DETAILS TO NOTE

Internet Connection

A strong internet connection and quiet location is recommended for attending live.

Housed within is the zoom link for the calls. If you are not able to access the calendar or do not wish to use google calendar, please let me know right away.

Recording

Each call will be recorded. It is my top priority that you have the freedom and safety to explore your inner landscape. Therefore, if anything comes up during the call that you personally do not want to be recorded, you have full encouragement to say so, either during or after the call. A simple edit in post-production is all that required. Breakout sessions will not be recorded.

Call structure

11:00am - 11:15am (15min) Openings
11:15am - 12:00pm (45min) Talk
12:00pm - 12:45pm (45min) Forum
12:45pm - 1:00pm (15min) Questions and Closings

Practice and Meditation

You will receive a weekly asana and meditation class via video. Coursework You will fine the coursework on the platform. Content is dripped meaning you will have access to the current week's content and previous weeks’ content, not all of the content at once. This is to mitigate distraction and potential overwhelm.

Platform

Calls, classes, coursework, and questions will be housed on the platform. PASSWORD: FALLIM2024

Communication

The lines of communication will always be open, feel free to email any time about anything, with a few caveats.
1. To honor my personal boundaries around work, I request that you gather your questions and send them via email - katseltzeryoga@gmail.com by Monday 8pm - Subject: Immersion Q. If several questions of the same nature arise, I can address them in the call. I attend to my emails daily from 3-4pm.

2. Often you are able to answer your own questions if you are willing to sit with the discomfort of time. This allows for you to live the questions themselves (Rainer Maria Rilke), build your trust-in-self muscle and the recognition of your own inner authority.

3. Reflections or providing context are more than welcome, however please state your questions clearly so that I do not have to wade through reflections to find questions and miss the crucial or essential element with which you are wanting support.

A weekly email will go out to you on Sundays so that you have time to complete the coursework and prepare for the call.

Group Boundaries

1. The container of this experience is meant to be a “safe space.” Each of us has something to learn from another person about yoga.

2. We are all here because we are willing to learn and wanting go deeper into our understanding of yoga practice beyond and including the physical.

3. Each individual is considered to be a person of consequence, meaning each person here makes this group what it is and each absence is felt. The expectation is that you are willing and encouraged to participate and that change will take place.

4. Listening is just as important as sharing. We seek to listen not just with our ears, but with our hearts and our bodies as well. We will let each other finish our sentences and have a moment of silence before the next person speaks.

5. Better to respond with empathy than with advice - we don’t give advice unless it’s asked for.

6. We are considerate in how much time we take to speak. Each person deserves time to share. We aspeak from an open mind and heart when we can.

7. Everyone’s experience is unique. No one’s experience is more or less important than the next person’s.

8. Each of our stories is important and valuable and is ours alone to tell. We speak for ourselves and not for others, both in the group and outside the group. We hold everything that is shared in respectful confidentiality, remembering someone else’s story is theirs to tell. Without this, our group cannot truly be “safe.”

Next week

You receive:
- a practice - both yoga asana and meditation
- journal prompts and coursework
You should be able to access that on Sunday around the time I send you an email - so that you can prepare for the call on Wednesday.

Tomorrow

Begin your practice.

It is my great honor and joy to hold space for you during this unique experience. Welcome!

PERSONAL PRACTICE - ASANA - KRIYA

Sadhana

An important aspect of yoga practice is developing a personal practice - a devoted sadhana, time spent each day where you meet yourself on the mat. It is from here that you will find everything you need (for teachers this is especially important because it is from here that your best classes arise). This is where you honor the practice, the lineage and make it your own. Studying and learning are important aspects, and, it is the time and space you devote to developing your practice independently where your practice evolves and matures and becomes a real act of service - to yourself, your people and the whole world. To be clear - a personal practice is taking classes, learning directly from teachers, reading, etc., and it is a devotional time where you connect into the deep flow and source of Yoga that is already available to you.

The Yoga Sutra (1:14) says that practice must be consistent, sustained over a long period of time, and devotional.

Your practice will continue to change and evolve over the years. It will be influenced by your personal life, age, responsibilities, the seasons, time of the day, the moon, injury, etc. Practice is cumulative, so it doesn't matter so much what your practice is on any given day, what matters is your consistency, attentiveness, devotion, and your commitment to practice.

Sadhana: Daily Practice - Janet Stone

Sadhana is the foundation of living yoga, the well from which we draw as students and teachers on the path. Whether you are a yoga teacher or a dedicated lifelong practitioner, cultivating and sustaining the habit of daily practice is an integral part of moving from “doing” yoga to being yoga, allowing it to permeate your life, out of the studio, off the mat, in all aspects of your daily living. Through committing to home practice, we at once honor this ancient lineage and make it our own. This is the tapas (fervor) it takes to begin to turn our drishti (gaze) inward and see things as they are and not only through our myriad of misperceptions. While most of us come to yoga through attending public classes, exposing ourselves to an experienced teacher or range of teachers, part of maturing as a practitioner involves establishing an independent practice, learning to listen carefully to our own needs as yogis, in the constantly changing circumstances of body, mind, and heart. Even as we continue to practice with and learn from the teachers who inspire and nurture us on this path, we become teachers to ourselves.

For many of us, developing a home practice—let alone sustaining one--can be a challenge to say the least. Possibly more like, impossible. In many of my conversations with practitioners I notice they’re trying to mimic the model of the public yoga class at home. In addition, practicing at home can seem like yet another obligation, flavored with discipline and routine, and nearly all yoga practitioners come up against resistance and aversion as a natural part of taking on a commitment, any commitment, really. However, when you consider the subtle and profound gifts of showing up each and every day to give your life, your inner and outer being, clear attention—well, they’re limitless. And, yet, still, we can resist, just like with anything that we “know” is the “healthiest” option.

So, we make small, little sweet commitments that can actually be joyful. I could list off an endless daily practice for you here and maybe you’d attend to it for a while, but, inevitably you’d drop it in the face of what you consider the reality of your living. So, each of us must create our own sadhana, one based on wisdom from the original teachings, one based on where we are in our lives, one that could be sustainable in the various circumstances of our lives. I will offer a couple of suggestions as you step toward sadhana

• Create a dedicated place to practice within the home/or bring a mini altar wherever you travel.

• Write down what you’re most wanting from this time… Clarity. Healing. Strength. Awareness.

• Write down your dream practice. Write down a realistic practice.

