  We wake up in the middle of the night thinking and worrying about one thing or another.  We toss and turn in bed unable to fall back asleep.

But there are a number of techniques we can follow to calm our wandering mind.  One technique in yoga called pratyahara or controlling the senses, involves focusing all your concentration on an object for five to ten minutes.  It can be any object, but I’d like to suggest picking an object that is calming to you – a scented candle or a flower.  Now tell yourself that for the next five minutes, you are going to concentrate on that object.  For the purposes of discussion, I’ll focus on a rose.

Try to eliminate any outside noise or other distractions.  Sit in a comfortable position with the rose about a foot in front of you.  Now for the next five minutes or so, focus all your senses on the rose.  Notice the color and the variation of color from the tip of the petal to the base.  What color is your rose?  Does it have leaves? Notice how one petal folds into the other.  Is the rose fully open or partially closed?  Count the petals.  How long is the stem on your rose?  Notice the difference in shape and size of each petal. Place the rose up to your nose and inhale deeply.  Smell the rose.  Does it have a scent?  Is the scent strong or mild? Touch the rose, the smooth petals and thorny stem.  Notice the difference in sensations on your fingertip.  Brush the rose up against your cheek.  How is that sensation different?  Loot at the rose from different angles in different lighting.  Does the rose throw a shadow on the table?  Continue examining the rose and fully experiencing the activity with all of your senses until the five minutes is up.

How do you feel?  Are you any more relaxed or at ease?  If you followed along for the past five minutes, you lived in the present moment.  You were able to quiet your busy mind and let it rest from all the external and internal distractions around you.

Now I’m not suggesting that you go through your entire day examining a rose, but I am suggesting that the more time you can focus on the task at hand and quiet your wandering mind, the happier and more peaceful you will feel.

Give the exercise a try and let me know how you feel afterwards.

Posted: February 25th, 2008 under meditation, present moment, yoga.
Comments: 2

Yesterday,  I was taking a yoga class specifically designed for people with bad backs.  I’ve suffered with back pain for years and yoga has been extremely helpful in eliminating my back aches.  I moved through the poses slowly and purposefully, yet, while moving from a lunge to a standing forward bend, my toe caught on the mat and I inadvertently put weight on my foot, spraining my big toe.  Ouch.  I felt the pain immediately.  By the time I got home, my toe was swollen and purple.  I can walk, but each time my toe tries to bend I feel pain.

Yoga has often been called a healing exercise.  Many physicians encourage their patients to practice yoga in order to stretch their muscles and stay flexible.  Yet, there are an increasing number of reports of people getting injuries in a yoga class.  While my injury was an accident, it’s easy to let your ego take over and to compare your pose with the person next to you, causing you to push yourself beyond your limit.  But as in any sport, you need to honor your body.  Stretch in a pose until you can feel a stretch, but not to the point of feeling pain.  Not everyone can bend forward and grab their toes, or move into the perfect shoulder stand.  Even when you are flexible and careful in your practice, injuries can still occur.  Some of the most common injuries in yoga occur in the lower back, neck, knee, and hamstring.

If you are interested in reading more about injuries in yoga, go to Yoga Journal and type: “yoga injuries” into their search box.

Posted: February 24th, 2008 under yoga.
Comments: 3

It never rains in Southern California, or at least that is what everyone is led to believe.  I woke up this morning to a heavy drizzle.  Okay, so a drizzle isn’t anything to write home about, but since my stained glass workshop is outside, it means I can’t work.  By comparison, this rain is nothing to the thunderstorms and tornadoes I lived through in the Midwest.  Besides, rain is good for San Diego, especially since we have such dry weather for most of the year.  Even though the rain was light, traffic snarls around the county were plentiful.  No big deal.

So in my small little world, I’m rushing around the house so I can get to my 8:00 a.m. meeting ten minutes away.  I left the house and stopped dead in my tracks.  A thirty-foot tree lay on the ground across my driveway.  When did that happen?  Taking a deep breath, I turned and headed back to the house.  My plans for the day were changed for the second time today.

