Sat Chit Ananda

Tuesday anusara yoga class
Props: block
Heart quality: celebration
Principles of emphasis: muscle energy and organic energy
Theme: sat - chit - ananda
Today we are going to focus on the second line line of the invocation “Sat-chit-ananda-murtaye”. Sat means truth or is, chit means remembrance or consciousness, ananda means bliss or celebration and murtaye means form. A murti is a Hindu statue of a god, and it is believed that the forms hold the qualities of consciousness that are associated with that god. Together this whole line means “This essence inside takes the form of truth, consciousness and bliss”.

I love this verse because it holds within it the two main reasons for doing yoga. Chit and Ananda. To learn more (which is really just remembering because we already know but we forget) and in this learning (or remembering) we find bliss which is cause for celebration.

Ultimately what we are re-learning about ourself is that we are awesomeness. Just imagine for a moment that you were the pure awesomeness and you wanted to experience yourself in a body. But once you became a body you forgot. You thought you were seperate and you became self conscious and doubted yourself.

When we chant the invocation, when we practice yoga it's an opportunity to remember! That you are total awesomeness!! And once we remember ourselves as pure awesomeness, we start to recognize others as that pure awesomeness too.

Chit is the remembrance (or re-learning) and ananda is the feeling in our heart when we do. When ever I chant the invocation the feeling tone in my body-mind-heart changes.  I feel connected, full of peace, and happy. These are all truth that I am reminded of.

 The yogi is on a constant search of remembrance and of celebration. We will forget. It is part of the dance. We forget and then we remember and celebrate. In this way our lives become this celebration! Life becomes a party as we walk around celebrating.

So today we are going to focus on that remembrance, remembering ourselves, our true selves as deeply awesome. :) And also remembering each other. So we are going to do some fun partnering exercises, to held remind each other, and celebrate each other.

Cat/cow
Lunge
Lunge side stretch
Low lunge glute work pick up back knee a few inches- L.l quad - upright twisted quad
Hrl twist- L.l quad twist
Eprk quad- Eprk twist quad
Lunge- Tree - vira 3 - vira 1
Lunge- Stranding pigeon- vira 3 -parvrita ardha Chandra chapasana block
Core work crunches (modified heel slides for pregnant ladies)
AMV partner
AMV
Bridge
Urdhva danurasana
Eka pada urdhva danurasana partner
Janusarisasana - Parvrita janusarisasana strap
Root femurs symmetrically
Shavasana

Satya: Truthfulness

The Yoga Sutras, believed to have been written some two centuries before the life of Jesus Christ. Patanjali gives the yamas as basic rules of living. The yamas and niyamas are the doS and fonts of yoga. Similar to the 10 commandments but if you don't follow them you don't go to hell. Following these rules helps the yogi suffer less. In  the second chapter of the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali states significantly in verse 16 that “the sorrow which is yet to come is to be discarded.”

     Satya, telling the truth has many layers. The first and most obvious is speaking the truth to others. Being vigilant that what we say is true is less likely to hurt another which supports the first Yama, non violence. Just like we should speak the truth to others we should also speak the truth to ourself.
This is the next layer of satya has to do with inner truth. This is the difference between honesty vs. integrity. Honesty is speaking the truth externally. While integrity is what we do when no one is looking and how we speak to ourself.
Consciousness

Let's break down the Sanskrit : “Sat” means the eternal unchanging Truth “Ya” is the activating suffix which means “do it”. By this definition, satya means aligning and being in harmony with the ultimate Truth.  We chant this in our invocation. If the un changing truth is that we are all one when we act/ do it from this place we act kind to all, ourselves included again supported the first Yama, ahimsa.

As I focused on practicing Satya this week one area I noticed where I was avoiding looking at the truth was my credit card statement. Gulp. Thinking maybe if I don't look at it I can pretend it's my happening. But unfortunately it only gets worse with no awareness. Which is similar to my kidneys. If I don't keep an awareness on my likelihood to collapse my kidneys it will only get worse and cause back pain. I have to look at the truth of my tendencies so I can move into better harmony.

Another example off the mat, your in a relationship and you think it is so great and you are so in love but he is beating you. You don't let yourself see that part so you can go on thinking at a good relationship. We have to look at the relationships we are in and see if they are truly/ truthfully good for us. And I'm not talking about just your relationship with your significant other but the relationship you are in with everyone and everything. Your family, job, food, body, environment... I remember my first anusara class I was shocked when a teacher suggested I feel my own butt and help widen it. What a foreign concept! Fast forward 5 years and I love palpating my body to a) help it come into alignment and b) notice I it is doing what I want it to do. For example when I draw my thighs back do I get a curve in my low back? When I squeeze my legs toward the midline do my muscles fire? I am still amazed to this day that I think I am doing certain alignment principles and think I am getting a certain result but upon further investigation find that I am not actually straightening my back leg when I think I am.

In today's classes we will be focusing on muscular energy and really investigating how our muscles engage. What is the truth? How do you engage the truth?

Second Yama, Satya = truthfulness.
Poe: muscular energy
How do you engage the truth? Investigate for the truth. Are you muscles really engaged?

Anusara:
Lunge
Low lunge forarms
Anjaneyasana - l.L quad
Active pigeon
Warrior 1
High runners lunge twist - w2
Wide leg forward fold - scandasana - scandasana
Trikonasana
Eka pada quad
Eka pada twist quad
Ardha hanumanasana
Ardha hanumanasana ankle loop
Parsvotonasana 2 blocks
Partner handstand legs isometric "L"
Kick handstand
Torture poses are wall:
Low lunge pointed
Anjaneyasana flexed reach hands to wall
Janusirsasana

FUNdamental:
Tadasana lunge 3x
Lunge- Tadasana blanket 3 pushes, hold
Standing pigeon wall
Wall mod. Chat
Wall spider finger cobra
Sun A 3x
W2 blanket
Star:
Wide leg forward fold
W2
Mod. Parsvak
Handstands wall
Supta pigeon
Bridge
Bridge blanket
Bridge
Janusirsasana
Strap ground femur point/ flex foot
Strap supta pada a, b, c

Choose To Make More Beauty

Being on modified bed rest has been a great opportunity (looking for the good) to go through old yoga notes. Yesterday I was reading my notes from the Anusara-Inspired teachers gathering in Tahoe during Wanderlust, during it John Friend said, “Every day we get to choose to make more beauty, to make more light, to bring more love into the world, or not”. This really stood out to me. We have a choice! Meaning we can choose to bring more beauty + light + love into the world or we can choose to bring more ugliness + darkness + hate into the world. I hadn't thought about the flip slide of this before. I just thought laa dee daa I am bringing more beauty into the world. I didn't think that all those times I don't feel good, don't hold the door open for someone, flip someone off driving, make rude judgemental mental comments in my head at the market, gossip with friends about someone, be in self pity, or just leave the house in a bad mood. In all those examples I am choosing to negatively impact the world we live in and share.