• Answer the question: what does living yoga mean to you?

• Include meditation and possibly japa mala recitation – profound tools for bringing focus inward and to the moment.

• Consider whether your practice could include Ayurvedic morning cleansing rituals?

• Keep the asana simple and most likely repeat at least half of it each day. Meaning, Surya Namaskar A or B or both or some other “form” practice that you can go to each time.

• It sounds small, but establishing a foundation of sadhana is an incremental process, and simplicity and humility are the keys to making it work. In addition, you might want to choose one of the yamas or niyamas to explore both on the mat and off, through reading, reflection, and occasional writing.

• Persistence. Persistence. Persistence. When you fall off the practice train, jump back on. Don’t spend too much time beating yourself up or deeply exploring the tendrils of your resistance. Just renew your commitment and GO.

Committing to consistent sadhana can be - no, will be - a transformative experience (and those who know me, know that I do not use that saying lightly), both when you want to practice and when you don’t. You will learn from, play with, struggle against, and deeply immerse yourself in home practice. In doing so, you will find your foundations as a practitioner.

FORMULA

During the next 90 days, I will partake in at least [MINUTES] of [Type/NAME of] practice on [DAY] at [TIME] in [PLACE].

During the next 90 days, I will partake in at least ____________ of __________________ practice on _____________ at _____________ in _____________. “

Asana

A posture meant for meditation; a method of sitting. Per the Yoga Sutra, to master asana, we are to: be steady and comfortable, overcome tension and effort, be relaxed, concentrate not struggle or apply force; without muscular or nervous tension

Mastery results when opposites cease to have impact and the mind moves from disturbance to stillness. We develop resistance to these disturbances through yama, nyama and asana

Kriya

Kriya refers to a set of practices, mainly breath control techniques and exercises, that are practiced to achieve a specific outcome. The word is a Sanskrit term that means "completed action." Each kriya is aimed at a specific outcome and has very specific instructions. It is yoga in a practical sense.

Preparation for Deep Meditation Kundalini Kriya with Bandhas

There are 3 main bandhas: Mula Bandha Root Lock Uddiyana Bandha Diaphragm Lock Jalandhara Bandha Neck Lock as well as Hasta Bandha Hand Lock, Pada Bandha Foot Look and Maha Bandha Great Lock.

“A bandha is a restraint. As condensers, fuses and switches control the flow of electricity, so bandhas regulate the flow of prana.“ - BKS Iyengar

Mula Bandha Root Lock

Stimulates the proper flow of spinal fluid from the Root Chakra upward  To engage, contract the perineum muscles inward and upward.  Two actions are applied together in a smooth, rapid motion Squeeze the muscles of the pelvic floor (like stopping the flow of urine) Gently lift the muscles of your lower abdomen and your navel point toward your spine For men, this is the region between the testes and the anus.  For women, it involves the pelvic floor muscles behind the cervix. Pregnant or menstruating women should not apply

Uddiyana Bandha Diaphragm Lock

It means “flying up” Integrates emotional energy from Solar to Heart Chakra Exhale completely, with breath held out, act as if you will inhale again, but don’t inhale,  Feel the abdominal region lift and chest gently push up.  Your ribs should protrude over your abs, and you should feel your abdominal wall and internal organs pushing up and back. Hold and gently relax your belly. Gradually inhale through the nose. Yoga practitioners often consider this lock a remedy for stomach upsets and abdominal pains and use it to stimulate digestion.

Jalandhara Bandha Neck Lock 

Guides energy into your brain and opens up the Crown Chakra Lift your sternum and gently pull your chin in, lengthening the back of your neck. Keep length and space in your throat Relax your face

Hasta Bandha Hand Lock

To engage, place your hands on the yoga mat, spreading your fingers far apart to provide a solid base of support.  Slowly put weight onto your hands, letting the area where your thumb and pointer finger meet carry the most weight.  Rotate your forearm, if necessary, to direct your weight onto this area.  Then, lightly grip the mat with your fingertips.  You should feel no pressure in the center of your palm.  Practice this lock regularly to develop strength and comfort.

Pada Bandha Foot Lock 

Connects your body with the earth.  To activate, place the soles of your feet on the ground so that your weight is supported by the triangle between your big toe, little toe, and ankle.

Maha Bandha Great Lock

Opens the complete flow of Kundalini for healing - is considered the great lock because it engages when you simultaneously activate the three major locks.  With breath held out, engage the Mula bandha.  Exhale completely and then activate the Uddiyana bandha.  Finally, engage the Jalandhara bandha.  To release the Maha bandha, disengage each bandha in the reverse order.

Bandhas protect and project, that’s what they are for. They protect the alignment of your spine and project your energy where you want it to go.” - Guru Prem Singh Khalsa

PERSONAL PRACTICE

Journal prompts
What is coming to mind as we begin? What questions do you have?
Why do you practice yoga?

asana

Journal prompts
Reflect on your practice and record any insights that arose.

kriya

Journal prompts
Where could you project your energy?
Where could you protect your energy?

self care - mantra - mudra

SELF CARE

You can’t pour from an empty cup. When you take good care of yourself, the quality of your experience: while living, working, completing daily tasks, is more satisfying. When it’s more satisfying, it becomes more attractive, and easier; self-care then, becomes an obvious choice - something you look forward to - a gift you give yourself. Out of consistent self-care practices comes a generosity, a warmth, and a confidence which puts others at ease and at the same time, inspires them.

DINACHARYA

Dinacharya, an Ayurvedic practice, translates simply as a daily routine. Later on we will get into some of the specific yogic self-care practices as they apply to your unique ayurvedic constitution and where you are in the arc of your life. A dinacharya might include:

• Asana practice

• Meditation

• Breathwork / Pranayama

• Cleansing: starting the day with warm water and lemon or lime, taking care of your skin and other sense organs, dry brushing for your lymphatic system, and bathing

• Eating to support and nourish for longevity in alignment with your constitution

• Exercise: cardio + strength training

• Getting outdoors

• Appreciation and awareness of seasons and natural cycles

• Working and living in alignment with your values

• Stewardship of: body, mind, soul, relationships, family, children, home, land (yard), familiars (pets, birds, bees, insects, amphibians, and other mammals)

• Rest, recovery Fun, doing nothing, indulging in pleasure

• Learning, consuming, digesting

• Sleep hygiene

• Professional care - bodywork: massage, acupuncture; therapy, primary care, other healing modalities
  

THIS WEEK

You will create a self-care practice. A self-care practice is made up of rituals that support everything you do in a day. Begin to track your habits. What are you already doing everyday with consistency - brushing your teeth, going for a walk with the dog, scrolling social media? Then, cross out your least desirable habits. Then note where you can stack desirable habits. Look at your formula from last week, add a trigger - what happens immediately before, and a reward - what happens immediately after.

