As students of  an asana yoga practice, we work to improve our understanding of ourselves by experiencing ourselves within each moment. This is achieved by exposing ourselves to certain variations of form or expression, aka asana, and then observing the reactions, sensations, and fluctuations that occur within ourselves. To remain observant is difficult, to say the least. We can facilitate this process with the creative breath. In most circumstances, throughout most of our lives, breathing is an automatic (autonomic) and reactionary process. For example, when we encounter some strenuous or stressful circumstance our breathing pattern reacts to this and adjusts rate and depth without any conscious act. We take this for granted.  In fact, we rely on the inevitability of the reaction to carry us through the experience. In an effort to remain observant of ourselves within each moment, it is helpful to alter the relationship we have with our breathing. Instead of allowing breath to remain automatic and reactionary, bring the movement of breath to the forefront of imagination and cerebral activity.  Breathe as a conscious and creative act. The asana and the experience of the asana within the moment then is a result of the breath.  The breath is the creative source of the experience.  This is a fundamental shift in perception that while subtle, profoundly transforms a practice and our experience of ourselves.

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Eight Years A Yogi….Always A Beginner

It’s the dawning of another new year and almost time for my eighth anniversary as a Bikram yogi. What, you may wonder, is the big attraction that’s pulled me to practice this yoga for these many years? I suppose it’s a multi-faceted magnet, as I am a multi-faceted human being.

I practice yoga enough to keep my body challenged. Yes, it’s possible to be challenged by the SAME practice for eight consecutive years. Millimeters matter and are hard won. Hips take years to open up. Hamstrings seem to prefer being tight rather than loose. And bodies change….and change….and change over the years. Yoga was actually easier for me when I first began, and certain postures were easier to fully express then rather than now. My continuing yoga practice has helped me to accept my aging body, to delight in its abilities, to challenge it in its lazy times. Having to look at myself in the mirror for ninety minutes allows me to find the beauty there as well as the humanity. There’s always something to love…and always something to work on.
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