WAIT! I HAD A TEACHER TRAINING THAT NEEDS TO BE BLOGGED ABOUT!
7 10 2008Last month in yoga teacher training we discussed the eight limbs of yoga as defined in the Yoga Sutras. Each limb is a step in the path to becoming a true yogi. You can’t skip ahead; they have to mastered in order. I realized I was in serious trouble when I haven’t even mastered the first limb.
The first limb is yama and sort of like the ten commandments except there are only five: 1. Ahimsa = nonviolence, 2. Satya = truthfulness, 3. Asteya = nonstealing, 4. Brahmacharya = continence, and 5. Aparigraha = non-covetousness. Forget about all the other yamas except ahimsa. Now, just like people study and pick apart the scriptures, the same is true for the Yoga Sutras. And I know you’re thinking “Why is Cindy worrying about the first limb? She’s not a violent person.”, but it’s not as simple as that. Or at least my brain wants to make it more complicated. You see, I lumped anger into the definition of ahimsa.
Chris and I talked about this while we ate lunch outside behind the yoga studio that day. I told him I was angry all the time and then he asked me what it was that I was angry about. I blinked a few times and then told him it would probably be easier to tell you the things I’m not angry about. The crazy thing is, I didn’t feel this way on vacation. I know! Enough with the Portland trip already! I am just going to say this. I felt less volatile while we were in Oregon.
The last yoga teacher training taught me that I have a lot of work to do. The idea is that as you start practicing yoga, you start to want to learn more. The physical practice leads you to a spiritual practice. I’ve been resisting this for some time because I was having a hard time separating spiritual from religious. But I know now that practicing and focusing on the eight limbs doesn’t make me religious. The limbs are just tools for making me a better person. It’s time to start the climb.
here’s the deal.
you get to choose.
you.
get.
to.
choose.
and whether you give it a label that looks like the word religion or that looks like the word spiritual or that looks like the word hiney it doesn’t matter. If it helps you be the better, healthier version of you, then it is good.
You get to choose what you do. You get to choose what you call it. You get to choose how fast or slow you move through this process…because it’s yours.
i love you. you are an amazing woman. this road your on…it’s leading to somewhere bright and beautiful. I know it!
I finally found you through Zelda and woman! I am glad I did.
Such great words, amazing thoughts and all kinds of validation coming your way from me!
Powerful.
There is a more powerful piece of Geography for all of us.
I feel it when I drive through Norman, OK. I was happiest longer in my life on that land than I have been ever on any other piece of land. And it all ways beckons me back.
San Fran. Ease. Peace. I did leave my heart there. That peace of land is my home. Its my place on the Earth. I don’t have to walk it like Cain any longer. I belong there.
So yes, Portland. Your land. Aren’t you glad to not be Cain any longer? Aren’t you glad you at least know where you belong?
Whew! I’ve been catching up on your entries, and really it all boils down to this for me: Brahmacharya = continence. I think THIS is the one you should master first, Cindy. I had no idea this was a problem for you.
OH GAH, I am totally kidding! I would so not fit in to a serious yoga class. I’d be farting all up in that place.
I totally get the having a hard time separating spiritual from religious. They have been lumped together for so long that it is difficult to see that spirit is about your true self. It can be something that comes from within and doesn’t have to deal with “Holy Spirit” or whatever.
Right now I am reading “Eat, Pray, Love”. I know I saw it mentioned somewhere, but can’t remember if it was here or by another person. It talks about the authors journey of becoming a spiritual (but so far, not religious) person. The part I am reading now makes me think of you.
Ha! Tiffany you would fit in to my yoga class farts and all. I don’t plan on teaching this to my students. I’d like to think that they’d be interested enough to get there on their own one day. But I’m not a spiritual leader. I just teach the poses.
Anna, I may need to check that book out of the library. That would be a good one to read over Christmas break.