Why

Without a reason, a “why”, it can be very difficult to stay committed. Motivation naturally ebbs and flows. Our culture values productivity and peak experiences over just about everything else. However, the natural rhythms of the universe do not. Like the moon, motivation cycles. A why can act as a gentle reminder of purpose and a promise you made. We can honor the natural waning and waxing of experience even within commitments. Commitments you have made to yourself are the most important. What did you say you were going to do? In what ways do you neglect or overcommit? Gently return to your inner landscape. How is your innerworld and outworld aligned? How could you find balance between what you want and what is wanted from you?

Your why is in service of your own heart. A vision of that why made manifest sees your why anchored in relationship. It serves more than only you. Your why gives an intentional sense of purpose and meaning to each of your actions.

Bringing in the element of mantra to your practice can create space and the calm parameters for your why to become clear.

mantra

Mantra, comes from the combination of two syllables: man - meaning “to reflect” or “to be aware” tra meaning “tool for, or agent of”. A mantra is a tool for reflection and the cultivation of awareness, and is used for both concentration and contemplation. Mantras are based upon sounds that reflect the energy of our divine nature. Mantras are vibrations more than words. Mantras are sacred sound vibrations that help to calm the mind.

As you work with mantras, take time to break down each mantra word by word - focusing on projecting each sound with focus brings the sound through the brain, heart and gut.

Mantras are said to be pathways to pure consciousness; a practice to rest in sound. Different mantras can liberate, re-organize, and realign the mind’s tendencies. Eventually a practice incorporating mantras can quiet the mind, enable concentration, intensify focus, increase energy levels. expand your self-understanding, as well as memory and creativity. Mantras can also alter and improve your attitude, self-expression and sensitivity to subtle vibrations.

In yoga psychology, mantras can be used to correct psychological and psychic disorders which are viewed as imbalance of energy in the mind.

“While psychoanalysis can often keep a client self-centered, mantric energy can dissolve thought constructs like a magnet rearranges iron filings. The magnet of the mantra can realign and release energy, creating positive energy and thoughts, enabling the individual consciousness to develop a more harmonious level of experience which can eventually lead us to unity.” -Dr. David Frawley

Spend time with mantras to unlock their mysteries.

mudra

Mudras are subtle hand and finger movements make important connections in the nervous system and stimulate specific energy pathways. In Sanskrit, mudra means gesture or “seal”, referring to locking or sealing in a specific feeling, state, or energy for a particular effect. They are said to be a bridge for awakening the body as a sacred temple of the divine, the hands being the keys that can unlock the door to this temple. Mudras and the intention behind them are primary in shifting energy. Though mudras are often made with the hands, the involve the entire body.

How Mudras Work

• Each finger is related to one of the five elements according to yoga and Ayurveda. The various combinations of finger positions allow us to access and affect the five elements directly.

• Fingers have an extensive network of sensory and motor nerve endings as well as energy channels; thus mudra is a powerful vehicle for communicating and transferring information to the brain and energy centers.

• The fingers act as antennae for attuning to channels of universal energy such as abundance, love, and peace. We can connect to these frequencies with mudras and thus harmonize them within ourselves.

Incorporate these mudras into your practice this week as you feel called to explore.

Gyan - mudra of intuitive knowledge; rest your palms open with the first finger and thumb touching

Anjali - mudra of veneration or respect; bring your hands to touch palm to palm gently at or in front of, or at, your sternum with elbows flared to activate or resting

Dhyani - mudra of meditation; rest palms open and stacked with a circular/oval opening made by bringing your thumbs to touch

As we clarify our perceptions, we lose our misconceptions. as we eliminate ambiguity, we lose illusion as well. We arrive at clarity, and clarity creates change.
- Julia Cameron

self-care

Journal Prompts
What are your self-care practices?
When do you feel your best?
What fills you up?
What drains you?

mantras & mudras

Journal prompt
In what ways do you bring intention to your yoga practice?

 pranayama - meditation

Pranayama

Pranayama is typically defined as a set of practices used to control prana in the body by means of your breathing patterns. Pranayama is two Sanskrit words that loosely translate to ‘to control life force’.

The first word is prana, meaning breath, life, life force
The second is yama, meaning restraint or control, or lengthening of widening through control

Objective: a clear understanding of Prana.

Breath, prana, holds the chemistry of the universe, the ions, the ores, the minerals that surround us and inform us. It is the space dust of grace reigning through our atmosphere. Breathing is a process of eating, feeding the mind and imagination as well as the body. A trained breath stabilizes the nervous system and communicates with deeper parts of oneself as well as one’s surroundings. A character of the breath is movement. A character of the mind is directing, channeling the momentum.

Great Nature's breaths move the great currents; the movement of the tides, the currents of wind, the planetary rotations. The breath of plants, insects, seasons, the breaths of fire and water belong to the breaths of our planet. It is the breath that enlivens. Great Nature supports the individual breath and builds the momentum on the collective breath. The great movements of breath are very soulful and spirited.

All our meditations are based on integrating the personal breath with the breaths of Great Nature using the Golden Thread of a skilled imagination.

Breathwork is the magic of yoga. It enlivens the mind and body. The power of postures and meditation is the breath. Empower your well-being through breath practices. The body is the instrument, the mind is the musician, and the breath is the melody.

-Nevine Michaan

The cessation of movement of inhalation and exhalation, breath retention.

To “tame” prana there must be:

• steadiness

• patience

• no hurry

• an intention to practice slowly and with care and sufficient caution
  

The aim is to be able to retain breath, to retain prana.

Four types of pranayama
Puraka: inhalation
Rechaka: exhalation
Kumbhaka: retention
Keval Kumbhaka: only retention
Antaranga: internal
Bahiranga: external
Joining incoming and outgoing breath
Inner experiences are to be left inside, external experienced are to be left outside

Per the Yoga Sutra, pranayama influences the nervous system and the brain, not as much to do with the lungs.

