måndag 29 december 2008

Open Your Heart


I was writing down some phrases to remind myself of what I think is important for the year to come. Suddenly, it became a poem! It's not Shakespear (or Genoud:-), but anyways, it's ok, as it is...


open your heart

be present without attachment
let the past and future dissolve
in the space of your heart

give without expectation
receive without guilt
let the action come
from the center of your heart

watch the flow of life, as it is
rest in the knowledge
that all that is, is ok, as it is

beleive, that what you need
will come to you, when you are ready
if your heart is open

every morning, be greatful
for greatfulness is love without wanting
it is the path to opening your heart

lördag 20 december 2008

Opening Up to the New Year

A wonderful thing about the mind/ body connection is that it works in both ways. The mind affects the body, and the body affects the mind. And the breath is the bridge between. If you can slow down and regulate your breath, then you can still your mind. I wish more people new this!

If you have problems in certain asanas, it might be worth while looking into what mental blockages there might be that is holding you back. When performing the asana there is probably an emotion underneath, and if you are aware and willing to listen, it will probably reveal itself. Then stay with it, work through it, accept it, let it's energy emerge so that it finally can be released. I think this is a great tool, because it might be difficult to come in contact with emotions that are deeply rooted and hidden away. But by working with the body, where the emotions reside, they can reveal themselves and thereby be possible to work with.
I think the bridge pose is one of the postures where it is very evident and easy to see the connection between body and mind. Emotions always pop up. Backward bending is stimulating and extroverting and it promotes an attitude of embracing life due to chest expansion and inhalation. So, as an exercise for embracing what life has to offer in the new year, I think I will work on my bridge pose, to open up for the new year!


fredag 12 december 2008

Being Challenged

This morning in pratice Maria helped me, as usual, in Marichy C. I just felt how I cramped in my hips. We started talking about this, and she said that since I've been doing this pose for four years, and not much has changed, she did not think it was a physical obstacle, but a mental one. Well, not like it was in headstand, where I was scared of falling, but that probably there are emotions stuck in the hip. When pushed too fiercly in the posture, the muscles automatically cramp as a way of protection. The way out she thought, could be to have a more gentle approach, telling the body that it's ok, if you relax and let go, it's going to be fine. Relearning the body how to respond. Every morning before practice, I should do Baddha Konasana and Supta Virasana to open up the hips.
Also in Urdhva Danurasana I have issues in my shoulders....(who doesn't!), when she pulled me back so that I got deeper into my shoulders, wow, lots of emotions were coming up! Sometimes you need to be challenged for things to change, but in a warm and loving way, so that you don't tighten up even more! It's so easy to stay in a safe space. Let's see what happens!

tisdag 9 december 2008

Willingness to Change

I came across these words, an excerpt from:
"Gesture Of Awareness: A Radical Approach To Time, Space, And Movement" by Charles Genoud

I find these words so beautiful...

The willingness to change is rooted
in the acceptance of what is.
What is can only be present.

The wish to change is rooted
in the what should be,
and can only be made of past and future images.

Willingness to change
doesn't mean choosing the future.
Rather it means being patient

in an open way,
not anticipating what could happen next,
and not holding onto what is happening.


The willingness to change
may be the risk to be present
without clinging.

måndag 8 december 2008

Being vs Acheiving

For two months, all I had to do was be. Now, back at work, back in a big city, I am expected to acheive. I am so tired of constantly acheiving things, and also, perhaps even worse, being judged by what I acheive. It feels like our society is based on acheivement. As a child in school, you are expected to come home with top grades. Later on when you start your carrier, you ar expected to deliver, to be a top acheiver. It doesn't matter so much who you are, but what you do.

In yoga philosophy, it is pointed out that you should not strive after the fruits of your actions. This is a form of non-attachment. If you are attached to the outcome of your action, you will not be totally present in the now, and you will most likely be disappointed by the outcome(things usually don´t come out the way you plan them to). If you act in a right way(following the yamas and niyamas), the fruits will grow naturally. For example, if you do a nice thing for someone with the intention of getting something back, you have acted out of greed. Perhaps this person doesn't immediately return the deed and you get dissappointed. This dissapointment might lead to you becoming angry at this person, you might stop calling, you might start to unconciously punish this person and so on. This will most probably lead to that this person most definately won't return the "kind" gesture, i.e. the fruit of your action did not appear. However, had you acted without any intention of receiving anything in return, but just acted out of the goodness of your heart, perhaps this person would return the goodness in plentitude. The fruits grow, but not as a direct result of a certain action.

Back at work...please boss, raise my salary, I'm really good at being!

lördag 6 december 2008

A Powerful Practice

Coming back from my journey, I have observed peoples reactions.

If you take two months off from work, and practice 6 mornings a week, it means that you have to be passionate. It means you have to have discipline, it means you have to sacrifice some things. It means you beleive in something. This seems to affect people.

Many of my friends encourage me, and I am so grateful for that. It may seem that it is an obvious thing to encourage someones passion, but it is not. I think many people are afraid of the powerful force it means in devoting yourself to what you beleive in. I wonder why?

Some people react by saying something about taking so much time off from work. The loss of income, bad career move, welcome back to reality and so on.
Others comment on the practice. Going to bed early, getting up early and practicing before going to work, eating food that is good for you instead of what tastes good, on become too fit, on being happy and positive ( I guess it stands out since so many people are more or less depressed and are afraid of listening to thier hearts wish). On choosing one thing to which you direct your energy to make it grow, because this means pulling back your energy from other things. If you pull back your energy from things that affect other people, of course they will be scared!

Although I have a long way to go before I become free from everything that is holding me back from becoming who I really am, I do beleive I am on the right path. For every day I do my practice, I get closer to myself. I have faith. I also have fears. Fears of letting go of what I have, fears of discovering what is inside. But my curiosity and desire is stronger. All I can do is carry on the practice, and accept what comes with an open heart.

fredag 5 december 2008

Keeping Up The Practice

Full of inspiration from my time in Mysore, I am determined to keep a 6 day a week practice. One important thing for keeping up a regular practice is inspiration. So, when the Mysore experience stars to fade, what to be inspired by? Well, I bought a lot of books on yoga (so cheap, so cheap...I just hope the parcel will arrive). I've already read two of them; "Health, Healing and Beyond by TKV Desikachar- please read it, brilliant book, and a book written by his son, Kaustub, about the life of Krishnamacharya. I one of these books it said that for healing to take place, you must send your body a possitive message of healing, every day. Every day madame, every day. Keep it up!

torsdag 4 december 2008

Stockholm/ Mysore

Back in Stockholm. It's good to be back, but also sad! I miss Mysore! I miss India! Maybe above all I miss my freedom. When I was there, 2 months seemed like a long time. Now that I am home it seems like I haven't been gone at all! How to readjust at work? Stress, deadlines, 8hrs a day infront of the computer, the whole "office thing" you know. And Stockholm is cold and dark.

Well, atleast it's good to be back in my flat, to see my friends and family, to have a washing machine, a warm shower, my own bed (nice and soft, although I did get used to the hard matress after awhile), and it's good to be back in the shala with Maria!

What I miss from Mysore: my friends, the shala, the warm weather, curd, jeera rice, breakfast at Santosha, palak paneer, chai at the chaistand, riding the scooter, my freedom.....

I'll be back I'm sure. Maybe in two years when Sharath is back from his presumed two year break. Until then I will probably go on another longer trip to a good yoga teacher, maybe Thailand or New Zealand. The hard part is getting off from work. But who knows what the situation will be like in a couple of years! I have faith though!