This made me think about emissions. We are all emitting energy all the time, it is often called our aura or the energy field that surrounds our body. Think about what it feels like to be physically close to someone who is happy and how it makes you feel to just being near them. Now imagine what it would feel like if that person was sad, or angry. The energy they are emitting and you are experiencing just from being in their field is drastically different. In this way just by choosing our attitude we are choosing to either add more love + joy + enthusiasm to the world or we are choosing to add more  hate + sadness + angry to the world. (Not to say we should never experience these feelings it is healthy to experience the full spectrum of emotions but not healthy to stew in it... another topic for another post.)

When I think of things that emit in a way that brings more beauty and love into the world I think of the sun, artists, flowers, happy dogs, color full leaves, rainbows... when I think of things that pollute the world I think of smoke stacks, cars, oil spills, garbage, cigarette smoke.... Which do you want to be? I want to be a bright flower that makes people smile + feel better.

WHAT ARE YOU EMITTING?

 OR...

This simple yet profound teaching has struck a chord in my heart and now I am so much more aware every time I open my mouth to speak (or sometimes too late, and I notice it after I have already spoken...change comes at first with awareness).  I am a big fan of the gratitude practices, of writing in my journal, often at night, a list of things I am grateful for. I do this especially when I am feeling sorry for myself. Well I am starting a new practice! A Shri (beauty) practice! I write down how I added beauty + light + love to the word for the day. It has been making me feel really good to look at the list and brings happiness to my heart as participate in creating a happy earth for all. I invite each of you to become more conscious of the ways that you contribute more beauty to the world each day.

Look, touch, speak, and breathe beauty!

Definitions:
E·mits: To give or send out (matter or energy).
pol·lu·tion: The presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects.

Love emanates from the soul

Reading Ram Dass new book Be Love Now at a cafe with my doggie. This book is like poetry to my soul and moves me deeply. Here is a paragraph page 13

"most emotions like fear, anger, lust and envy are connected to our personality and the impulses from our conscious or unconscious mind, instincts for survival and procreation. LOVE is part of the emotional spectrum, but it is different because it emanates from our soul. Even when it becomes confused with our ego projections, love is actually from the higher essence of our being, the part that begins to merge with the spirit and approach the One. "

I love this. The other emotions are not bad. They are not separate from the one. Everything,including all the emotions are all possible entry way to merge our heart with the ocean of love/divine.

Anusara, anu means one or the soul. Its like the individual in a limited form. For example a cup of ocean water. Sara means in the flow, for example the entire ocean. are hearts can seem small and separate however we are all connected and in flow with each other. We are free to act as we want cultivating different emotions like fear and anger.. We are also free to feel and align to love which is emanating from are soul at every moment!!

(just got a new app and can write blogs from my phone)

Love

Today I went up to Millcreek canyon with some friends and we went on a hike and barbequed. We went on a hike that overlooked that Wasatch mountains it was stunning. The hillsides were so green due to all the water we have gotten this year. I felt embraced by this greenness. I love the color green because that is the color of your heart energy center. Being in the mountains made me feel like I was dwelling in the heart.

Love has also been on my mind lately because I have been reading Sally Kempton’s phenomenal book, Meditation for the Love of it, enjoying your own deepest experiences. There is a wonderful exercise in the book called “Focus on an Experience of Love”.  Close your eyes and focus on your threat and ground and center yourself. Start visualizing someone you feel love for or have loved in the past. To make this experience more real add some details into this image. What are they wearing? Where are you? Let yourself feel love for this. Don’t be specific about the love like why you love them just simply feel that love energy you have for that person. Continue to do this for a few minutes until you can really feel the love and then let go of the person and shift your awareness to the love energy itself. Bath in this loving energy.

I love me some heart space awareness.

Here is a link to Sallys book: http://www.sallykempton.com/products/

Thanks for reading, Om shanty. Be Love
Kim

week 3 mentorship homework

Life has been pretty crazy lately with my birthday, xmas, yoga studio shifts, school ending, new school starting, health problems... One of the things that feel to the side was some of the Christian Sell mentorship homework. This afternoon I had some free time I quickly did an aassigment (heads up this is not perfect just wanted to do it). I havent taught this class yet. but i did teach a class this morning with a similar theme that i kind of expanded off of for this assignment

Personal-> universal: I have been thinking about what I want to cultivate in myself for 2011. I want to create more space around my heart so I can live in my heart and respond from my heart and with practice I hope to keep my heart open no matter what situations, issues, poses... I face
The Anusara yoga philosophy: tells us that every moment and every experience is an opportunity for us to live in our heart.
Define concept: Space “three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space) Patience “Patience is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience)
What it means to me: Space is very important to me because when I create this expansion in my chest I can more easily live in my heart and I can respond with patience in more appropriate ways then if my chest was closed and constricted.
Chit Ananda: When we create space around our heart we can express patience in any situation.
Refining chit ananda: “when we know this expansion (state of spaciousness) we can express our self with patience (feeling quality) because we can reside in our hearts through any situations”
Tie into UPA: Opening to grace creates space up the sides of our body and into the front and the back of our heart creating a quality of patience for us to move through this practice being very aware and connected to the heart
Tie into upcoming class: Today we will practice creating space around the heart with patience as we face difficult poses while keeping our awareness in our heart and working toward urdhva danurasana.
Verbs: Open, length, broaden, expand, lift
Adjectives, verbs and feelings: Patience, endurance, softness, fortitude, calmly, constancy, perseverance, enthusiasm, compassion, aspiration
actions and heart feelings linked:
• Lengthen from your waist up toward your armpits with enthusiasm
• Expand the circumference of your heart in all directions with perseverance
• Lift the belly away from the pelvis with softness
• Soften the skin to the bone with patience
• Move the thigh bones back with fortitude

Definitely feel like I am struggling linking up to adverbs, adjectives and feelings. But am really enjoying how these homework assignments are inviting me to think in new ways (so much so that my brain hurts :D)

1st 2nd 3rd principle. Finding a balance between stability and ease.