Pranayama brings about:
A certain condition in the brain
A certain change in the spinal cord
A certain change in the physical body
Pranayama practice is dependent on climate and local diet.
Time - duration, time - of year; working to prolong
Start: 6:8:6
Process becomes subtle

Per the Yoga Sutra, the practice of pranayama actives the psychic centers, and the covering, the veil (due to sense experiences) of knowledge is removed.

meditation

You can only have meditaiton when you have pranayamaa, pratyahara, and dharana, then - dyana. We will dive deeper into the details of mediation when we dip into the 8 limbs next month.

PRANAYAMA

Journal prompt
Describe prana in your own words.

MEDITATION

Journal prompt
What is your honest relationship with meditation?

Practice

Practice each of the following breath practices for 3 min followed by 3-11 min of meditation

• Ujjayi Pranayama - Ocean Sounding Breath

• Kapalabhati Pranayama - Breath of Fire

• Bhastrika Pranayama - Bellows Breath

• Nadi Sodhana - Alternate Nostril Breathing

• Chandra Bedha - Left Nostril Breathing

• Surya Bedha - Right Nostril Breathing

• Viloma Pranayama - Three Part Breath

• Sheetli Pranayama - Cooling Breath
  

Practice

• Waning Moon asana practice

AYURVEDA - AYURVEDIC SELF-CARE PRACTICES - TCM 

Ayurveda

This week you are learning to take time to care for your body through Yoga’s sister science Ayurveda. 

An overview

Ayurveda originated in India more than 5,000 years ago and is the oldest continuously practiced health-care system in the world.  Drawn from an understanding of nature’s rhythms and laws, Ayurveda is built around the five elements of Ether, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. It is understood in Ayurveda that humans, as natural beings, are governed by the same rules and laws as all other natural beings. The goal of Ayurveda is to know how to attain optimal health through a deeper understanding of self and your own particular nature in relationship to the world around you.

How to determine your Ayurvedic constitution:

When answering these questions, remember as far back as you can, to your youth and early adult years. You want to identify those characteristics that you were born with. This will help in identifying your constitution. 
Kripalu Dosha Quiz
Banyan Botanicals Dosha Quiz
Dr. Doulliard’s Dosha Quiz
Yoga Journal Dosha Quiz

Dinacharya

The daily routine.
A daily routine is absolutely necessary to bring radical change in body, mind, and consciousness. Routine helps to establish balance in one’s constitution; it also regularizes.

Guidelines per the Kripalu School of Ayurveda

Wake up early in the morning
It is good to wake up before the sun rises, when there are loving qualities in nature that bring peace of mind and freshness to the senses. Sunrise varies according to the seasons, but on average: 

• vata 6am wake up

• pitta 5:30am wake up

• kapha 4:30am wake up

Right after waking
Look at your hands for a few moments, then gently move them over your face and chest down to the waist. This cleans the aura. A person's biological clock aids digestion, absorption and assimilation, and generates self-esteem, discipline, peace, happiness, and longevity.

Say a prayer before leaving the bed.
"Dear God, you are inside of me, within my very breath, within each bird, each mighty mountain. Your sweet touch reaches everything and I am well protected. Thank you for this beautiful day before me. May joy, love, peace and compassion be part of my life and all those around me on this day. I am healing and I am healed."

After this prayer touch the ground with your right hand, then the same hand to the forehead, with great love and respect to Mother Earth

Clean the Face, Mouth, and Eyes
Splash your face with cold water and rinse out your mouth. Wash your eyes with cool water (or one of the eye washes mentioned below) and massage the eyelids by gently rubbing them. Blink your eyes 7 times and rotate your eyes in all directions. Dry your face with a clean towel.

• Tridoshic eyewash: try triphala eye wash -1/4 tsp. in 1 cup water, boil for 10 minutes, cool and strain.

• Pitta eyewash: use cool water or rose water from organic rose petals - most commercial rose water has chemicals in it that will sting the eyes. 

• Kapha eyewash: try diluted cranberry juice, 3-5 drops in a teaspoon of distilled water.
  
  

Drink Water in the morning
Drink a glass of room temperature water, preferably from a pure copper cup filled the night before. This washes the GI tract, flushes the kidneys, and stimulates peristalsis. It is not a good idea to start the day with tea or coffee, as this drains kidney energy, stresses the adrenals, causes constipation, and is habit-forming.

Evacuation poop!
Sit, or better squat, on the toilet and have a bowel movement. Improper digestion of the previous night's meal or lack of sound sleep can prevent this. However the water, followed by sitting on the toilet at a set time each day, helps to regulate bowel movements. Alternate nostril breathing may also help. After evacuation wash the anal orifice with warm water, then the hands with soap.

Scrape your Tongue
Gently scrape the tongue from the back forward, until you have scraped the whole surface for 7-14 strokes. This stimulates the internal organs, helps digestion, and removes bacteria. Ideally:

• Vata: gold scraper

• Pitta: silver scraper

• Kapha: copper scraper

Stainless steel can be used by all.

Clean your Teeth
Always use a soft toothbrush and an astringent, pungent, and bitter toothpaste or powder. The traditional Indian toothbrush is a neem stick, which dislodges fine food particles from between teeth and makes strong, healthy gums. Licorice root sticks are also used. 

• Vata, Kapha: roasted almond shell powder 

• Pitta: ground neem 

Gargling
To strengthen teeth, gums, and jaw, improve the voice and remove wrinkles from cheeks, gargle twice a day with warm sesame oil. Hold the oil in your mouth, swish it around vigorously, then spit it out and gently massage the gums with a finger.

Chewing
Chewing a handful of sesame seeds helps receding gums and strengthens teeth. Alternatively, chew 3-5 dried dates and an inch of dried coconut meat. Chewing in the morning stimulates the liver and the stomach and improves digestive fire. After chewing, brush the teeth again without using toothpaste or powder.

Nasal Drops (Nasya)
Putting 3 to 5 drops of warm ghee or oil into each nostril in the morning helps to lubricate the nose, clean the sinuses, and improve voice, vision, and mental clarity. Our nose is the door to the brain, so nose drops nourish prana and bring intelligence.

• Vata: sesame oil, ghee, or vacha (calamus) oil

• Pitta: brahmi ghee, sunflower or coconut oil

• Kapha: vacha (calamus root) oil

Oil Drops in the Ears (Karana purana)
Conditions such as ringing in the ears, excess ear wax, poor hearing, lockjaw, and TMJ, are all due to vata in the ears. Putting 5 drops of warm sesame oil in each ear can help these disorders. Then give the ears a light dusting with your constitutional herb. Wrap it in a few layers of cheesecloth then tap against the ear.

