Well, we’ve made it to the end of the seven “Rules of Yoga, Rules for Life.” Seven seemed like an auspicious number to bring this journey to a close. But the journey never really ends, does it? Thirty years ago I first got serious about studying yoga, and I know my list would have been very different at that time. I was young, I was so sure of myself, and I had a more flexible body! A little ways down the road apiece, here’s the list I’ve been writing about the past several months. Check out the dates to remember and review:

1)    Have fun. Please show up to practice with a smile on your face and joy in your heart. It promises to be one of the best parts of your day. January 6

2)    No pain, no pain. If it hurts, don’t do it. Does this mean give up? No way! Move slowly and intentionally, even if you have to keep the range of motion small. Your body wants to move, just do so smartly. January 20

3)    Listen to your inner teacher. You’re the only one who lives in your body so you know it better than anyone else. If you learn to listen deeply, you will know what is right for you—in yoga and in life. February 3

4)    Set an intention. It’s good to know why you’re showing up for your practice. You’ll get more out of it if it’s more than just another item on your to-do list. February 17

5)    Practice regularly, by which we mean daily. It doesn’t have to be a 90-minute practice to bring you benefit; even 5-15 minutes a day will support muscle memory. Your confidence will build as you give your body what it needs each day. March 3

6)    Trust the process. Yoga has been around a long time for a reason—it works. Whether you’re flowing yoga poses, sitting in meditation, or moving prana through breathing, all of these practices have been tested and are yogi-approved. March 17

7)    Beginner’s mind. Every day is a new day. When you bring new insight and awareness to each day you are open to an incredible array of possibilities. April 7

And now it’s time to ask yourself: Which rules of yoga speak to you at this time in your life?

“If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few.” -Shunryu Suzuki

We’re continuing—and completing—our series on “Rules of Yoga, Rules for Life.” This final rule could have been the first, but it’s kind of fun to discuss it at the end. What is “beginner’s mind” and how does it apply to yoga?

Shunryu Suzuki offered these words many decades ago, comparing the many possibilities in the mind of a beginner to the few possibilities in the mind of an expert. Wow, what a contrast! As an educator I really love this perspective, because we often think of experts as having all the knowledge and therefore all the power, but in reality, knowledge and power are available to everyone because of the many possibilities before us.

Here are some qualities of beginner’s mind and the ways they show up in yoga and in life:

Novelty: When we begin something, we don’t know what we don’t know. There is always something new to explore, a new piece of information to assimilate, until finally all the pieces start to fall into place. We don’t have to lose this sense of novelty as we become more expert in yoga or any other topic we explore. We may be expert at coming into a Warrior 2 pose in a particularly way, but what might we uncover if we tried a different way of opening the arms and legs or of setting the shoulders and hips? There really are many more possibilities than the few we think we know well.

Excitement: There’s always that excitement (a little giddy, a little scary) when we begin something. Will this be fun or boring? Will I be good at it or embarrassed? Will I make new friends? It takes courage to try a new yoga class and to practice with the guidance of a teacher. If our teacher is excited about yoga and growing in their practice, we are able to get excited and grow in our practice too. Every day brings what it brings, and the only thing we can definitely bring is our own attitude, our own way of showing up for life.
 
Curiosity: Life would be so boring if we didn’t have the variety of experiences and (good and bad) surprises that arise each day. Even though we make a plan and plan our work, the fast pace of life can shift our day very quickly. Instead of annoyance or anger, what if we brought curiosity, a sense of wonderment about where this situation is heading and how our lives might be affected by it? This certainly arises in our yoga practice as we apply the practices to our achy body, distracted mind, frazzled emotions, and seeking spirit. Yes, yoga has an answer to every one of our questions if we ask and listen.

Every day we can begin again with novelty, excitement and curiosity and therefore lay claim to the knowledge and power available to us as beginners in yoga and in life.

When we’re struggling to hold onto a balancing pose or blissfully resting in savasana, we can sometimes forget that the tradition of Yoga is incredibly old, deep and varied. Yoga has been around for many thousands of years and the spiritual tradition from which it comes is likely the oldest in existence. “Old” does not always mean “better,” but it seems that in this case it does mean that Yoga is proven and can be trusted.

