Honoring the Earth, a yogic reflection

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle, 1855

Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the words of Chief Seattle are reminder of our place and responsibility in this world.
As in any celebration this day is an opportunity to reflect on how we are treating our only home so far and hopefully realize that there are ways we can help to slow the deterioration of our planet. It is the occasion to be more responsible of what we buy, how we use it, and what are we leaving behind.
The practice of Yoga should open our minds and body to the Universe and to make us aware how connected we are to all that is alive. When we practice Asana we honor the Earth element when we include poses that will touch the Earth like child's pose, table pose, downward facing dog, plank, and of course Savasana where we can be supported by the Earth an allow the body to release the gripping and tension completely. Those poses should not only ground us, with time they will open the body and prepare it to be still on meditation when we can reunite the earth with the subtle air element.
At a more subtle level, in Astrology there are four elements: air, water, fire and earth. If your natal chart has a prevalence of the earth element, according to Sri Goswami Kriyananda in his book The Wisdom and Way of Astrology he mentions that "Earth symbolizes a force that is practical, down-to- earth and cautious... the signs that represent more of the Earth element are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn." This is just a general rule as when you look closely to any natal chart you could see that someone born under the Taurus sign can have a lot of the fire element on it. When the earth element is well balanced the person is dependable and practical, to extremes they are very rational and hard to get in touch with their feelings. The elements in the chart can also tell how compatible a person could be to another. If someone has a lot of the Earth element, anyone with a predominance of Air will "dry" that Earth quality; a fiery predominance will dried up it and water would refresh the Earth quality.
There is so much controversy on how we came to this planet, what is not a question is that so far it is the only one we have and the clear effects of the destructive nature of our greed and ambition.
Let's reconnect to the Earth at a deeper level and start caring for it with reverence not only for our own good but for the benefit of future generations.
For information and tips on green gardening, how to eat sustainably, start a compost pile and more go to http://earthday.nature.org/garden/
Read 8 steps to save the Earth at http://www.ehow.com/how_136632_save-earth.html
Recycle your mat http://www.recycleyourmat.com/
Recycle your mat in Austin, TX go to http://www.yogasanga.net/?p=7332

Honor Earth day and recycle your mat

The Earth day will be on April 22, to celebrate and honor that day, Yoga Sanga and Austin Yoga Institute are joining efforts to help the community to recycle yoga mats. If you have an old mat or ready to buy an Eco-friendly one just drop off your clean mat at Austin Yoga Institute located at 1122-C South Lamar Blvd, 78704. In order to help with the expense of shipping and handling we ask you to contribute with $2.00 per mat.
Drop off dates are: Monday April 19- Monday April 26.
For every 5 mats that we send, the Recycle yourmat program will send one recycled wool blanket that we will give away among participants.
Recycle Your Mat is a program that provides socially responsible yoga mat recycling, up cycling and reuse services for yoga practitioners and yoga studios. The program supports US-based manufacturers by providing recycled materials for new product production.
For more information and to join this effort go to http://www.recycleyourmat.com/locations.html#send

Questions? send a message to yogasangatx@gmail.com

What to do with the memories that haunt us?

From the time we are born our brain stores so many memories. Some of those memories are positive and some others negative and even traumatic. The most traumatic experiences many times, change the way we interact with the events in our life many years after the event.
According to Cahil, Prins, Weber and McGaugh in a 1999 article on Nature “Emotional events tend to be recalled with more frequency and clarity than memories not associated with extreme emotions.”

In a world with people suffering so much after car accidents, combat, rape or even the loss of a family member, doctors are looking for ways to alter those memories and even work with some of the phobias that patients experience and limit their lives.

If you watched the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) you may get a little uneasy about the idea of replacing memories. We are far from that, today doctors are trying instead of erasing a traumatic memory, to follow a method to reduce or eliminate the fear that comes with that memory. No one really knows how we store our memories, nevertheless in a recent article on the matter on the Wall Street Journal, Shirley S. Wang mentions that “lately doctors think that memories are stored like individual files on a shelf, each time they are pulled down for viewing, they can be altered before being put back into storage.”