I just taught a class at the yoga center and it was really great! I was feeling really overwhelmed today with school and upcoming volunteer/ internships approaching. I have been thinking about sthira/effort/stability and sukham/ease/freedom. Right now I am balancing school, work, yoga, volunteering, husband, dog. My tendency while trying to balance this it to use a lot of effort and I need to bring in more ease. I work so hard, over think things, over plan things and I get stressed. I literally contract. I also have noticed that I have friends and classmates whose natural tendency is ease. They don’t really think about homework, tests, and internships. This causes them to worry but not in a contracted way like when I worry. Both of these situations are unhealthy. I need to pause and breathe and be a little more easeful. I need to recognize that because I am so disciplined it allows me the opportunity of freedom because I have finished all my papers early and I can take a few hours off and practice my yoga or go out with friends. For people who are to at ease or lazy need more stability, structure and discipline so they don’t fail the class. This is just me kind of thinking and rambling.

So that was my plan to work on 2nd principle/muscular energy and 5th principle/organic energy.

I also want to make sure that we focused a lot on 1st principle/open to grace. I have somewhat struggled with teaching 1st principle because it is so vague. “Open to grace” “inner body bright” I have also had a hard time finding the right words to help my students really connect and understand this MOST IMPORANT PRINCIPLE. However I have been thinking about it a lot lately as my life has gotten more chaotic. When John was here he was saying that 1st principle is “take it easy”. I like that. I have also been thinking about how first principle is taking it easy but it is also bringing your awareness to where you are. It is acknowledging where you are and to be 100% present 100% authentic and be okay with what that experience is. When you are present and authentic and accept yourself as you are and where you are, you can be proud. That proudness and acceptance to me is inner body bright. It allows me to accept where I am. It allows us to acknowledge that I am part of grace and open to grace. To give another example about homework. Some nights I am working on 3 papers, I am reading a chapter, I am emailing a teacher, I facebook open… I am doing 10 things at once. When I do this I am not 100% present to any one of them, how could I be. I also cannot be 100% authentic because I am not present; I am not fully showing up. I need to open to grace. It’s just like when I am mindlessly doing yoga, I step into my lunge like the teacher ques but really I am thinking about dinner, and my husband, and my homework, and my inner thighs, again I am not present or aware. When I pause in each of these situations. I recognize hey I here. I am going to be fully present, and not divide my energy. I am going to soften, I am going to remember how I am a great person and that I am connected to this amazing essence that is so much bigger then myself. That everything will be alright. When I come to place of “oh yeah, I am here, I am present, and I think I am awesome” then I can begin to find stability and I can experience freedom. But if I am not open, receptive, or in remembrance I can even begin to work on stability and freedom.

These three principles: open to grace, muscular energy, and organic energy are the main principle of Anusara yoga inner and outer spiral are only refinements.

I talked a little about the idea of don’t always go with you dosha. I gave the example of going to a restuaraunt where there is spicy food and you have the option between mild, medium, hot, really hot. You go to the restraint with a group of friends and in the group there is a really firy passionate friend, and also a timid shy friend. It is most likely the fiery person will get the really hot option and the timid will get the mild. When the fiery person doesn’t need more fire and could probably benefit from the mild and the timid person could probably use a little heat. The point is we have a natural tendency that we tend to go with. I pointed this out in poses. If you are someone who gets into the pose and actively engages so much you probably don’t need to continue to work on squeezing the muscles to the bones and in towards the midline, maybe you should work on softening and extending out in opposite directions. And vise versa.

I also pointed out that through this awareness and learning about ourself we gain knowledge CHIT and we can use this knowledge with skill so we can be more happy, and blissfull ANANDA
Wow wrote this quickly. Now homework to do

May I find a balance between effort and ease so I may enjoy the freedom of life while maintaining stability.

yoga= skill + action. Dont just react choose how to respond!

One thing that was reaffirmed for me over the weekend with john friend was the power of yoga. That what we do on that mat can help us make huge shifts in our life. Our practice can help shift our perspective and gives us tools to not just react and fall into our habits/addictions but instead to choose how we will respond. Yoga helps us make these shifts by fostering awareness, intention, and skill.
We all have tendencies. We all are inclined to react to situations in certain ways. Just think how you react when a car cuts you off…Our reactions are our tendencies which become habits that can become addictions. For example, when you get sad your reaction is to have a cigarette. This reaction soon becomes a habit and the more you do this habit the more likely it is it will turn into an addition. If we cultivate awareness we can notice our tendencies. We can begin to observe that when we get sad our tendency is to have a cigarette. But instead of reacting and going with our tendency we can skillfully choose how we want to respond which can reinforce our intention. Maybe skillful intervention includes taking deep breathes, reciting mantra, going on a walk, journaling...
What is important is that we don’t just throw away the habit; instead we shift the energy so we can turn it into something productive that helps up lift us. That helps make us a better person. Our tendencies are based off a reaction that was triggered by an emotion, which was a reaction to some stimuli. Our tendencies are triggered from these reactions, smoking a cigarette was just one example other include alcohol, over eating, under eating, taking out your emotion out on someone else, self pity/hatred, gambling… The main negative emotions that trigger these tendencies include sadness (I am not good enough), anger (you are different then me) and fear (I want to control everything, and I am afraid of loss). The more we cultivate our awareness the more we will be able to notice when something triggers one of these emotions and then we can start to notice what tendesnisies we have based off these emotions. If we can witness these emotions and learn how to be with them we can shift them with our skill and our intention. Yoga gives us the skills to choose how we respond instead of reacting out of instinct, habit, or addition. When we choose how we respond we can shape our life and use our actions to make us a better person, more generous, more patient, more companionate, more stable, more uplifting, more calm, more grounded….

