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Life lessons from Yoga

I do not know when it happened that Yoga became more than just an exercise for me.  Perhaps it was that time when Rina started a class by quoting Pema Chodron who said “Fear is the natural reaction as we come closer to the truth.” My initial reaction to those words was dread. I thought to myself,  “Oh no! This is going to be a difficult class.” Panic. Panic. While the class was indeed difficult that day, I mulled over what Rina said for a long time after the class.

Then again, Yoga probably became more than an exercise for me even before then.  Maybe, I just did not realize it. Looking back, the seemingly innocuous instructions on how to execute the asanas could be lessons on how to live. 

For instance, in one class, I was feeling frustrated about not being able to get into an asana that everyone else seemed to able to do with ease when I heard Rina say to no one in particular - “Don’t feel frustrated if on some days you can do a pose and on other days you can’t. In life, it is the same. Sometimes things come easy and other times things are difficult.”  

In another class, my other teacher, Alya, taught us how to do Virabhandrasana by giving out these instructions:“Bend the right leg forward, back leg strait. Bend the right leg forward, back leg strait. Think of the back leg as the past or where we came from. The leg that is being bent is the future as it directs us to where we are going. It is important never to forget where one came from in order to ensure that when we move towards the future we remain stable and grounded.”  Virabhadrasana is a pose that requires one to stand with legs about four feet apart. While keeping the upper body facing the front, one foot turns outward, while the other turns slightly in. The leg with the outward turning foot is then bent until the knee and the ankle are aligned. Meanwhile, the other leg is kept very straight.  It is only when both legs are activated that once could actually maintain balance in this pose.

As I said earlier, Yoga could be different for different people.  For me, Yoga has involved into something more than just a physical activity.  It has become one of my life teachers.

Virabhadrasana

I am not privy the to nuances of Hindu religion and myth.  My thoughts about the story of Virabhadra do not, therefore, purport to be those of one who is well-versed with Hinduism, but rather, of one who is grappling with the experience of this bus ride called Yoga.

Virabhadrasana is a pose that is named after the Hindu warrior, Virabhadra (which literally means warrior-friend).

From what I have read and what was told to me by my Yoga teachers, Virabhadra was created by the Hindu god Shiva in his rage, sorrow and frustration over the loss of his beloved wife Sati. Sati’s rage and humiliation at her father Daksha’s deliberate refusal to invite Shiva to an important feast, caused her to “self-combust” and die. Virabhadra was created by Shiva to kill Daksha and avenge Sati’s death. While Virabhadra did kill Daksha, he was later reborn to make his peace with Shiva. Sati was likewise reborn as Parvati, Shiva’s second wife. (more…)

On learning how to stand, dreading the standing poses and standing on my head

I suppose that my parents taught me how to stand right before they taught me how to walk.   That was the first time.  The second time I was taught how to stand was in Yoga class.

In teaching me how to stand, I remember my yoga teacher, Sari, giving me these instructions: (a) straighten your legs; (b) put your feet together; (c) lift your knee caps; (d) roll your shoulders back and down; (e) do not over-arc your back; (f) soften your gaze; (h) relax your throat; and (i) feel the balls of your feet.  With the number of instructions I was given, I was so disoriented that my mind could not even command my body to stand still.  I literally lost my balance from simply standing.  Besides, it was unclear to me how I was supposed to relax my throat.  Could such act be done?

Who would have thought that standing was so difficult to do?  When I had to re-learn how to stand and found that it was not such an easy task, I learned not to take the seemingly simple things in life like standing for granted.  As soon as I learned this lesson, I also learned how to relax my throat.

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