At that point I had a choice in how to react to the situation.  I could have gotten all stressed out about missing my meeting, being stuck at home without the use of my car, and getting aggravated about not being able to work on my stained glass; or I could let go of the situation and make the best of it.  I chose to let it go.

How many times during our day do we face unexpected situations in our lives?  How many times do minor incidents escalate into full-blown anxiety attacks and needless stress?  What can we do to keep ourselves from painful, negative emotions?

In yoga, there’s a term “pratipaksha bhavana.”  The basic concept is that when you experience a negative thought or emotion, the thing to do is try to cultivate the opposite thought or emotion.  The key to cultivating the opposite emotion is to first be aware of what you are feeling at any particular moment.

As an example, when I saw the downed tree in my driveway, I could have stood in the rain, cursing the tree for causing me to miss my meeting.  I could have stormed back to the house and yelled at the management company of my condo association for not taking better care of the landscaping.  Instead, I called the management company to report the incident and made a conscious decision not to get upset about the change in plans.  Again, the key here is making a conscious decision.

One way that I found to be more aware of my thoughts and feelings is to take ten minutes out of my day to meditate.  There are many forms of meditation, but the simplest form is to just sit quietly by yourself, close your eyes, and breathe.  Concentrating on your breath is a simple practice that you can do anywhere, any time of the day.  Follow your breath in as you inhale and out as you exhale.  Stay focused on the breath for five to ten minutes.  By focusing inward, you will soon find that your emotions have calmed.

There are things in life that we can control and other things that we can’t.  To lead a peaceful life, I try to remember the serenity prayer: 

God, give me the courage to change the things I can, to let go of the things I can’t change, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Have a peaceful day.

Posted: February 22nd, 2008 under present moment, yoga.
Comments: none

Yesterday, I said good-bye to my stained glass Sri Yantra. For those unfamiliar with this yogic symbol, the Chakra (or circle) represents a source of energy. The intersecting triangles refer to the cosmic creative force. The Sri Yantra, as a whole, symbolizes the integration of the mind, body and spirit.I spent several months of my spare time working on this piece. Drawing the intricate design with it’s accurate dimensions, choosing the colors and textures of the glass, and meditating on the symbolism gave me great joy.Creating a stained glass window is a lesson in patience. Once a design is created, the artist cuts the glass, grinds the edges to accurate dimensions so that each piece fits snuggly into a narrow channel of lead. The window is put together like a jigsaw puzzle, adding a piece of lead, fitting a piece of glass, hammering the glass in place, then moving on to the next piece. Making a stained glass window is a labor of love, and for me, it’s also a source of meditation and mantra (or affirmation). The greater number of glass pieces, the more labor intensive the project. This Sri Yantra had 99 pieces. Once all the pieces are hammered in place, each joint is soldered on both sides of the window, then cement is added along each section of lead to secure the glass into the lead cam. When the cement dries, the window is cleaned and polished and ready for hanging.Yesterday, my labor of love, crashed to the floor. Its frame twisted no longer flat, several pieces of glass cracked. In other words, the window, as a work of art, was no more.There’s a term in yoga Asteya which literally means non-stealing, but is interpreted to also mean free from greed or to be content with what we have. It’s the ability to find joy and peace with what you have, right here, right now. If we follow Asteya in our life, the world can fall apart around us, but we will remain happy. If we live in the present moment, we do not worry about a past loss or are not concerned about our future. We are happy, right here, right now.When I learned the news of my broken window, I found that I was not upset. I accepted what had happened and noticed that my emotions were steady. I remained peaceful. My heart was peaceful knowing that I had the skill, the creativity, and the time to make this beautiful Sri Yantra and could make another one if I choose. I was content knowing I had the time to contemplate and meditate on the design. I was happy, because I know as I let this Sri Yantra go, I have gained something more important than the money I would have received from selling the piece. I have gained courage, peace, joy and love.