• Vata: mahanarayan oil, dust with dashamula

• Pitta: brahmi oil, dust with sandalwood powder

• Kapha: neem oil, dust with vacha powder

Apply Oil to the Head & Body (Abhyanga)
Rub warm oil over the head and body. Gentle, daily oil massage of the scalp can bring happiness, as well as prevent headache, baldness, graying, and receding hairline. Oiling your body before bedtime will help induce sound sleep and keep the skin soft.

• Vata: warm sesame oil

• Pitta: warm sunflower or coconut oil

• Kapha: warm sunflower or mustard oil

Bathing
Bathing is cleansing and refreshing. It removes sweat, dirt, and fatigue, brings energy to the body, clarity to the mind, and holiness to your life.

Dressing
Wearing clean clothes brings beauty and virtue.

Use of Scent
Using natural scents, essential oils, or perfumes brings freshness, charm, and joy. It gives vitality to the body and improves self-esteem.

• Vata: hina or amber.

• Pitta: khus, sandalwood, or jasmine.

• Kapha: amber or musk

Exercise
Regular exercise, especially yoga, improves circulation, strength, and endurance. It helps one relax and have sound sleep, and improves digestion and elimination. Exercise daily to half of your capacity, which is until sweat forms on the forehead, armpits, and spine.

• Vata: Sun salutation x 12, done slowly; Leg lifting; Camel; Cobra; Cat: Cow. Slow, Gentle exercise. 

• Pitta: Moon salutation x 16, moderately fast; Fish; Boat; Bow. Calming exercise. 

• Kapha: Sun salutation x 12, done rapidly; Bridge; Peacock; Palm tree; Lion. Vigorous exercise.

Pranayama
After exercise, sit quietly and do some deep breathing exercises as follows:

• Vata: 12 alternate nostril breaths

• Pitta: 16 cooling shitali breaths (curling your tongue and breathing through it) 

• Kapha: 100 bhastrika (short, fast breaths) 

Meditation
It is important to meditate in the morning and evening for at least 15 minutes. Meditate in the way you are accustomed, or try the "Empty Bowl Meditation". Meditation brings balance and peace into your life.

Now it is time for your breakfast!
Your meal should be light in the hot months or if your agni is low, and more substantial in the cold. Enjoy your day!

Typical Daily Sleep & Eat Schedule for Each Dosha

Vata
6am Wake up
8am Breakfast 
11am-12pm Lunch
6pm Dinner 
10-11pm Sleep on your back

Pitta
5:30am Wake up
7:30am Breakfast 
12pm Lunch
6-7pm Dinner
10-11pm Sleep on your right side

Kapha
4:30am Wake up
7am Breakfast 
12-1pm Lunch
7-8pm Dinner
11-12pm Sleep on your left side

Abhyanga

Ayurvedic practice of Abhyanga or self-oil massage. Massaging your body with oil as a daily habit will uplevel your self-care and open the gateway to becoming your body’s best healer. When we become our body’s best healer, we enable another level of responsibility. You have one body. You can’t replace it when it breaks down. The body runs on love and thrives on love. Ayurveda teaches that love is the vibration of consciousness as it comes into form. If you disrespect or dishonor your body, if you are critical or judgemental of your body, you're breaking things down. If you learn how to attend to your body’s needs and desires for self care, you stimulate regeneration, repair, and rejuvenation.

Benefits of applying oil to the whole body Abhyanga

• Produces softness, strength, and color to the body

• Decreases the effects of aging

• Bestows good vision 

• Nourishes the body

• Increases longevity

• Benefits sleep patterns

• Benefits skin

• Strengthens the body's tolerance

• Imparts a firmness to the limbs

• Imparts tone and vigor to the dhatus (tissues) of the body

• Stimulates the internal organs of the body, including circulation

• Pacifies Vata and Pitta and Harmonizes Kapha

Benefits of applying oil to the feet Padaghata

• Coarseness, stiffness, roughness, fatigue, and numbness of the feet are alleviated 

• Strength and firmness of the feet is attained

• Vision is enhanced

• Vata is pacified

• Sciatica is benefited

• Veins and ligaments are benefited

Be sure to do the abhyanga in a warm place and avoid getting chilled afterwards.

Routine

1. Transfer 1 to ½ cup of oil to a glass bottle to warm the oil.

2. Place a large towel or sheet over the area where you will be oiling.

3. Without being in a hurry, lovingly and patiently massage the oil into your entire body for about 10-15 minutes, beginning at the extremities and working toward the middle of the body. 

4. It is best to apply oil to the entire body and add more as you revisit each body part and massage long strokes.

5. Use long strokes on the limbs and circular strokes on the joints. Massage the abdomen and chest in broad, clockwise, circular motions.

6. As an option, apply oil to the crown of your head and work slowly out from there in circular strokes. Oil applied to the head should be warm but not hot.

7. Put a couple drops of warm oil on the tip of your little finger or on a cotton ball and apply to the opening of the ear canal. (If there is any current or chronic discomfort in the ears don't do this until it clears.)

8. Put a couple drops of warm oil on the tip of your little finger and apply to the opening and inside of the nasal passage. (If there is any current or chronic nasal congestion don't do this until it clears.)

9. Massage face and neck.

10. After you've massaged your entire body, enjoy a warm bath or shower. Be sure to wash your feet off before entering the shower.

11. When you get out of the shower, towel dry by patting yourself dry instead of rubbing.

Dry brushing

1. Is self-massage that is more stimulating than soothing.

2. Use a dry bush to stimulate and circulate your lymph system.

3. Dry brushing may be preferred to Kapha for its stimulating effect or for Pitta who may not want more oil.

4. If you tend to wake up sluggish or have lymphatic congestion.

5. Brush your skin fairly vigorously from the limbs towards the center starting at the soles of the feet.

6. Brush the torso from top toward the root.

7. Do for 1-5 min or for longer.

Sense organ care

We continue with Ayurvedic self-care practice and discuss sense organ care. Senses enable us to perceive and understand the world around us. Senses are instruments that are incredibly sensitive. When we lose sensory acuity, we lose perceptivity. 

