Semantics versus Substance

I recently conducted a workshop on “Heal the vagus nervous system to heal the body and mind”. This is how I presented the theme:

“One of the parasympathetic nervous systems, Vagus, manages our ability to control stress, anxiety, depression, body image issues, and behavioral disorders (OCD, ADHD...). Vagus nervous system represent the mind body connection. Sensitizing this system by mindful diaphragmatic breathing, mindfulness and meditation is found to heal mind and body. In this one hour session, we will explore the benefits of deep diaphragmatic breathing to sensitize the Gut Brain Axis (GBA) and the role of meditation and mindfulness to create Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA) to calm and relax the body and mind”

I was surprised when twenty five percent of the people did not show up on the day of the workshop. I had the chance to talk to one of them. “I will be judged if I had attended”, he said. “The idea is not entirely deal with the issues we may face, it is all about prevention and to be proactive”, I said. I had been there many times and I realize the semantics is as important as substance and the purpose. “May be you should’ve said, breathing exercise to relax”, my friend told and I heard her.

A week after the workshop, a young man (who attended it) came to me and said, “The breathing worked like a magic, I am able to focus, relax and get off the gloominess of anxiety. Why our physicians and therapists do not encourage these ancient wisdom”. I have an answer and being a hypothesis I would rather not spell it out.

Anyway, I took “Healing the Vagus Nervous System” as the theme of my classes for the past one month. Vagus nervous system is a wandering bidirectional system innervating the internal organs in the gut area. There are five things we may be able to incorporate in our yoga practice, life, to achieve this. This is a practice to stay away from sympathetically active flight, fight, freeze or faint to parasympathetically active realm of feed, relax and happy.

1    1. Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing: Diaphragmatic breathing massages internal organs and activates this bi-directional wandering nervous system. It also massage thyroid, parathyroid, thymus ad prostate glands. It sensitizes the manipura chakra (No…the solar plexus energy center!)

          2.  Recreate, Strengthen and Maintain spinal curves: There are number of simple pose combinations (therapeutic sequences) to achieve this: Cat-Cow-down-dog; pyramid-crescent lunge; bridge(s)-apanasana.

3    3. Detox poses extending upper thoracic area: Anytime when you flex and rotate the lower abdominal area, it is a detox pose. The best way to recognize them is look for the word “parivritha” in it. These poses amplify the internal energy that will seek a path to move up through Gut Brain Axis (GBA). Mindfully executing these poses tone GBA

4    4. Engage the chin lock, if possible, while executing poses: Locking the chin helps to massage the vagus nervous system passing through the neck.

5    5. Be mindful in breathing and poses. Practice SWOT breathing to counts of 4-4-6-2. There definitely seem to be a reason why the military folks are using this breathing to help those feet on the ground.

I am planning to continue the theme for another week. Hope to see you.

P. S. Help your students, friends, colleagues to discover their soul, the purpose of their life. Our soul, creativity and talents are like timid wild animals. Seek them gently with care to ground them. Try to connect with them and accept them with love. Our goal is to help them to discover that purpose. The rest will fall in place. It means a lot when you say Namaste,

So,

Namaste!

Jay.

 

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think…with our thoughts we make the world” Buddha

Our life is riddled with elusive questions and, sometimes, they remain as puzzle to us. The discovery of that enigma, our real obligation, leads to a cascade of events unlocking the door to our destiny; mindfulness is the path to that discovery. In silence, in meditation we pave the path to mindfulness leading to the goal we are destined to.

If mindful breathing, poses and foci form the triangular base of yoga, the converse might be true too: yoga should cultivate mindfulness. Nurturing mindfulness through yoga practice and in our life is the theme of our practice, the last one, in the park this Sunday at 8.30 am. Hope you will be able to make it.

Here are three ways one could cultivate mindfulness (and this is what we would do):

1. Make breathing mindful. Use thoracic and abdominal muscles efficiently. Bring into your mind the complementary benefits (internal organ massage, sensitization of endocrine system…) of deep breathing. Redefine breath, if you may: breathing is nothing but our ability to enhance the three dimensional capacity of lungs. Deep breathing in mindfulness triggers parasympathetic nervous system stimulating “rest and digest” and “feed and breed” mechanisms in contrast to “fight or flight” stimulation triggered by sympathetic nervous system and shallow breathing.