We can start building our ability to notice our inical reactions and tendencies in our yoga asana practice. What happens when you come into a pose that you are awesome at? What happens in a pose you can’t do the full expression of? What happens in warrior two? What happens in pigeon? What happens when you hold a forward fold for a longer time? If we start to notice the feelings that arise in a pose for example anger, fear, sadness. Then we can begin to follow that emotion and see what tendency it trigger, drifting off with thought so you don’t have to be with it, or facing fire with fire and trying to dominate the pose, telling yourself you suck. When we notice this we can instead of reacting out of our tendency we can choose a different way (love, patience acceptance and compassion). One that helps us shift our life for the better. Our yoga practice allows space for “rocking shits in our self and everyone around us” (JF)
Look at your tendencies:
• Where do you tend to physically place yourself in a yoga room?
• Where does your mind tend to go in each pose?
• How do you tend to react when someone cuts you off in traffic?
• How do you tend to feel when someone says something nice about you?
• What is you reaction when someone you love yells at you?

sunday morning practice with John Friend Q&A's (mercury in retrograd, anger, supreme) + asana notes

I woke up Sunday morning feeling so great. Like I wrote in a previous post I completely loved saterday afternoons topic during practice about samskaras, so I woke up reved for more. John again started the morning session with questions, here are a few with some of the main points we discussed.


Q: mercury in retrograde, how do we work with it?
A: In any situation find how to utilize it for your advantage! If you look at the word retrograde it stars with “re” as in “review” or “re-evaluate”. We can use this time when mercury is in retrograde to our advantage by pausing. Pause and go back and look at your stuff. John said when mercury is in retrograde he goes and reads all the emails that were skipped and went unread. When we try to go forward during this time we find our self stuck.
Q: how to deal with other peoples anger
A: In Shiva-shakti tantra there are skillful ways to interact with any kind of energy
We can deal with anger negatively in 3 ways:
1. We put our self down. We feel guilty.
2. We meet fire with fire. We get angry.
3. We get scared and run away

We can also deal with anger positively in 3 ways:
1. We settle and our patient
2. We are generous and loving
3. We help them skillfully address their anger
Q: Shiva Shakti tantra and the 6 attributes of the divine.
A: (I know these attributes and have been talking about them regularly in my classes. I think these six attributes are amazing and we often forget that they exsit with in us!) John said these can be good responses to who is God? What is God? That was really cool and allowed me to connect to these attributes in a different way.
1. Ananda, blissful, joy of radiance
2. Chit, aware, alive, awake, self knowing
3. Svatantrya, ultimate freedom, not bound by anything
4. Spanda, has a pulsation
5. Purnatva, lacking nothing, completely full and perfect
6. Sri, the highest form of goodness, sacred

We can summarize these 6 attribute with chit ananda. Which is also why we practice yoga…To know more and to be happy. I find myself thinking about chit ananda all the time. I recently started going back to school studying therapeutic recreation and am feeling really busy. What I love about school is that the more I learn (about anything) the more I learn about myself. All this learning helps me be happy because I am learning who I really am. Learning more helps me look at my junk, my stuff. This self examination, chit (knowledge) helps me to get rid of habits and stuff that isn’t help lift me up and keep doing the things that do. When we look at our stuff we see where we make mistaks. And we all make mistakes I know I do. We make mistakes because we loss the connection to the highest because we loss the connection to the clear, bright, rocking delight. But once we are aware (chit) we can make changes. (read my previous post about Ma Durga and how Durga can help cleanse us of these cycles and a mantra to help)

In the morning practice “we held space for rocking shifts in our self and everyone around us”

Asana notes:
• Bakasana: get low, flat back at fist then round your back puff into your kidneys. Pelvis should be in line with heart
• In the transition in vinyasas keep the finger pads rooted. Finger tips never come up that is a sign of being lazy on our path
• AMS-> chaturanga arms with knee bet over arm
• Sputa virasana-> push up with arms in ½ urdhva-> come up to camel (head last)
• Urdhva danurasana one hand to front of femur bone, bend the elbow on the floor lightly touch head then push back up
• In urdhva danurasana hands are positioned slightly out

My teaching:
tomorrow/wednesday 540-7 at the yoga center
thruday 12-1 only 4$ at the yoga center
 
I have cut back my teachign schedual so much. It is weird not taeching more and at more locations. I will be starting a private weekly session with waterford highschool faculty. i did this last year and it was such a wonderful experience. When we started everyone was telling me I am not good, I am a begginer, will this be easy... By the end they were rocking cant and asking questions like. Can you tell a differnce in our attitude we are all getting along better as faculty and the with the students. cant wait to continue our work. I am also hoping to sub alot and do privates or group privates. The cut back was to help me focus on school and my own practice.
 
Happy evening
cheers

Highlights from my diary

(recently moved into a new apartment with no internet yet, so blog posts might be less frequent till I get connected)

I just got back from The Uncle Uncanny’s Music Festival. It was a wonderful experience full of shri (beauty) and Lila (play). I danced to music, made new friends, played/ got stung by a bee, taught yoga, hula hooped, reiki, swam in a river, smelled the earth, smelled flowers, watched the sky….
Once I returned home to my new apartment I arranged my books on my bookshelf and came across my journal from a few months back, that I had temporarily packed. I looked through some of my entries and thought I would briefly share (these are just highlights from some of the topics I have been studying, if one interests you leave a comment and I would love to elaborate more fully.)

1. Yoga Sutras 2:3 discusses the 5 Kleshas (pains/blockages to spirit)
a. Avidya: ignorance (a =not, vidya=truth) associated with tamas
Asmita: “I-ness” “ego” a false sense of self. The person you think you are is not the person others think you to be. Makes it hard to learn from karma.
Raga: attachment. It’s not nessisarily your physical possession of something it is that things possession of you. Attachment of the mind (I find this kleshas fascinating, it is very interesting to observe)
Dvesa: repulsion, fear of the new/unusual/different (closed minded, judgmental)
Abhinivesah: fear of loss, clinging to one’s life

Thinking of maya reminds me of the freedom we have in our life. I heard Douglas Brooks say (roughly) its great we have freedom! The problem is everyone else has freedom too. This freedom allows us to fully enjoy life and choose our perspectives. We can choose to be negative; we can choose to pick at everything, point out and notice the bad. We can choose to see the darkest side of every situation. I think most people choose these perspectives because it is easy, it is easy to notice the bad. We also are free to choose another perspective. We can choose to be positive, we can choose to see the goodness in life we can even choose to see that everything in its essence is imbedded with goodness, everything is intrinsically good. We can choose to look at the brightest side of every situation.
Question: How can we use the kleshas to see the beauty and goodness in life?