”If you disrespect your senses, you cause disease in your body, your mind, your relationships and your spiritual life. Respect the wisdom and sensitivity of your senses.” - Cate Stillman, Yogahealer

Taste/Tongue

Get in touch with your tongue as an organ. The tongue in an emissary and has the great responsibility to allow things to go in or spit out.

Practice: Scrape your tongue
Get a metal tongue scraper for yourself (do not share).

First thing in the morning look at your tongue.

Scrape your tongue back to front gently 7-10x.

Rinse your tongue scraper and note what you are removing.

Reasons to scrape your tongue:

• Take stock of your health

• Remove bacteria from your mouth

• Prevent bad breath

• Prevent oral decay

• Detox your mouth

• Stimulate digestion + elimination

• It will help you to crave healthy foods + taste accurately

Practice: Oil pulling
It is the simple practice of swishing a good quality oil through your teeth and gums. The oil extracts bacteria, removes mucus, and decreases inflammation that leads to gum recession and tooth decay. 

Melt 1-3 tbs coconut oil in your mouth or on low in a skillet

Swish through your mouth for 5-20min while doing something else (like making the bed and getting set up for the day)

Spit oil into trash (not the sink)

Swish water through your mouth

Start with just a tsp. of oil

Reasons to oil pull:

• Removes bacteria, viruses, debris, and fungi from your mouth

• Effective gum restoration practice

• Removes mucus

• Boots immune system

• Clarifies skin

• Brightens teeth

• Decreases inflammation in your mouth

Smell/Nose

Our sense of smell holds our deepest memories. When the nasal passages work well you have a chance of breathing well. If your nasal passages are clogged, inflamed or dried out, your nose’s ability to deliver oxygen to your lungs is compromised.

Practice: Rinsing
Fill your neti pot just below the lip with distilled or boiled water - cooled to room temperature.

Add a ½ tsp of mineral sea salt. Stir until dissolved.

Bend over the sink and turn your head to one side.

Keeping pot level, place spout into your top nostril until it fits snugly.

Breath through your mouth and slowly tip your head down allowing water to travel up through your sinuses and out the other nostril.

Use half the water and repeat on the other side.

Blow your nose gently to remove excess water and mucous.

When you are done, take a forward fold with your head pointing towards the floor and exhale to release any trapped water.

*Do not use your neti pot if you have a sinus infection or are sick. This is for maintenance only.

Practice: Oiling (for inflammation or dryness) - the quick way
Use plain sesame, coconut, or nasya oil.

Put a dab of oil on a spoon + dip your pinking finger in the oil.

Insert into your nostril and coat your nostril with oil.

Gently sniff the oil deeper into your sinuses.

Reasons to neti pot

• Balances mind and emotions

• Clears nervous system

• Optimized breathing + pranic absorption

• Clears debris

• Strengthens immune system

Sight/Eyes

Eye exercises to reduce eyestrain and improve vision

Practices

Palming
Rub your hands together to generate heat. 

Place your right fingers on top of your left fingers. 

Gently place your hands over your eyes, applying no pressure. 

Relax for 10-15 breaths to release unnecessary tension from your body.

Zoom out
This exercise is recommended especially for individuals who suffer from computer vision syndrome, but it can also help relax the eyes after any other strenuous activity. 

Choose an object that is located six to ten yards away from you, and focus on it for about twenty seconds, without moving your head. 

Doing so provides rest to the ocular muscles that we tend to put a lot of stress on when we focus intensely on the computer screen.

Zoom in
This simple (and somewhat hilarious) exercise can be performed by holding a pencil in front of you at arm's length, then slowly moving the arm closer to the nose, while focusing your eyes on the tip of the pencil. 

The goal is to bring the tip of the pencil as close to the nose as possible, until your eyes can't keep focus. 

Doing this exercise ten times in a row helps improve eye movement control and strengthens the eye muscles.

Repeated blinking
This simple action, that we often take for granted, plays a vital role in eye health and vision. It replenishes the tear film that covers the surface of the eye (the cornea), lubricating it and protecting it against dryness, dust particles and other irritants. 

Some research shows that when we watch TV or use the computer, we tend to blink less, which dries and irritates the eyes, potentially causing headaches and other types of discomfort. 

Blinking every three or four seconds for about a minute is thought to help reduce eye strain by clearing the cornea and allowing the eyes to rest.

Figure 8's.

Roll your eyes in figure 8's for 10 slow easy breaths. 

This simple therapy increases the flexibility of your extra-ocular muscles.

Smile and relax while you do your eye exercises.

Sunrise Sunset
Make and effort to witness the dawn and sunset.

Hearing/Ears

Practices

Oiling
you can oil your ears much in the same way as you oil your nose

Ear point massage

Listening
Listening to Nature to calm the mind and harmonized to the environment

TCM (TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE)

An effective yoga practice should reflect and express seasonal changes. In this way, your practices will help you prepare for the year, to handle problems and self-soothe, thereby preparing you for what is next. 

“Alignment to the seasons is a great way to participate in Nature’s external alchemy. Spring rises up the front of the body as if the sprouts of spring were ascending up to the heavens. The organ to play with in the spring is your liver, your vision. Opening up the thighs, lungs, liver and eyes transforms how you perceive the world, changing the angle in which you are accustomed to. Summer is for the heart, one’s speech and the ability to articulate what makes your heart sing. Summer is when you ripen your backbends, as summer ripens over top of the head when the sun is high. Autumn descends down your back, reflecting the memories of spring. This is the time when you do your pranayama practices, pulling in the minerals of the atmosphere, using your nose and thyroid to filter, ventilate, and extract this cosmic dust. Finally, winter goes deep, substantiating your perineum, establishing a dialogue of moving your waters, folding into yourself, gaining insights from the experiences of summer. You close off your hearing to the external to contact the internal. You go in to become concentrated so that when you go out, you are radiant.”

- Kat Villian 

Each season has a different focus and energy and our practice and life reflect this, especially when we intentionally align internally and externally. Consistency and discipline in practice is essential, yes, but our willingness to change and be changed, as the seasons and Nature do, will enable us to live in deeper alignment with what is eternal.

Winter
Winter is dark and deep. Winter is hard, but when you harmonize with winter there is an inner stillness and unwavering contentment that simmers through the cold. A Winter Practice beckons you to turn inward - to hibernate and gain insights. You are creating conditions in winter to move out into the world. Winter makes you powerful and is the true gold of the practices.