The next topic in the series “Rules of Yoga, Rules for Living” is to Trust the Process. We all started out as beginners who didn’t know how to place our limbs in a yoga pose, much less remember all the names of the poses or understand the philosophy that runs through the whole system. Yoga is indeed a system that touches every part of our being—body, mind, emotions and spirit. It also gives us guidance in how to live, how to die, and everything in between.

But the beauty of yoga is that you don’t have to follow all the parts of the system in order to be part of the yoga community. Whatever aspects you enjoy will bring blessings to your life and there is never any pressure to do more. You can practice the poses, breath practices and meditations. You can explore the chakras and how yoga shifts your energy. You can study the philosophical concepts that stretch the mind to see the world, others and your self in new, surprising ways. You can walk the path of ayurvedic healing to strengthen your relationship with your body and nature.

Here are some ways to trust the process of Yoga:

• Work with a teacher you can have confidence in, one who is farther along the path than you and respectful of your abilities and interests

• Check out other aspects of Yoga that interest you by reading a book or some articles or by attending a workshop

• Begin to see Yoga as a life-long journey, not just another activity you do occasionally for fun

• Affirm the ways that Yoga informs your life even when you’re not standing on a yoga mat or sitting on a meditation cushion

Wow! Trusting the process of Yoga is very much like trusting the process of life. We are born, we grow, we make choices that take us to many different places, all of which prepare us for the quieter years at the end of our lives when we make sense of everything we have said, done and experienced. Every moment of life presents its own choices and opportunities; it is up to you to decide the next step you will take.

Several years ago I was in Dallas taking training from Judith Hanson Lasater who has been a yoga teacher and physical therapist for over 50 years. One of the participants asked her, “Judith, how often should we practice yoga?” She replied simply, “Only practice on the days you want to feel good.” Sneaky teacher, that Judith, because she knew what we were all thinking: “I want to feel good every day!”

This brings us to our next installment of “Rules of Yoga, Rules for Life.” Let’s look at “Practice regularly,” by which we mean practice daily. I know, that seems to be a lot of ask, that we would practice yoga every day. But that’s only because we think that yoga requires us to leave our house or office and go to a studio for a 75-90 minute class. Most of us don’t have time for that every day, and fortunately this is not required of us.

Of course, spending time in the presence of a well-trained yoga teacher is important because we each need someone to watch our form and answer our questions. I still haven’t found an internet teacher who can do that! And this is what we receive in those longer in-person sessions: movement of the body in multiple directions while recruiting many different muscle groups, intentional and revitalizing breathwork, quiet meditation and reflection, and deep relaxation. While we may not be able to remember the sequence or exact cues, our body remembers how we moved, our energy systems remember the balance we achieved, and our nervous system remembers how to power down.

Now all we need is 15 minutes or so on the other days to reconnect with those feelings. Would you be able to find 15 minutes? You could

-Pick a pose or two to explore, such as Cat/Cow and Down Dog
-Recreate the breathing exercise your teacher taught this week
-Meditate on the breath for 5 minutes and write about it for 10 minutes
-Set your timer for 15 minutes and lie down in savasana

After all, yoga is not a class or a pose, but a way to approach life with presence, focus and balance. Whenever we can approach life in that way, it becomes much easier to say “I feel good."

We’re continuing to explore “Rules of Yoga, Rules for Life.” We’re now on the fourth “rule,” so be sure to go back through the posts to remind yourself of rules one through three. Setting an intention is a common suggestion in a yoga class, but what does this actually mean?

The Sanskrit word for “intention” is sankalpa. It comes from two roots: kalpa means “vow” or “the rule to be followed above all other rules” and san which means “connection with the highest truth.” Sankalpa is a vow or commitment we make to support our highest truth. A sankalpa practice arises from the radical notion that you don’t have to fix anything within yourself; you already have everything you need to fulfill your life’s purpose. The challenge for most of us, however, is recognizing and claiming our sankalpa.

In a yoga class, our intention can be quite simple, such as “be present today,” “move in my pain-free range of motion,” “give in to relaxation and rest,” or “have fun” (please see rule #1). An intention can also be linked to big-picture living, such as “recognize when I am not listening to my body and gently bring myself back” or “live more fully in the present moment now and every day.”

My favorite time to work with intention is during the transitions in class. After I finish some writing and I sit down on my yoga mat, I pause in the transition between activities to set an intention for my practice. When I rise from savasana at the end of the class, I pause again to set my intention for how I want to show up for the rest of the day.