2. The 3 A’s of Anusara yoga and Karma, Jnana, Bhakti...

a. I have been re reading the Bhagavad Gita and reading other translations (which is always fascinating to look at someone else’s perspectives). I think Krishna’s main teachings in The Gita are the Three Ways to “God”. Krishna tells Arjuna that you can connect with the heart and with God through Karma (action), Jnana (knowledge), and Bhakti (devotion). What I love to much about Anusara yoga is that it offers an invitation not to pick one of these ways to know and connect more fully with your heart, but Anusara yoga is an invitation to practice all three of these ways at once, we call these the 3 A’s of Anusara yoga. The three A’s and how they relate to the three forms of yoga:
• Attitude (the Will to be, know and to do)= Bhakti
Alignment (knowing the Will) = Jnana
Action (manifesting the Will) = Karma

3. The Highest purpse of Anusara Yoga
a. CHIT: Self-Knowledge to know oneself
b. SHIVA: Awakening, recognition, remembrance, self-realization, enlightenment
c. ANANDA: Creative expression, to enjoy the freedom of being
d. SHAKTI: Make beauty, serve the increased joy of the whole, exulting in the Goodness, celebration, flowing with the heart

4. Pranayama is formed by two Sanskrit words. Prana= Life force energy, Yama= The control of. Pranayama is really cool because when we use and control our breath we can conrol our life force energy.

a. These are five main movements of Prana:
• Prana: rising in-drawing energy, from foundation and extending up
• Apana: downward rooting energy, rooting into foundation
• Samana: contracts to the core, hugging into the midline
• Udana: Rises and moved outward, extending out from midlife, organic energy

b. These five movements of Prana underlie every movement we see around us. Everything is an extension of Prana…The way we move, a tree grows, a car moves, the planets swirl, our heart beats… Prana this vital life force energy is marvelous because it is the fabric of everything. It is like the oneness we can merge and experience our self with. Through the experience and control of our breath we can begin to experience our pranic body. This experience opens us up to something bigger. First principle.

c. “All that exists in the three heavens rests in the control of Prana. As a mother her children, oh Prana, protect us and give us splendor and wisdom” Prashna Upanishad 2.13

PAUSE

I have been focusing on Day 1 of Elena Brower’s Yoga of living course. This first day is called PAUSE and Elena encourages us to notice the difference between expansion and contraction in the physical body. She says that contractions are almost always caused by two negative states caused by rushing or doubting. She then says when you notice yourself contracting “take one breath to shift from contraction to attentive expansion”.

The homework:
1.Write down at least 3 occasions when you noticed a contraction, what preceded it? Where it was in your body?
2.Were you were able to transform it into an expansion using the breathing? What did that feel like?

I really am enjoying today’s assignment. Using my attention to notice when I am expanding and when I am contracting. When I am expanding I feel open, spacious and full of love. When I expand I feel big and powerful, but at ease and full of acceptance. When I am contracting I feel closed, sad or anger. When I am contacted I feel so small, weak, unsure and so wrapped up in myself.

As I work up this morning I stated my intention. I took a few deep breaths and I noticed how this act of breathing with awareness helps me expand. As I started my morning I started by experiencing this wonderfully open state of expansion.

As I moved about my morning I keep my attention of this expansion and contraction. There were many times as I would be doing something that I could feel this contraction. I could feel myself getting small. Being a yogi I am very aware of my body, when I felt myself contract I felt my back slightly round, and my shoulders roll forward. I could feel my brain hurt. As I started the day I knew I would have many contractions but I was surprised how many I noticed and how such little things would set them off.

I did notice that every contraction was caused by me judging/doubting myself/others or from me rushing.

DOUBTING:
•I was thinking about how I already love this course from Elena Brower and how excited I am for working with the next assignments. Then I thought about sharing it with others…on my blog and my friends and fellow teachers. It was in this moment I contracted. I doubted how much knowledge I already have, and I wanted to hoard this wisdom and keep it to myself so I could be the best. I felt myself contracting and tightening from my brain, my heart, and into my core. I was driving my car and I felt my back slightly round like a scary Halloween cat as my shoulders rolled in as if I was protecting my heart. I paused as I noticed this, and I turned to my breath. I wasn’t even trying to figure out if I would share this knowledge or not. As I shifted my awareness to my breath I naturally sat up straighter (inner body bight) and corrected my shoulders (shoulder loop, who knew you could practice Anusara in the car). I felt myself starting to expand from my pelvis, up my ribs and out my heart. I felt open and full of gratitude, and my head felt more spacious. In this new state of expansion the choice went away, of course, I would share this knowledge.
ohttp://www.artofattention.com/ sign up for the email list sign up and you will get emailed a password, then you can access the course from that same webpage.

RUSHING:
•Tyler (my husband)and I have been looking for apartments. I wanted to turn in my application by 9am and we didn’t even leave the house until 10:30am. After we left the house we had to stop and pick up pay stubs and we had to go to the Social Security Building to get a recipt that says our SS# on it, since I couldn’t find our cards and the apartment wouldn’t accept our passports. This caused many contractions caused by rushing.
oWhen we first got in the car after being an hour and a half late I could feel my heart beating and I was quickly calling the apartment office to see if anyone had turned in their application (we were told that 3 other couples picked up applications and it was all about who turned the application first). I asked if I could bring my passport instead of my social security card and she said no. After hanging up I noticed that I missed the start of this contraction and I was fully in it. I was rushing and not enjoying this moment. I thought just turn to your breath and expand. Unfortunately, this time it was not that easy. As I breathed I was also repeating the mantra “slow down…open” in my head. This did lesson my contraction but I was not experiencing expansion. My day continued like this. As I felt a contraction brought on from rushing I would pause and breath, this did lesson the contraction and allow me to open to the experience but I didn’t feel completely spacious and peaceful. However it was really awesome to be aware of this (noticing the contraction, bringing space to it and noticing what happens,,, a little less contracted) instead of just going through the day with each little thing continuing to close me off more and more and more.

What I learned from today’s experiment was that I was able to use my attention to see when I tightened in on myself and then used my breath to open myself back up I was aware that if I didn’t choose to pause and breath and allow myself an opportunity to expand out of the contraction I would have stayed tightly contracted. I feel very fortunate that I often take time to breath, sit quietly, and practice yoga. All of these activities give me opportunities to expand. When I do them they help assist me to expand out of any contractions that occurred earlier. But what is difficult about this is I don’t know what the contractions came from so I can’t deal with them as appropriately and use them for growth. What I liked about this assignment is it has given me a tool to help me learn how to notice when I contract, what it feels like, and what causes the contraction. This knowledge teaches me more about myself, so I may be aware when I contract and when I expand, and hopefully through discipline and attention I can start to shift some of my habits and thinking processes so I can reside in this open, peaceful, accepting nature of expansion.