Spring
Spring initiates a rising up the front of the body as a sprout ascends to the sky. As the seed bursts into its potential, we too leave the comfort of our caves in search of new experiences. A Spring practice is a recipe for joy - and the true art of the practice is seeing life through a lens that is going to give you the most joy. You are then a joy to yourself and a joy to others.

Summer
Summer is expansive, a ripening above the crown of the head - when the fruits are heavy on the vine, it is time for experience - to go out and make contact. A Summer practice is a time to play more with your community. Participating in community in summer ensures support, utilizing the support of others because life is hard - on the body and the mind. The more help we have, the better chance we have of getting to where we want to go quicker and more efficiently - not wasting time or energy.

Late Summer
Late summer is the transition. Late summer is the center of the 4 directions.

Fall
Fall begins the descent down the back of the body as the leaves of autumn reflect the potentials of spring. After everything shoots up, the seasons flip and all things descend down. Fall is a time of gathering, taking inventory, and storing. In a Fall practice you want to pump up your lungs through pranayama, creating space, allowing your whole being to breathe and revitalize every cell.

Like Ayurveda, TCM also works with the five elements. TCM uses Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. TCM also works to balance the organs.

In TCM, in order to use the cycle you start simply.
Water gives birth to all vegetation wood, the community and interaction of vegetation creates the energy of heat fire. Enough heat rises into the atmosphere to birth dampness earth from precipitation forming, earth creates all metal, and metal creates the container for water. This is the nurturing cycle.

The control cycle is as follows: metal chops down wood to control its shooting up nature, wood controls earth by pushing through it, earth controls water through creating the movement of streams and rivers based on topography, water controls fire by dampening it, and fire melts metal through heat.

In Winter, the focus is on the kidneys, adrenals, and hearing.
In Spring, the focus is on the liver, pituitary, and vision. 
In Summer, the focus is on the heart, thymus, and speech.
In Late Summer, the focus is on the the spleen.
In Fall, the focus is on the lungs, thyroid, and smell.

AYURVEDA

Journal prompt
Why do you think having this knowledge is important or helpful?
How do you think this information could be helpful in your interactions with others?

dinacharya

Journal prompts
What is your typical routine?
Reflect on your experience of committing to a daily routine. What happened?

SENSE ORGAN CARE

Journal prompts
Take time to reflect on your experience.

TCM

Journal prompts
Consider what season of life you are in, what are the joys and challenges of this time?
What lessons are being taught to you through your circumstances and current situations?
What lessons are you learning? 

PRACTICE

• commit 3-5 days to your ideal routine

• do each Ayurveda self-care practices 2-3x throughout the week

• pay very close attention to your senses and work with one practice at a time

References/Sources
The Daily Routine by Vasant Lad, Ayurvedic Physician
Kripalu School of Ayurveda 
Seasonal Playbook by Kat Villian
Cate Stillman, Yogahealer
Dr. Stephanie Matulle

practices

CHAKRAS
MULADHARA

basic Chakra overview

“Chakras are energy centers along the spine that form a subtle system of channels to generate and receive spiritual energy. Each chakra houses a world of lessons and gifts and with all seven of these sources combined you have an entire ecosystem of support inside you." - Angelus

We're learning how to source our strength from within, exploring the state of your chakras helps you trust your internal compass, embrace change and find the energy source needed to propel out of mediocrity to a new level.

Chakra translates as a wheel or a disc that holds information. It's a spinning sphere of bio-energetic activity that emanates from and around the major nerve ganglia branching forward from the spinal column.

side note: A nerve ganglion is a collection of neuronal bodies found in the voluntary and autonomic branches of the peripheral nervous system (PNS)
- Dorsal root ganglia (also known as the spinal ganglia) contain the cell bodies of sensory neurons.
- Cranial nerve ganglia contain the cell bodies of cranial nerve neurons.
- Autonomic ganglia contain the cell bodies of autonomic nerves.

Chakras are considered centers of organization that receive and express life energy. They're not physical entities but like feelings or ideas they have a strong effect on the body, though you can’t really pinpoint a location in the physical plane.

The chakra system is a 7-level philosophical model of the universe, we have earth, water, fire, air, ether and community, sense and thought, and we have consciousness. These seven levels are associated with states of consciousness, archetypal elements, philosophical constructs, human psychological health, evolutionary programs and basic rights.

We have all information spinning within our bodies. We have the past, the possibility of what comes in the future. We have the experience of what's happening to us right now, in this moment - and instead of being confused or not knowing what to do or looking all around for answers and ideas, we can tune our attention inward to the chakras. Because of this, knowing and working with the chakras is very empowering.

We can be locked in our habits. When we use the chakra system for healing, we're able to tune our attention into these energy centers - we're able to source information from these energy centers within and then we can make decisions because we have options.

When a chakra is out of balance we experience pain. Pain can be a sign that something needs to be learned and explored. We can learn to use the chakras as a guide to embrace that pain, suffering, disharmony, dis-ease and by embracing the pain we find purpose … Chakras are centers of consciousness located along the spine and when you focus on a center of consciousness that can enhance your behavior.” - Erica Jago

Chakra One

Muladhara chakra is located below the base of your spine. You can imagine connecting all the way to the center of the earth. It’s your legs, your feet as well as anything that roots you to the earth.

Chakra two

Svadisitanana, the sacral chakra it's right below the navel, it includes the belly the hips the sexual organs the womb as well as the kidneys - the waters of your body and the universe.

Chakra three

Manipura, it means lustrous gem, its housed within your ribs, it's your solar plexus and your core, the seat of will and intensity, your internal fire.

Chakra four

Anahata is located around your heart, chest, shoulders as well as your arms and your hands. It is how you reach out, touch, and receive.

Chakra five

Vishudha the throat, ears and mouth. It’s your ability to communicate and your capability for listening.

Chakra six

Ajna third eye center, it's right in the very center of the brain, the pineal gland it also includes your sense of smell and your connection to memory and ideas.

Chakra seven

Sahasrara the crown of your head, it's your aura of light, it's the way in which you connect to the Divine.

CHAKRA ONE
Let’s get grounded (har har) in the 1st chakra: muladhara

• Located below the base of the spine

• Associated with the Earth element

• Helps you ground by the force of gravity; it pulls your body in the here and now

• Provides you with the stability needed to endure physical and emotional experiences

Anytime you feel settled, calm and secure - this center is in balance.

