Intra means “inside or within”
Inter means “between”

I’m excited to start a new series about how our practice of yoga works with all the systems of the body. Remember the old commercial frying an egg with the slogan “this is your brain on drugs”? My series will have a similar title:

“This is your body on Yoga.”

Not long ago I started meditating on my physical body, aware of the many systems that are working together to support resilience and good health. “Bless my nervous system, my skeleton, my muscles, my respiratory and circulatory systems, my digestion and elimination, my lymphatic and endocrine systems.” I am aware of how certain foods support the different systems and how exercise can be the fountain of youth for our aging bodies. But how does Yoga fit into the scheme?

Most people today were introduced to yoga as primarily a physical practice, usually as just one more exercise offering at the fitness center. I am fortunate that when I first studied Yoga over 30 years ago I did so with a teacher who was well-versed in the physical, mental/emotional and spiritual aspects of Yoga. In the 1990s I was a doctoral student who was too much in my head sitting for long hours in the library or at my computer. Since I was living in southern California at the time I could go out for a walk every day of the year because the weather was so agreeable. Unfortunately, my lower back and hip were not agreeable because of a lingering injury. Finding that yoga teacher was just what I needed to soothe my back, calm my nervous system and bring balance to my mind. 

I am thrilled to come full circle as I return to exploring what we can learn about “Your Body on Yoga.” Here are some questions to consider as we begin:

• Which of your bodily systems are you most aware of right now and why? 
• Which ones have you forgotten about? 
• How might bringing them into intra-body interconnection positively affect your well-being and happiness? 

It’s going to be an interesting journey.

There sure is a lot of water coming down and rising up. According to the teaching of Ayurveda, we live most healthfully when we live according to the cycles of Nature. Right now the earth is holding on to a lot of water, so our bodies tend to hold onto water too. How do we know this? Look at the proliferation of allergies, colds, congestion and sinus infections.

Here are some suggestions from Ayurveda that will help us feel better right now:

√ Eat less. This is not a popular suggestion, to be sure! But the earth is not providing much food at this time; this is a sure sign to eat less. The harvest is greens of all types, radishes, asparagus and green beans. Try to avoid dairy and wheat products in the spring to prevent weight gain.

√ Drink enough (but not too much) water. Since the body is holding onto water in the spring we may forget that we still need to hydrate. Drink a little less than ½ of your body weight in ounces (150 lbs / 2 = 75 oz or approx. 9 cups).

√ Detox your liver. The typical winter diet is higher in fat and calories, so spring’s sparser harvest is aimed at reducing fat and detoxing the liver. Start the day with 1-2 cups of warm water with fresh squeezed lemon juice. Eat fresh beet and tart apple salad for lunch or a snack. Avoid fatty and fried foods. Cut down on alcohol.

√ Practice Yoga. Of course, yoga provides excellent practices perfect for the spring. Practice powerful breathing exercises like Breath of Fire and Bellows. Do chest and upper back stretches like back bends, Eagle pose and Cow Face with a strap. Do 2-4 Sun Salutations every day to break a little sweat.

Try these time-tested suggestions and you’ll be feeling great throughout the Spring.

“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 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

There are many things that we each love in this beautiful world—people, companion animals, places, activities and (my personal favorite) food. Over the years of practicing and studying Yoga I have come to love it very much and feel so fortunate that I can make this my life’s work. Let’s consider some of the ways Love and Yoga go together.

Yoga teaches us how to love ourselves more. For the past decade I have struggled with hip, back and leg pain. Over time I developed a good program of massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, floating, meditation and yoga to help me cope. Then the pandemic hit two years ago and I lost access to all the outer supports that helped me. I learned about self-reliance; only I have the ability to save myself. When I asked myself “why do I want to get out of pain?”, once I got past the obvious answers of “I want to practice yoga, walk, sleep better, etc.”, the true reason rose to surface: “I want to love myself more.” For the first time, I have pain relief.

How can you love yourself more?

Yoga expands love in our hearts. Yoga is part of an ancient tradition that includes devotional chanting and honoring one another. Have you ever said “Om” and “Namaste” in class? These are really important practices because they increase love in our hearts and show us how to send it out to others. If you want to connect with this energy even more, try chanting this mantra: AHAM PREMA (uh-hum pray-mah). It means “I am love.” I once did 10,000 repetitions of this mantra and it really helped me see and understand the energy of Love in the world.

How can you expand love in your heart?

I am touched by this quote from the Persian poet Jalal al-din Muhammad Rumi:

“Love is the water of life; jump into the water.” -Rumi

I hope your explorations of Yoga bring you more deeply into this amazing realm of Love.