If you’re alert, you’ll notice that your day is full of transitions. As you move from one activity to the next, take a moment to pause and honor the transition between activities. If you set a simple intention at each transition, each activity becomes an expression of your vow and your whole life begins to support your highest truth.

We’re continuing our series on “Rules for Yoga, Rules for Living.” If you’re just joining us, please scroll down to see Rules 1 and 2. This week we explore “Listen to your inner teacher,” something we hear a lot in yoga classes but which may need a bit more explanation.

I believe there are three levels of listening: hearing, remembering what we hear, and receiving what we hear and making it our own. Our traditional educational system trains us pretty well in the first two—hearing and remembering. How many times have you dutifully copied down everything your teacher said and wrote on the board, memorized it and then regurgitated it for an exam? Yeah, we've all been there.

But the best type of listening goes a step further—we receive what we hear and make it our own. It becomes a part of our being and it informs how we live our lives. We’ve all done this too when our teacher talked about something that really piqued our interest, such as an exotic animal, an exciting historical event, a curious philosophical concept, or a career we just knew we would be well suited for. This type of listening goes pretty deep because it touches something inside of us that helps us to know ourselves better. It sets our life on a trajectory that may surprise us, but also feels right at the same time. When this happens, we have come into relationship with our own Inner Teacher.

In yoga, the inner teacher is like intuition, an inner knowing of what is best for us. When a yoga teacher instructs us to move this way or that and we feel uncertainty inside, this may very well be our inner teacher saying, “not so fast, buddy.” When the yoga teacher talks of compassion and love, karma and consequences or struggle and triumph, we may also have an inner knowing that this is True, even if we have no philosophical background in the Vedic tradition.

So how do you get to know your own inner teacher?
•    Honor your intuition by trusting your gut more.
•    Spend time in meditation to get to know your inner landscape, especially your uncertainties and fears.
•    Know what you love and what you do well and make space for these things in your life every day.
•    Practice yoga with teachers, with other students and by yourself too so that the gifts of the tradition can build and bring blessings to your life now and into the future

In the early 2000’s I attended my first yoga teacher training and it was there I was introduced to this rule of yoga: “no pain, no pain.” It was a revelation! For many years worked out in the gym and was so familiar with another exercise rule “no pain, no gain.” As a type A personality I took that to mean that I couldn’t reach my fitness goals unless I experienced the pain of exercise, and that it was “okay” for my body to hurt.

Now I know better.

As we continue our series on “Rule of Yoga, Rules for Living,” let’s look at how Yoga approaches pain. First of all, we should remember that pain in life cannot be avoided. In fact, a famous saying from Buddhism is “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.” The Yoga tradition would agree! To live in a body in an uncertain world means that we will most certainly have pain—physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. The real question is,

What do we do with this pain?

Seeking pain in order to prove a point or garner sympathy is not a skillful way to live. Recognizing that pain is a natural part of life, however, puts us in the right place to be curious and open to whatever that pain is able to reveal to us.

Is it pain from difficult relationships? Perhaps we need to know ourselves better and respect ourselves more.

Does the pain come from not enjoying how you spend your days? It’s time to explore your purpose for being and embark on your chosen path.

Are you in pain because you have misused, abused or misjudged your own body? Back off, breathe, and live within your body’s limited abilities.

All of these are examples of “no pain, no pain,” because when we acknowledge the presence of pain in our life and pay attention to its messages, its ability to cause suffering is diminished or dissolved. And then we are left with more meaningful information for this human journey.

Give it a try today. No matter what form the pain takes, remind yourself “no pain, no pain,” stop, listen, receive. This is just another way that Yoga brings peace to body and mind

When you know the rules you know how to play the game, right? And yet, as we all know, life does not come to us with a set of rules that work for everyone at every phase of life.

What is a rule, anyway? Many of us bristle at the word “rule” because we think it means something rigid, limiting and ultimately punitive. But over the years I have studied religious communities, many of which follow what is called a “Rule.” In these communities the Rule is considered a ruler, a measuring stick that helps one order their life. For the Christian monastics the members agreed to follow the Rule as a way to live day-to-day and to live together in community.

Over the years of practicing Yoga I have come to see that it has its own rules which can assist in ordering a yoga practice. And because Yoga includes body-mind-spirit, these rules can also be very helpful in ordering one’s life too. So as a new year begins, and perhaps to inspire you to re-commit to your yoga practice, I am starting a series on “Rules of Yoga, Rules for Life.” (Thanks to Kathy P. for the suggestion!)