2. Make poses BEADED: In every pose scan your body to see how the body acts or behaves, how the energy flows (close your eyes and listen), how you are working with your body; how you are directing and elaborating your poses to yield the dynamic stability you need to stand or sit in a pose for a long time (if needed) without any discomfort. By definition, yoga should be stable and comfortable.

3. Deploy external, internal and cognitive foci in yoga practice.

All these accompanied by a live soul music rendition by Tey! Hope you see you.

Love,

Jay

P. S 1: Mindfulness reduce anxiety and depression; in children mindfulness improve test score, awareness and attitude; it help adults to succeed in all realms of their activities.

P. S 2: When I first set the time at 7.30 am, they told me, “it is too early and too cold”; I changed the time to 8.30, now they say, “It’s too late and too hot”…haha. We, still, are children. Good news for a yogi!

Yoga Practice in the Park.

In “I feel pretty”, an image conscious adult played by comedienne Amy Schumer revered her reflection in the mirror. The confusion in her mind after an accident and the ensuing drama was fun to watch. What impressed me was the message: be yourself. In the end, two resounding questions remain: “who are you?” and “what were/are you thinking?” We all had been there at some point and strive to reset. Removing the ignorance of conditioned existence is the goal of yoga, a path we tread through detox, strength, balance and the mindfulness.

I have set “reinventing through yoga” as the theme of Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu (LSSB) event this year as part of International Yoga Day on June 21^st. I am excited to organize the morning yoga practice this year too- on June 3^rd, 10^th, and 17^th from 7.30 -8.30 AM in the Cambridge Chase Park in Aurora! (1359 Haversham Dr., Aurora, IL). No yoga experience is needed- just you, your breath and a mat; rest, covered.

There are umpteen definitions of yoga in the modern world: yoga helps to stretch, bend, flex and get the full the range of motion of body to enjoy the life to its fullest to the more philosophical one- yoga helps to clean your mind, body and spirit. This clean trio enhances their union; the union we are intended to be in the first place when we are designed. It’s a beckoning to that original design. The mind, body and spirit cleansing through grace, grounding, balance, humility, strength, ahimsa (non-violence), swadhyaya (self- teaching) mindfulness and pranayama will be reflected in these three weekends. Remember: “Sharing, listening and building community builds collective resilience…” The opportunity to watch, observe and learn in a group setting makes one to hone the skill, cultivate passion and develop perseverance – the key for success. This is the plan:

Day 1: Cleansing through yoga. 7.30-8.30 AM on June 03 2018: We will practice various breathing techniques and detox poses. End the practice with meditation.

Day 2: Warrior in you! 7.30-8.30 AM on June 10, 2018: A smooth flow incorporating warrior poses depicting the grace we seek, stability we need, balance we foster, humility we nurture and the ensuing exaltation in yoga practice (and life). We will end the practice with Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

Day 3: Yoga for Balance. 7.30-8.30 AM on June 17, 2018: Beyond the physical, strength means our ability to face influences that may affect us- it is our ability to “Prevent the deviation of mind”. We will practice Pranayama techniques; poses and counter poses in sequence (including sun salutation and moon salutation)

Three of my good friends (Pradeep, Karen and Tey) would also lead the classes. Karen is a Life/ Wellness Coach and certified yoga instructor. Her yoga practice embraces ashtanga philosophy, pranayama, meditation and self-love in a nurturing ambiance. Tey teaches classical Hatha based on the International Sivananda Yoga Vendanta practice. As a recording artist, Tey has produced eleven albums, three of which feature Meditative Spiritual Music. You may find her at www.teymusic.com  We are planning for a live music yoga on 17^th. “Yoga does not just change the way we see things, it transforms the person who sees it”, believes Pradeep.  Pradeep has made yoga his way of life. His students follow the same path to benefit from the millennium old treasure to the humankind.

It’s an opportunity to synthesize your philosophy and vision on yoga; and an occasion to interact with a group of committed people who believe in its benefits and practice it with dedication; it’s a "crowdsourcing" in yoga. Hope to see you all.

Love,

Jay

Let it go…

I struggle to explain Prathyahatra - the least known limb in ashtanga yoga- in my yoga classes. “It’s a bridge between what we bring to the yoga practice (asana) and what we get out of it (meditation), it’s the withdrawal of the senses into the mind like a turtle withdraw the limbs into the shell, it’s the withdrawal from sensations and associations which could be excruciating in the beginning”, I say. Let those pass you, let it part with you, a brighter side awaits you.

“The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside

couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I've tried” (“Let it go”, from Disney’s Frozen) I never thought a Disney song would become handy to teach the philosophy of Prathyahara.

