Losing the small self, finding the larger self in Play

“When we are self-conscious, we cannot be wholly aware; we must throw ourselves out first. This throwing ourselves away is the act of creativity. So, when we wholly concentrate, like a child in play, or an artist at work, then we share in the act of creating. We not only escape time, we also escape our self-conscious selves....” Madeleine L’Engle

“The most important thing is practice in daily life that is how we can gradually get to know the true value of whatever teaching we follow.

What we need is a good heart, a disciplined mind and a healthy body. We will not transform ourselves merely by making wishes, but through working hard over a long period of time.” The Dalai Lama, in the Foreword to “Core of the Yoga Sūtras” by B.K.S. Iyengar.

Practice is Work and also Play

“We must always work, and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood. If we wait for the mood, without endeavouring to meet it half-way, we easily become indolent and apathetic. We must be patient, and believe that inspiration will come to those who can master their disinclination.” Tchaikovsky 

Variation of Rajakapotāsana~~king pigeon pose

“Time’s positive effect is the acquisition of knowledge. The experience of the past supports the present, and progress in the present builds a sound foundation for the future. One uses the past as a guide to develop discriminative power, alertness and awareness which smooth the path for Self-Realization. The yogi who studies in depth this unique rotation of time keeps aloof from the movement of moments; he rests in the present, at which crucial point desires are kept in abeyance. Thus he becomes clear of head, clean of heart, and free from time, which binds consciousness.

When the conjunction between the movement of moments and consciousness terminates, freedom and beatitude, kaivalya, are experienced.” Commentary on Sūtra IV.12

Excerpt From

Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

B. K. S. Iyengar

Struggle and sweat

  “Without perspiration, nothing can come. We have to sweat and sweat. No art comes without sweating. Some people misunderstand or misrepresent [and say] that it does not require that strain. But no art will come to a person graced by the Divinity, without sweating...Art is immortal, but the artist is not immortal.  I have given so that people who work with that intensity—that intellectual, mental and physical sweat— may go forward.” Yogācārya B.K.S. Iyengar, excerpt of an interview by Julie Adler, published in 25th year edition of Yoga Rahasya.

Memories surface at times during practice. A glimpse into teachings—recalling an instruction from a decade and a half ago, or a pose I saw Guruji BKS Iyengar practicing. As a child, i was gifted with a photographic memory. It made tests very easy as I could read the textbook pages in my mind’s eye during the examination. Later, that talent was dedicated into drawings and paintings. That gift is not as strong as in childhood  but sometimes talent surfaces to help us on our path.  Memory is imperfect.  Practice is where we can struggle it out to uncover the truth or discover and learn something new altogether. I was blessed to learn from Manouso, starting when I was quite young, how to adjust and heal my body with Iyengar yoga practice. I have never thought of seeing a chiropractor or physical therapist. These split-leg backbends can be incredibly healing for hip and low back imbalances when practiced with alignment and skillful action (Iyengar Yoga). Someday I hope to teach these advanced poses that are therapeutic to share what i experience through practice to be healing.

Study the Moment In Action in Iyengar Yoga

 “The impulse to create begins in a tunnel of silence.” Adrienne Rich

. “Time, which has no beginning or end, ...is simply a succession of moments. Though each moment is eternal and real in its continuous flow, it changes into movement. To be free from the cycles of cause and effect, man has to mould his behaviour from moment to moment. The cause is subtle but the effect is felt. The effects of our actions of yesterday are the cause of today’s; and the experience of our actions today becomes the seed of our actions tomorrow. All actions revolve around time and the qualities of nature.”

From

Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

B. K. S. Iyengar

Everything

 “There are only two ways to live your life: One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle.” —Albert Einstein

Yet nothing could ever convince me

that I was alone.

If God exists he isn’t just butter and good luck—

he isn’t just the summer day the red rose

he’s the snake he’s the mouse,

he’s the hole in the ground

for which thoroughness, if anything, I would adore him,

if I could adore him.

Adore him.”

—Mary Oliver from “Evening Star” .

“This is enlightenment for one to experience what the real self is like. This pure self alone can be equated with God. At that state it is at the peak of enlightenment and light of the self graces and spreads evenly from soul to sole and from sole to soul. At this stage the darśana of the Lord is possible.” Yogācārya B.K.S. Iyengar

Progress comes through practice

  “there are times when suffering’s only open path is through an immersion in what is. The eighteenth-century Urdu poet Ghalib described the principle this way: “For the raindrop, joy is in entering the river — / Unbearable pain becomes its own cure.”

—Jane Hirschfield

View fullsize

View fullsize

Akarna Dhanurāsana - near the ear bow pose

Family is like a bow that launches the child into the world. In this pose and in Iyengar Yoga, the body is instrument: bow, archer and arrow are one. The yogi must keep sight and focus on the goal.

We grow in our willpower to face the really difficult in practice when we realize how much the practice is helping, how far we have come. Suffering and pain can motivate the practitioner to get free of it. The glimpses of relief grow hope and faith that freedom is possible.

The pains are in the past now and still I am working.  I would not have my present loving family had I not stumbled my way into Iyengar Yoga, clinging with hope and desperation, (possibly driving my teacher nuts with my anxiety to progress.) I will always be indebted.

At times its seeing my own children  that pushes me to keep going, keep improving, slip out of the grip and the shadows of past traumas, anxieties, pain and dis-ease. When I look at their sweetness, innocence, strength and confidence, sometimes my heart grieves for my childhood, but mostly I feel grateful and inspired. I learn from their state of being. I don’t always have the will to go further, to see that I should be more free—but I will do it for them, because that will impact their life.  Practice is harnessing our efforts and energy to realize ourselves.

There’s no yoga without practice

 “Sādhana means practice. By the practice of yogic discipline, one is led towards spiritual illumination. A sādhaka is one who practices, applying one’s mind and intelligence with skill, dedication and devotion.” —Yogācārya B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, 1993, p. 107.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Parivrtta Trikonāsana ~ revolving triangle pose

what we do matters

“[the] whole world is upside down [when] you take the artifacts in your living room to be more real than the unity that connects us all, more real than the relations and obligations that unite us all. Perceiving the links and associations that bind the cosmos in a seamless whole is the object of yoga’s journey of discovery.”

— Yogācārya B. K. S. Iyengar, Light on Life, 2005, p. 191.

“
II.16 heyam duhkham anāgatam “the pains which are yet to come can be and are to be avoided.”
Past pain is finished. Pain we are in the process of experiencing cannot be avoided, but can be reduced to some extent by yogic practice and discriminative knowledge. Unknown future pains can be prevented by adhering now to yogic discipline.”

— Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, Yogācārya BKS Iyengar. Translation and commentary on Sūtra 11.16. 

In Iyengar Yoga classes students learn discipline, learn to pay attention to one’s actions, learn to see the results of one’s actions, learn discrimination, and this leads to the ability to practice to heal and overcome one’s afflictions and prevent future pains. Alignment within the poses, alignment of the sequences, the way the class is set up, the way we use props, instructions, etc, everything is done purposely to help the students transform and develop skills ultimately to experience “yoga.” 

““...Yoga is a preventative healing art, science, and philosophy, by which we build up robust health in body and mind and construct a defensive strength with which to deflect or counteract afflictions that are as yet unperceived afflictions..””

— Yogācarya B.K.S. Iyengar, commentary Sūtra II.16

There are poses I saw Guruji BKS Iyengar practicing in Pune that I am still trying attempting to approach.