Posted: February 4th, 2008 under Stained Glass, present moment, yoga.
Comments: none

A Peaceful Heart is a symbol of transformation, a transformation from a life filled with stress, anger, anxiety or depression to one of love, courage, and forgiveness.In these stressful times, we can easily get caught unawares. External forces press upon us, telling us we should do things a certain way, or be a person others want us to be. These external forces cause us to get out of balance. When this happens, we must learn to draw inward to bring ourselves back to a place of peace.The easiest way to come into balance is to live in the present moment, to experience each second of every day without thinking about the past or worrying about the future. Make a habit of focusing on your breath, feeling the cool sensation as air draws upward into your nostrils then warms as your exhale. Slow your breath and your tensions and negative emotions will lessen. When you focus on the now, your mind releases your worries.As you master your breath, add an affirmation. A positive action statement in the present tense. “I forgive myself and others.” “I have the courage to move forward with my life.” “I love myself.” Stay away from any negative self-talk. “I don’t want to be angry anymore.” Only use positive statements.When you begin to live in the present moment, do not be discouraged if you find yourself falling back into your stressful, angry, anxiety provoking thoughts. That is normal. Simply bring yourself back to focusing on your breath and repeating your affirmation. Say your affirmation as many times a day as you need to until you believe the statement deep within your heart. That is when you will discover a Peaceful Heart.

Posted: January 31st, 2008 under Stained Glass, present moment, yoga.
Comments: 1

There’s a winter storm approaching and the sky is a dull gray. I woke up with a sore throat, feeling blah. If you’re a little down because of the weather or circumstances beyond your control, here’s a yoga pose you can do to perk yourself up.Lay on the floor and prop your legs straight up against the wall. You can also prop your legs up on a chair with your knees bent. Then close your eyes and think of sunny skies and warmer weather, or something you enjoy. This yoga pose can be done by anyone with high blood pressure since your heart is on the same level as your head. If you are uncomfortable laying on the floor, then try laying in bed with your legs up against your headboard. Either way, it’s a great way to relax for five minutes. It gets the blood circulating and you feel refreshed in no time at all. For an extra boost, put on some soft soothing music.Now, if the storm would only pass as quickly. Have a great day.

Posted: January 4th, 2008 under yoga.
Comments: 2

Most Americans these days are familiar with the term “yoga.” They see yoga studios sprouting up in their neighborhoods, see yoga classes taught at fitness centers, YMCAs, senior centers and the like. They go to these classes thinking it’s a mild form of exercise – easy stretches for the hamstrings, triceps and back. Yet if you look deeper, exercise is only a tiny aspect of yoga.Did you ever wonder why yoga is taught in some heart rehab facilities and holistic centers? It’s because yoga not only deals with aspects of the body but also aspects of the mind and the spirit.How many times have you heard doctors say “You’re stressed. You need to relax. I don’t see any physical evidence of why you are experiencing this pain.” If the pain isn’t due to some physical problem, then where is the pain coming from? In many cases, it comes from your mind. Your thinking can make you sick. If you stop to think about the concept, it does make a lot of sense. Your leg bone is connected to your thigh bone; your thigh bone is connect to you hip bone. All your bones are connected, your muscles are connected, your vascular and nervous systems are connected. Your heart and brain are connected as well. So it’s easy to come to the conclusion that if one part of your body is sick, other parts of your body are affected.So, what does all this have to do with yoga? The essence of yoga is based on controlling your thoughts to achieve a better sense of wellbeing. If you are sick, you can go do the doctor and get a pill or have an operation, but the healing doesn’t take place in the doctor’s office or operating room, it takes place at home. Healing the body takes time, and your attitude about your illness plays an important part in how quickly you will heal. If you believe you will recover from your surgery and visualize yourself getting back to your normal routine, the chances are in your favor that you will. If you are constantly afraid that you’ll never be able to get out of bed or think you will have a relapse if you so much as try to do something you used to, there’s a good chance your fears will stop you from getting better.So, we need to find a way to control our thoughts. For me, and millions of others, practicing yoga going beyond a forward bend, downward dog, or spinal twist is one way to do that. So, as the new year begins, I leave you with good thoughts. Control your thoughts and you can be a healthier and happier person.

Posted: January 2nd, 2008 under present moment, yoga.
Comments: none