My long time mentor and boss left the corporation recently. Having worked with despots to control-freaks, it was a loss for me. I met him recently over the counter in a bar. When asked for the last piece of advice, he said, “It is hard to let things go especially when you’re at the helm. It is one of the hardest decision we may make. Train yourself for that”. Changes are permanent, embrace it, he added. Losses are excruciating; preparing for that is art, science, psychology and medicine. We may face those situations at work, in friendships and relationships.

I am ready; let it go; let all storms pass through; don’t let it paralyze you; it will make you stronger (“What doesn’t kills you makes you stronger”, Friedrich Nietzsche.) Sometimes, it’s a strength to surrender and let that go.

Love,

Jay

(“Contentment is not the fulfilment of what you want, it’s the realization of how much you already have”, unknown)

Resilience through Yoga

Resilience through Yoga

“Sharing, listening and building community builds collective resilience…” expounds Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook in her new book Option B. One of my friends recently asked, “If you are so passionate of yoga and want to practice yoga mindfully (she took a jab at me there!)  Why don’t you practice at home?” I had an answer and now a convincing one. I had written about the importance of practicing in a group setting in the past. Talent, effort, skill, passion and perseverance are key to success. Studies have shown that human being absorb thoughts, practices and skills of the group they hang out and adapt to it. The opportunity to watch, observe and learn in a group setting makes one gritty; it creates herd immunity.

Having a home practice is also equally important:

• A dedicated and ritualistic routine makes any practice effortless and we cultivate a discipline.
•  It helps to explore your mind, body and spirit and challenge at your own comfort.
•  It is an opportunity for teach yourself. One of the key component of ashtanga yoga is “Swadhyaya”- teach yourself.
• Challenge your poses. Finding solutions to the challenges is the beginning of your intelligence.
• At home you are the Queen and the King; the Guru and the Sishya; and the teacher and the student. A good teacher is the best student.

This year I changed the way to set theme for my yoga instruction. Rather than dwelling deeper into a theme for weeks, the new spiraling themes address several benefits of yoga preparing the participant for a home practice. Unless driven by a dedicated commitment, a home practice becomes a daunting task for many. Monotony coupled with boredom and lack of motivation seem to be the reasons for this non-adherence. With millions of yoga poses and the myriad of ways to access a pose, boredom may easily be alleviated. The four notches in my spiral theming are detox, strength, balance and mindfulness. If we align proper qualifiers for each theme, picking up easy and comfortable poses become easy and with practice they transform as your second nature. The qualifiers for the themes are:

1.     Detox: A) Various breathing techniques including Bhastrika and Kapalabhathi pranayama. B) Poses that access abdominal muscles and organs. Complement them by coupling with flexional and rotational poses. C) Poses that activate lymph nodes. D) Inversions, preferably after C. D) Enhance basal metabolism by recruiting major muscle/ muscle groups in poses. E) Enhance aerobic capacity.

2.     Strength: A) Explore and engage core (abdominal) muscles. B) Hold BEADED poses longer. C) Improve aerobic capacity by breathing techniques and poses designed for this. D) Execute poses to isolate muscles/ muscle groups to strengthen them.

3.     Balance: A) Pranayama techniques. B) Poses and counter poses in sequence.

4.     Mindfulness: A) Mindful breathing. B) BEADED poses. C) External, Internal and Cognitive focuses. D) Synchronize the breath and movement in vinyasa.

5.     Comfortable execution of these themes in your practice should set the stage for a dedicated home practice.

I plan to write on these themes later and hope to see you in one of my classes.

Love,

Jay

Benevolence in Yoga

Benevolence in Yoga

The theme of my yoga instruction for the past one month was, “yoga to cultivate benevolence”. Last week, I wound up one of my classes in Savasana with a note: yoga is a quest to purify the body, mind and spirit; and an invitation to join the original intended design of our self. “How do we know we are in the right path”, asked Kevin when he got up after the Savasana. I knew Kevin and knew what he meant. Being a practicing yogi, Kevin did not seek an answer on how to measure the circumference of his biceps or how his balance in tree pose increased with time. His query was deeper- how does one know if are facing our “home” and we are in the right direction. We may be farther (like the prodigal son), but does our practice invoke that nostalgia? Have we accepted that invitation to clean the mind, body and spirit; and its unity: divinity!