(As I re read this last paragraph it reminds me of why we practice yoga, why we even care to look at our self…to know more and be happy CHIT ANANDA)

about the two classes I taught today, and the bilboard add I saw on the way home

I taught two classes today:
My first class at flow EMC 9:15-10:30 we worked on cultivating qualities of perseverance, acceptance, and patience. We did lots of forward folds (remember forward folds are any pose in which the hip is flexed forward, so we did lots of deep standing poses), and some fun arm balances including playing with linking different bakasana poses.

My afternoon class at Kula 12-1 we talked about how the studio is going through some shifts, and how this shift provides an opportunity for us to look for the good. I used a pretty funny metaphor about a TV antenna and how we can use our asana practice as a way to adjust our antenna so the goodness/bliss “channel” comes in really clear. Haha we did some hip opening and back bends. I kept encouraging the students to soften their eyes and become sensitive to the way they feel inside. Becoming so sensitive that they can be aware of the inner goodness that is within them.

As I was driving home I saw a billboard Coke add, that read “open happiness” (I couldnt find the same billboard add I saw but here are two that provide the same message):


The society we live in which is based off of corporations and consumerism tells us over and over, that we are missing something. We are lacking something (their product)., and until we get it (their product) we cant be happy. This leaves us to think that we always need to be seeking something external from our self in order to feel full, and feel happy.

Here are just some of the things society is trying to sell us with the promise that it will make us happy:
•Beer
•Weigh loss
•Make up
•Cigarettes
•Soda
•Candy
•Plastic surgery
•Tampons
•clothes
•…….
Those anti-smoking commercials are correct when they say “You are a target for Big Tobacco”. But it isn’t just big tobacco, we are a target everywhere because we are surrounded by signs, commercials, magazines….that are telling us that we are not ENOUGH.
This is one thing I love about yoga. When we practice yoga asana, when we step onto our mat it is us saying that instead of seeking happiness from outside, I am going to go within and REMEMBER that inside of me is all the happiness, bliss, and peace I could ever want. Our society and the way many people live their lives has caused us to forget. And yoga is a process of remembering our goodness, and our worth.
So the next time you see an add, that is in some way saying buy my product and you will be happy, laugh and know that you already have everything you need to make you happy inside your own heart.

this morning class I taught, and a students comment after :)

This morning’s open level class I taught at flow yoga SLC EMC was lots of fun. People have been telling me my classes have been steadily getting more challenging. I am not trying to make them harder but I am teaching the universal principles of alignment more and that does require that you are totally present and totally working the pose. (last week some called me and thanked me for teaching them to engage their muscles, and that they feel stronger and more confident now. How awesome!) This morning my husband was coming to class and he asked that is not be hard and requested some twists because his back hurts (I think it is his SI). I thought what a great opportunity to offer the universal principles in a more gentle and therapeutic way.

Theme: the muladhara chakra and the svadhistana chakra. The muladhara chakra has to do with the earth and grounding and the svadhistana has to do with fluidity, sexuality and sensitivity. We used the muladhara chakra to help us get grounded and connected to the earth, and we used the svadhistana to become sensitive to what is happening with in us. Can we be sensitive to the breath, the alignment, the prana, the quality of the mind….
Sequence included: standing poses, squats, twists, hip opening, and forward folds.
Main teaching focus: keeping the femur bones back, inner spiral and outer spiral of the legs.
Meditation/ cnetering: we started and ended the practice with pranayama and a seated mediation where we visualized the chakras.

After class a student asked “Does Anusara Yoga only draw happy people do the practice? Or is it something you cultivate..Because ever Anusara teacher I have had has been genuinely happy?”

I think the answer is: it is a combination of both. I think people who are happy enjoy the practice of Anusara yoga because the practice is a celebration of the heart and is a way of fully being present with yourself, your Shri, and your happiness.

We all have bliss in us (annamaya kosha), we all have this inner light that is real, conscious, and bliss (sat- chit- ananda) however we forget. The practice of Anusara yoga is a practice of remembering our greatness.

In Anusara yoga we learn how to move through many different kinds of poses (twists, forward bends, backbends) with different levels of challenge (easy, intermediate, advance) and as students we learn no matter what the pose, or how difficult or easy it is can we stay connected to our heart. Even if it is a pose we don’t practically like. I think this is happiness training. If we can learn to stay in the pose, stay with our self, with our breath, with an awareness of our intrinsic goodness, and with our heart. Then when we step off our mat and we go into the world whatever situations come at us (personal, work, family, global) we know how to stay with our heart. And no matter what situation we face on the mat or off the mat what matters is we recognize that life is a gift, and we are so lucky to be just where we are.

The story of Virabhadra...with a new lesson...Be fiernce and unite with your heart

The story of virabhadra.what serves you? I love myths. I love how every can teach so many lessons. Every time you return to them even if it is a story you have heard one hundred times before you will learn something new, gain a new insight, be inspired in a new way. This time I thought about how this story reminds us of Anusara "flowing with the heart". I was thinking about the story of Virabhadra the other day. The fierce warrior whom our poses virabhadrasana (warrior) 1, 2, and 3 are named after.

(I posted a blog very similar to this story so if you read it before you can move toward the bottom and read about a different way at looking at this same story :))

Once upon a time in the celestial realms lived a young man, Lord Shiva, and a young woman, Sati (also thought of as Shakti). Shiva and Sati fell madly in love and were wed. Unfortunately their story did not end here. For Sati was the daughter of King Daksha, who never approved of his daughter marrying a dreaded hair yogi who danced, sang, and consumed intoxicants. To show his disapproval, Daksha through a huge party, inviting everyone in the universe except for Shiva and Sati. Sati heard about the lavish party that her father was throwing as a way to punish her and her new husband, Lord Shiva. Annoyed, she begged Shiva to go with her to the party in spite of her father’s wishes. As the wise Lord of Consciousness Shiva replied; “why go, were we are not invited?” Sati disagreed and decided to go alone.