In this post, I highlight what I think is the most important aspect of practicing Yoga: Have fun! Whether we’re practicing at home or in a classroom, we should enjoy our practice. If we are having fun and our body-mind-spirit are enjoying the practice, we will want to come back for more. It really is that simple.

“Have fun” is a terrific life rule as well. I know, I know that not everything we do in life is “fun.” Over the holidays I spent time with a family member who was hospitalized, and this was definitely not what we wanted to be doing, especially over the holidays! And yet, we had to marvel at our great fortune to have been born in a time and place where a nasty virus could be treated so quickly and easily with fluids, antibiotics, pain meds and rest. Thinking of that makes me very happy (and grateful too).

So this week, please take time to have fun in yoga class. Standing in a balance imagine yourself as the tree, the eagle, or the moon. Holding a challenging plank or down dog, say to yourself with a smile “I am strong.” Then see if you can bring that sense of playfulness to the rest of your life. Because in Yoga as in life, joy is your birthright

We finally reach the Crown Chakra in our series on the Chakras and Unity Consciousness. Sahasrara means “thousand-petaled” and it refers to a lotus flower that blooms at the crown of the head. A lotus stem grows from the mud deep below the surface of the water and rises up to blossom at the top, just like spiritual energy that rises from the root chakra in the tailbone to the crown chakra at the top of the head. Also, the lotus opens to the sky, which symbolizes Universal Consciousness.

Unity may feel like an impossibility in today’s culture of difference and division. But aren’t there also times we experience unity with others? For example, here in the U.S. we saw an amazing pulling together of resources when the eastern states were deluged with a 1000-year flood. And most of us have had the experience of going through a tough time like an illness or death in the family only to be surrounded by love, prayers and tangible support.

So which is it, are we divided or are we unified?

It really depends on your perception, or what you are looking for. If you are looking for division and only talk to people who think the same way you do, then your perception of division will be strengthened. And if you look for unity and are willing to be open and curious with people who live, think and act differently than you, then your perception of unity will be strengthened.

Yoga teaches that we exist in Universal Consciousness. We are born in it, live in it, nurtured by it and are always trying to connect with it. It’s why we seek out lasting friendships, are passionate about caring for the earth and its critters, and why we may be drawn to follow a spiritual path.

This is where Yoga and the chakras can be very helpful in perceiving and strengthening our own connection to Universal Consciousness. All the practices we’ve explored over the past several months in this blog have led us to this place of Unity.

One of the best practices to activate Sahasrara Chakra is chanting AH and OM. AH is an open sound and you can easily picture the thousand-petaled lotus flower opening above your head. But because it is so open, AH can make you feel spacey and ungrounded. In that case, follow up with the mantra OM, the universal sound that unites all things in the material and spiritual realms, past, present and future. Try chanting AH for 3 minutes, OM for 3 minutes, then sit quietly to feel the vibration. This will give you 10 minutes of Unity to bless your days and shift your perception moving into the New Year.

Just in time to finish the year, we return to the last two chakras and how they bring us into contact with Unity Consciousness. The third eye chakra is called Ajña (pronounced AHJ – NYUH) and it means “to perceive.” It points to perception beyond what is usually taken in through the five senses. This is what we might call intuition or a sixth sense.

While there are some people who seem to be especially gifted in this area, the truth is that everyone has intuition, but not everyone makes the effort to use it. Most of us rely too much on our thinking minds or following someone else’s advice. We don’t lean enough into our own inner knowing.

The Vedic tradition teaches that all the answers we seek are within us. Looking outside may be a useful step in the process, but ultimately we have to look within and thereby take responsibility for our own decisions.

A fun and easy way to develop your intuition is to trust it when you get in your car to go somewhere. If you’re like me, you tend to go the same way every time even if there are multiple ways to get where you’re going. The next time you go, turn off your mental auto-pilot and ask your intuition how to go. Be careful not to let your mind get involved; just trust your gut. You’ll be amazed at how many traffic jams you miss! The more you do this, the stronger your intuition will become in every area of your life.

Yoga practices that activate the third eye include alternate nostril breathing and Child Pose with your forehead touching the floor, blanket or block. Mentally chant the mantra SHAM or OM while intending to listen to your own inner voice. Benefits include increased confidence and courage as you learn to trust yourself more. Great skills to take into the new year!