How do they do that? One of the simplest ways is to allow the patient to recall, modify and store the experience over and over again. Every time the patient recalls the incident (sometimes doctors use some drugs to relax the patient) there will be less emotionality coming from that memory. As you can see the memory is still there but the emotions will lessen to a point that people can start living a “normal” life.

For those of us that don’t suffer from phobias or those traumatic memories but would like to improve our sense of being and become less emotional, yoga offers meditation.
In the yoga tradition, meditation (Dhyana) is one of the 8 limbs of Yoga. In meditation we hold a space where not only we can see the mind and all its craziness but also after a while we can get to the point where the mind becomes quiet and the emotionality disappears. At that point in the words of Sri Goswami Kriyananda: “there is an expansion of awareness to an understanding of the totality of things”

Is it possible to alter our memories? Yes! When we practice meditation we have the opportunity to see our mind in an objective way and make the choice to change and respond less and less to events and situations that come to our life.

Here is a simple technique that you can do two or three times a day.
1) If you have an asana practice, after Savasana sit on your mat for 20-30 seconds with your back lengthen and without paying attention to your breath, be quiet and enjoy the after effects of your practice and the calmness of your mind.
2) During the day try to come to that feeling of peace and stillness. If you don’t practice asana daily, then as soon as you wake up, seat on your bead close, keep your back straight and close your eyes; allow the mind to be quiet for 20-30 seconds, open your eyes and get ready for your day.
3) Go back to that place in your mind throughout the day just for 20-30 seconds.
4) With time you will be able to extend the time you can keep the mind still without putting effort on it.

Whether you use meditation or the new doctor's procedures to recover from a traumatic episode, remember that is the practice and time that will make the practice fruitful. Little by little you are removing the emotionality that the event triggers and you will regain control over the responses of the mind.

Are you a fundamentalist yogi/yogini?

I hope not. I have met many yogis and yoginis and I have to say I haven't encountered many yoga fundamentalists.

A fundamentalist according to the dictionary is someone that "has rigid adherence to principles or points of view, and often by intolerance of others views." Like many things in Yoga, it is all about the balance and usually it seems like walking the razor's edge.
There is a difference when you are passionate about the style you practice and have the desire to share those wonderful benefits with others and pushing people to do what you do or criticize what they do or believe.

Yoga Sanga has given me the opportunity to meet fascinating yogis and yoginis and ask them questions to portrait who they are and their yoga experience. The maturity of the yoga community is amazing especially in those who have been practicing in and out the mat for a while.

Nevertheless, I once met a yogi that told me " It is so sad what is happening in the US related to Yoga... no one teaches the spiritual path any more and that is why our school is the best of all..." I respectfully disagree and told him that though not everyone is looking for the spiritual part that yoga offers, I have found many schools of yoga that train teachers and guide students to look beyond the asanas in order to have a better understanding of what yoga is about.

With all that, the question remains, what is the balance between your passion and disregarding other styles just because they are not for you?

Here are some points that I have been pondering on to answer that question:

a) It is OK to introduce yourself to a new group or in a job interview and explain what style of yoga do you practice and what is it that you find valuable in that style.
b) Your students and people around you don't need a label to sense if you live what you practice, your interaction with them will motivate them to go deeper into their practice or find another teacher that will offer a better understanding of yoga.
c)Usually the practice changes and evolves depending on the age, the life challenges that people face, etc. At some point students will find peace chasing those arm balances that might not become a reality into their bodies and decide to look deeper into meditation, pranayama and the others limbs of yoga.

At the end, what is really importance is to understand that the practice of yoga or any other spiritual path, should open our hearts to compassion, and to perceive the interconnectedness of life.
Unless you have really immerse yourself in a style of yoga, you shouldn't judge it.

Live your own style and understand that there might be something for everyone in those other different styles.

Tell us how have you handled a situation involving a fundamentalist.