When she arrived her father jokingly announced that she must have come to her senses and left her husband. Sati whom was not amused defended Shiva, even pointing out his divineness, his oneness with nature, his steady unchanging firmness, and his supreme consciousness. She realized her father would never understand so she announced “since you have given me this body I no longer wish to be associated with it!” Determined she took her seat on the floor in the middle of the party and closed her eyes. She visualized Shiva and then through pranayama (breathing techniques) and other yogic exercises she cultivated her Agni (internal fire). Moments later she burst into flames, leaving the body her father had given her!

Out of devastation and grief of Sati’s fiery death, Shiva enraged tore out his hair (or a dread lock depending on which ancient text) throwing it to the ground. From this hair he created the fiercest warrior, which he named Virabhadra. Vira is the Sanskrit word meaning hero and bhadra means friend. I like to think of Virabhadra as faithful servers of Shiva. Shiva instructed Virabhadra to go to the party and seek revenge for Sati’s death.

The actions that Virabhadra took that night in battle are what inspired the asana poses we have come to know as virabradhasana 1, 2, and 3:

Virabhadrasana 1: Virabhadra entered the party by breaking through the ground as he rose from within the earth clasping a sword in each hand.
Virabhadrasana 2: Moments later he spotted Daksha from across the room.
Virabhadrasana 3: Lastly he beheads Daksha.

So that is the story… And every time I think about it a different aspect, a different teaching sticks out to me. I wrote a blog about this story and the ego http://authenticselfyoga.blogspot.com/2010/02/story-of-virabhadra-fierce-warrior.html. In that blog I talk about viewing Daksha as the ego, so Virabhadra is beheading our own ego in service of Shiva, our consciousness. However since writing this blog I have been studying a lot of tantra (Shiva-Shakti and Rajanaka). In this tantra view we don’t believe the ego is nessisaraly a bad thing. The ego is what makes the choices for the I. When I first came across this I idea I was so confused. For so long I have been trying to get rid of my ego. And yes the ego is bad when it makes me coincident, arrogant, cocky….But the ego is also that part of me that chooses to practice yoga, eat healthy, study tantra, meditate, and be kind... The ego in its essence represents the freedom of our life. The freedom what makes life so beautiful. So in tantra we don’t want to behead our ego. Does this make sense?

As I thought about this a different teaching came to mind. I thought about how Shiva represents our Consciousness and the Self while Sati (Shakti) represents the heart and the creative expression of the divine. Their marriage represents the union and experience of the heart, bliss and freedom with the Self. When Shiva and Shakti are united we can experience Param-Shiva the singular Supreme Spirit. Daksha can be viewed as whatever is not serving this union of the self (Shiva) and the heart (Shakti). When we move toward this Supreme Spirit we experience the “Essential Attributes of the Absolute” including: absolute Goodness, Being, Consciousness, Bliss (Sat-chit-ananda), pulsation, self-awareness, ultimate freedom (Svatantrya) and perfect fullness (Purnatva). Daksha represents the “stuff” that stands in our way, prevents us, or pulls us out of our connection with the heart, and the creative freedom of life. Whatever stops you from connecting to the bliss (ananda) that is part of our being (anamaya kosha).

This myth can inspire us to be fierce like the Virabhadra in serves of our Self, encouraging us to “behead” or remove whatever is not serving us in our life. Whatever is stopping us from being more heart centered, and more blissful. I love this. We can then take this view and apply it to each version of virabhadrasana:

Virabhadrasana 1: when he is breaking through the ground. This can represent us showing up for our self. Deciding and acknowledging that there is work to be done so we may connect more fully with our heart. This is the first step. It is empowering it takes strength and dedication, like the strength to break up from the earth.

Virabhadrasana 2: when he is setting his sight on Daksha. This is us looking. It is us being present in our life and seeing what is pulling us out or preventing from experiencing the “Attributes of the Absolute”, from being happy, from being connected to the heart. Maybe this is fear, anger, sadness, insecurity; maybe it is bad friends, drinking, gambling, sex…. Not only do we need to show up (virabhadrasana 1), but we need to dive into our self and see what needs to be “beheaded”.

Virabhadrasana 3: when he is beheading Daksha. This is doing the work. We have showed up (in virabhadrasana 1), we have looked and been present with our self (in virabhadrasana 2), and now we need to do the work, we need to implement changes and behead what is stopping us from being heart centered. Part of this phase is to continuing to show up (virabhadrasana 1 and virabhadrasana 2). It is continuing to practice, continuing to look at our self. A great Sanskrit term for this is Abhyasa.

“Abhyasa is the best term that encapsulates this concept. It's showing up, over and over, for a long period of time with a devoted heart. The word abhyasa means: "a continuous endeavor; constant practice; repetition; exercise; exertion."” (Maria Cristina)

So...as we practice can we show up for our self, look with in and see what is holding us back, and then have the strength to do something about it, and continue this process over and over and over! This is hard work, which is way we can be inspired by this fierce warrior Virabhadra who serves us (Shiva) so we may unite with our heart and creative freedom (Shakti).

Ananda and Nanda!!! BLISS

I spent a few days thinking about “the universe being a big ball of pulsating bliss”. As I contemplated this statement from John Friend I really focused on the pulsation (spanda) and the dance of Shiva and Shakti energy (see earlier post). I then shifted my focus to the later part of Johns explanation of this newly named Anusara Shiva-Shakti Tantra… “bliss”. Ananda is Sanskrit for supreme bliss.

Nanda (without the a) means happy. Nanda is connected to the emotion of being happy, which is a happiness that we seek from the physical world, outside of our self. Once we find some physical thing that makes us feel happy we cling onto it in fear that we will lose our happiness. However whenever we find happiness outside of ourselves, it will eventually change or go away and this leads to unhappiness, sadness and/or anger. This happiness we seek outside of our self, nanda, is only temporary and will always go away. “The only thing constant is change”.

For example it’s like an ice cream cone. I think yummm.. a mint chocolate-chip ice cream cone sounds soooo good. I then I get one. I lick it and think sooo good, I feel so happy, but if I cling to this happiness that the ice cream cone brings eventually: when I eat it all, it melts, or it falls to the ground I will be unhappy. Then what do I do? Do I start the cycle over and just constantly buy and eat ice cream cones trying to stay happy? No I need to find a happiness that doesn’t come from something outside of myself. Ananda (with the a) means beyond happy, supreme bliss, unending joy. This happiness comes from a connection to our heart, from inside of our self.