What is the most important attribute of divinity? Benevolence, period. It is the altruism in love; unbridled compassion; and untrimmed service. If you see changes in your life (not getting upset when somebody, irrelevantly, honk you; or when you are able to think in their shoes; or when you are able to help somebody even without being asked (as St. Nicholas did), you may be in the right path. I could see many frowning faces, “why do we need yoga to do all these?” Fair enough. If you are able to do this, you’re already a yogi!

The theme is more relevant in this season of the year- a time to contemplate and evaluate. I happened to hear a good homily last week (very rare these days). The woman spoke about how we prepare ourselves to receive the abundant blessings. “Let it go”, she said. It may be a hug, a smile, a small talk, or an unsolicited service. Let’s do that without hesitation. The birth of Jesus heralds a new beginning: a life of love, compassion, service, peace, joy and hope; and a commitment to mend, guide, lead, protect and connect us with the divine. The goal of yoga is that union with the divine through practices in our life. One of the greatest yogis I have seen is Jesus; He is the personification of karma, jnana, bhakthi and Raja yoga. The warriors in your practice represent the grace you seek, the balance we cultivate, the resilience we foster, the humility we nurture and the accomplishment at the end. The manger, the shepherds and cattle are the heights of the humility endured by that great king.

I will continue love, compassion, service, peace and joy as the themes of my classes in coming days. We will focus on heart chakra and the heart “openers” I will bring several essential oils, including myrrh, to the class. These oils have the attributes of spiritual fulfillment and transcendence. Hope you may be able to join.

Peace, Love and Joy to you and your family when you celebrate Christmas; May God Bless you all abundantly in 2018 and years ahead.

Jay

Yoga to recreate, strengthen and maintain the spinal curves.

Yoga to recreate, strengthen and maintain the spinal curves.

Skepticism in yoga and its benefits highlighted my past few weeks. My wife and I hosted one of our long-time friends- a seasoned scientist and an executive in an oil corporation. The discussion started with meditation and mindfulness and ended up in universal energy (she disagreed when I called that God), refinement (we disagreed, again, when she said “we need only common sense to achieve it”), and the path of yoga, karma and soul haven. My task after five hours of discussion, over three Moscow mules, turned ominous when Bindhu inclined to my friend. “Yoga folks oversell it”, my friend concluded when we called it a day (rather, night); and I, dubiously, conceded. I had been there when challenged for evidences and proof for myriads of benefits embodied in yoga, mindfulness and meditation. When I direct to the scientific studies they quip: “It’s a small sample”; “a good model to that sample”; “even placebo would do the same”…

A woman has been practicing yoga with me for a long time; attended many of my workshops and have been a committed yogini. Few months ago she mentioned she had breast cancer and would be out of the class for some time dealing with it. When she came back last month, I was happy to see her and enquired how she was doing. I was stricken by her momentary silence. She grabbed a piece of paper from her bag and said, “This is my report.” I peered through the clinical jargon. A single highlighted line at the end caught my attention: “The tests show no indication of cancerous tissues.” I congratulated her for the resilience and perseverance during the treatment. Her comment was, “It was all natural, I spent lots of time in yoga, meditation…as you say” I was happy and felt the sense of achievement.

When I told this story to my quest she quoted Robert Langdon (in Angels and Demons), “Faith is a Gift I have yet to receive”

Leaving stories behind, I took a middle ground for the theme of my classes for next few weeks: Yoga to recreate, strengthen and maintain the spinal curves. Of the umpteen definitions of this thousands years old art, philosophy and science, therapeutic duo sequences resonated the most with many who attend my classes. They seek relief from shoulder and neck pain, lower back pain…These few pair-sequences in yoga are simple and our body is designed to do these movements with minimal efforts (and there are plenty of anatomical evidences to it):

1.       Cat/Cow

2.       Crescent moon/ pyramid

3.       Pascimottanasana/ Poorvottanasana/ Vasishtasana (It’s a trio)

4.       Pavanamukhtasana/ Dwipadapidasana or sethu bandhanasana

5.       Viparithakarani/Supported shoulder stand/ Fish

What is the science behind these vinyasas?

1.       These sequences relax and strengthen the agonist and antagonist muscles to recreate and maintain the spinal curves.

2.       They enhance the “diaphragmatic space” for lumbar curve.

3.       They offer an opportunity to engage the three major locks- kegel floor, diaphragm and chin.

4.       You don’t need lots of faith for these poses; your body is rightfully designed to do that.

If you have any questions how to use combine these poses, please do not hesitate to call, email, message or talk to me. Hope to see you in one of the classes. Jay