In yoga philosophy we talk about different layers or koshas of our self. I like to think of these layers like layers of an onion. Starting with our physical body (annamaya kosha, like the core of the onion), then expanding away from the physical body with the breath/ life force body (pranamaya kosha). Then there is the mental body (the manomaya kosha), the wisdom body (vijanamaya kosha), and lastly the bliss body (anandamaya kosha).

I really like the anandamaya kosha. This is a layer of our self that is full of bliss! This part of our self is unaffected by the outer world, the senses, and the emotions. It is untouched by all of these and it is always blissful. This part of our self doesn’t need anything to be blissful; it just is it always is!!

Lately in my personal asana practice, and when I teach class I have been focusing on this ananda and nanda forms of happiness. The longer you practice yoga, especially when you are practicing with good alignment it is easy to get good at “advanced” poses. Once you start doing these poses you can connect to this happiness about the physical aspect of the pose. This is nanda, the happiness that we cling to in the external world. As you are performing your asanas and you feel happiness ask, which happiness is it? nanda, based on the external world? Or is it ananda, based on our inner state of bliss?

No matter what our level is, or what poses we are performing can we use the physical practice of yoga as a way to connect to that layer of our self (anandamaya kosha) that is steady and ever blissful no matter what our outer shape looks like. Yoga is great because it provides an opportunity for us to really connect to our self and our essence and at our core we can connect to this always present always blissful energy.

I love this idea. Of this bliss full layer that is completely apart of who we are. Whenever I find myself getting upset or sad I pause and I remind myself of the anandamaya kosha, normally when I remind myself of this I don’t instantly feel this bliss body, but I totally believe and know it is there. And that is great!

We can remember this every time we chant the Anusara invocation. Sat-chit-ananda

Picture resources:
http://www.iytyogatherapy.com/products/koshas.jpg
http://www.healthmantra.com/lifestyle/koshas.gif

Why practice yoga?

(I have been organizing my yoga documents on my computer and I have discovered a few blogs that I never posted, so here is one :))

In Anusara you study yoga for two main reasons:
1. To know more. This is called chit in Sanskrit. To know more has to do with muscular energy (drawing the muscles to the bone, drawing from the periphery along the core lines of the body toward the focal point, and drawing from the periphery to the midline) knowing more, deepening your consciousness is related to Shiva and masculine energy.

2. To be happy! How wonderful. This is called ananda meaning bliss, delight, joy. To be happy is similar to organic energy (extending out from the midline toward the periphery, softening the skin, and extending out from the focal point along the core lines). It is choosing to expressively share our beautiful uniqueness with others. Ananda, being happy and expressive is related to Shakti the feminine energy.
Anusara yoga is about remembrance. Remembering that at our core we are part of this one auspicious energy. We remember chit and ananda at the beginning of every class when we sing the Anusara invocation “sat chit ananda”.

I love this wonderful practice rooted in the non-dual Shiva-Shakti tantra philosophy rooted in intrinsic goodness. I love this, the idea of doing something so we may know more, and so we may be happy. May we choose to use every experience in our life to gain more knowledge (chit) so we may live and align more fully with grace, and to bring us more happiness. It is easy to write this and make it sound easy but it is important to remember that chit and ananda takes a lot of hard work. It requires tremendous amounts of tapas (heat) and adhikara (studentship, if you want to learn more about adhikara read my previous post http://authenticselfyoga.blogspot.com/2010/02/adhikara-studentshipthe-5-elements-of.htmlI). Even though this practice demands discipline and hard work, it sure does make for one fun journey and I am continuing to discover much ananda and chit.

chit (to know more) ananda (to be more happy)

I re wrote my last blog...So it is very similar but with some differences.

This weekend I took the first part of the Anusara immersion from Adam Ballenger, the owner of Kula studio. I learned so much. Its funny, I would say for the past 8 months I have been practicing Anusara yoga daily, reading about the principles, watching the John Friend teacher training DVDs and I actually thought that I was getting a grasp on this wonderfully full and amazing system of yoga. Then I took the immersion, I smile and I realize how little I know and how much there is to learn. I feel humbled and empowered to learn more, study more, and practice more. I know this past weekend was just a tiny taste of what Anusara has to offer…and I am salivating.

After taking the immersion, even though my body is so sore from many hours of practice and sitting, I am feeling such a strong pull to my matt, and wanting to practice all I have learned. Now I am very aware that I rely on hyper extending my knees (not doing shin loop) in most of my advanced poses, again so humbling. I love that this humbling experience doesn’t make me want to cry and hide under my bed sheets, but instead it is a motivation to keep me practicing.

It’s funny how I found Anusara after practicing and teaching more Iyengar vinyasa flow for many years. When I started doing Anusara I was always thinking “how can I take these wonderful principles of alignment and flow with them”. But now I enjoy holding in the asansa going over my new mantra…open to grace (foundation, inner body bright), muscular energy (hug muscles to bones, periphery to midline, periphery through core lines to focal point), inner spiral (expanding), outer spiral (narrowing), organic energy (shining out from focal point along core lines and out through periphery, expanding away from midline, and shining out through skin), loops (ankles back, tops of shins forward, top of thighs back, scoop tail bone, expand kidneys, shoulders back and behind heart, top of ears back), and shins in thighs out…

One of my favorite things I learned over this weekend was John Friends reasons for studying yoga. I think his reason has been the same as my intention for the past few years but I never was able to articulate it in such a simple way. The reason to practice and study yoga is to know more (chit) and to be happy (ananda).I love this it is so simple and so meaningful. I love how I can take this on any level, learning more about my body, my mind, my relationship with others, my relationship with myself, my inner energy…And from learning this knowledge I can be happier. Now I acknowledge that this isn’t always easy. Sometimes it is really really hard it requires a lot of tapas heat, discipline, and effort. I do believe with my whole heart, that the more I practice yoga, the more I study, the more I continue to learn about myself and spirit, learning that there is no separation between the two ( non-dual) the more happy I will become.

This is also the reason I meditate. It is my intention when I sit. From sitting whatever my practice may be, silence, mantra, visualization…I know that in my practice even if it is short it is helping me learn more, to discover the truth of who I really am, and that learning more is contributing toward my happiness. Now I see each day, each obstacle, every activity as an opportunity to learn more, to gain more chit so that I may experience more ananda, delight, bliss, and happiness.

I practice and study yoga and meditation so that I may know more and to be happy! I even chant this before my practice in the Anusara invocation “sadchitananda murtaye”.