It governs your right to BE.

from Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith is the place to dig into the chakras and it’s from the book that I’ve pulled the following:
Purpose: foundation
Meaning: root support
Location: base of the spine, coccygeal plexus, also your legs, feet, bones, muscles, the grossest physical level. 
Demon: fear
Developmental state: 2nd trimester to 12 mo
Developmental tasks: physical growth, motor skills, object permanence
Balanced characteristics: good health, vitality, well, grounded, comfortable in the body, sense of trust in the world, feeling of safety and security, ability to relax, and be still, stability, prosperity, right livelihood

Associations:
Survival
Basic needs
Security
Stability
Safety
Finance
Home
Family
Heritage
Ancestry
Form
Solidarity
Body

What may lead to imbalances in the first chakra:
Birth, trauma, abandonment, neglect, difficulty bonding, malnourishment, illness, or surgery, physical abuse, inherited trauma.

These could manifest in either a deficiency or an excess in the following ways:
Deficiencies: disconnection, or disassociation from the body, underweight, fearful, anxious, restless, inability to focus or lax discipline, financial difficulty poor boundaries, disorganization
Excess: overweight or over eating hoarding, sluggish, lazy, tired, fear of change, rigid boundaries

Which could result in the following physical malfunctions:
Evacuation disorders issues bones, teeth, issues with legs, feet, knees, base of spine, disordered eating, frequent illness.

Healing practices to take care of the first chakra: 
Reconnecting through the body, physical activity, touch, massage, grounding, hatha yoga, inner child work

The dynamic connection we have with our bodies is the only living presence we are guaranteed to have for the whole of our lives.

The body has intelligence. When we learn to listen from within, our bodies become a testing ground for truth.

“Only by recovering the body can we begin to heal the world itself for as the mind is the body so culture is to the planet. Healing the split between mind and body is a necessary step for us all and heals our home foundation, and the base upon which all built. “ - Anodea Judith

Foundation: our bodies are the home for our spirit. 

The foundation contains the energy by defining its boundaries. It defines a place that gives us ground, a home, and an anchor point for experience. The foundation determines the shape of the structure above, determining what it can hold, build and withstand. A strong foundation provides solidity. Solidity allows us to have and hold boundaries and to face what is in front of us while remaining anchored in truth, and able to remain calm and secure.

Fear: one major deterrent to receiving the benefits of a balanced first chakra is fear.

“Scared is what happens when the sacred gets scrambled.” - Melody Betty

When survival is threatened, we feel afraid, fear heightens our awareness and can flood our bodies with natural chemicals to energize for action. Fear brings our attention into the here now to address the threat, but the focus of attention is outward and upward to the chakras of perception and mental activity. We become hyper vigilant, restless, anxious, we can't settle, relax or calm down, it is as if we’re jumping right out of our skin.Our sympathetic nervous system is activated. 

To work through fear is to learn to relax and feel the subtle energies of the body, to have pleasure and expand our attention to a wider vista, and to do this, fear needs to be understood and integrated.

Fear can be a sacred adversary that has much to teach us.

When the first chakra is balanced, we have an experience of grounding, nourishment, manifestation, and prosperity.

Claiming the sanctity and strength of our bodies, our right to be here, and our right to have what we need in order to survive can be a joyous reunion with the very ground of our own being and a solid foundation on which to build whole-self health.

When you root you can start to feel safe.

The chakras are programmed. You can be programmed to feel safe or unsafe, to be the victim. From childhood we are programmed how to love, how to visualize, and how to value ourselves. You can reprogram yourself. Through our chakras and the study of our chakras, we have an opportunity to upgrade an outdated program.

We need to understand the system so we can navigate our lives. We learn the system so we can hack the system. You can do this via your life experience. Learn how to be a good witness and a good listener to what it is you’ve been through and how that makes you an expert in that area.

To review
The root chakra is the very base of the spine, feet, legs, dense energy, heaviness converted to groundedness. Connect to the root chakra to feel stable, when you feel fragile.

It is the truth of who you are. It is your sense of self. IIt is your boundaries

It says I am. I have. I care for myself.
It is safety, truth, and boundaries

What are the tangible aspects of you?

Boundaries are an honest expression of who you are, your experience, you stepping into your power. Boundaries are you focusing on yourself, what is yours, and what you can do.  Boundaries are a sincere no, understanding your own truth, and understanding your own baseline of self car

No = Yes to more meaningful connections and becoming conscious of what drains your energy.

Through your practice you can train your nervous system to take on more energy. Boundaries can be a basic daily practice of checking in with yourself and honoring where you are. The practice we started with today is something you can do everyday. 

Creative Exercise: Hauntings
Prompts from the call
Relive the past - What is still haunting you? Write down 10, write 3 sentences for each. Embracing you who you were yesterday, ignites a better understanding of yourself today.
Tell the truth - Rewrite your hauntings in an expanded way - be less vague. Ask - Is this the whole truth? Could you see the other side?
Note themes and patterns - What are you ready and willing to face?
Rewrite your story - Retell your story to set yourself free.

Expanded Creative Exercise
directly from Angelus: Experiential Chakra Workbook by Erica Jago and Roos Van der Kamp pg. 37
referenced: Maybe Its You by Lauren Zander

What you have done in the past matters. You matter. When you discover who you have been, you break ground from whom you can become.

In this exercise, leave no stone unturned. Take whatever time you need to remember and write down all of your hauntings. Go back to the heavy, hard, and embarrassing moments that shaped who you are now. Put in writing the long list of incidents where you put your foot in your mount, your mother was mean, your father absent, your siblings unfair. Purge everything on paper.

There is not better time than now to dig up and unravel these raw and real parts of you so you can get to very root of where your thoughts about yourself come from.

STEP ONE: Relive the past
What is still haunting you from your past? Come up with a least ten experiences. Write down a minimum of three sentences for each incident. The more honest you retell your past, the more likely you are to end patterns of judgement and exaggerated drama on your part. Darkness has its teachings. If you bring rememberance to who you were in the past, it ignites a better understanding of yourself today.

STEP TWO: Tell the truth
With courage and compassion, question your confessions by rewriting the haunting in a more expanded, less vague version. This time ask your honest self: Is this the whole truth? Could I find some appreciation for the other side if I, just for this exercise, let go of the need to be right?

STEP THREE: Highlight themes or repeated patterns that you are ready to face.
What beliefs about yourself, your parents and friends are you bound to?

STEP FOUR: Rewrite your autobiography.
Find holes in your past, apply your new boundaries and retell your story to set yourself free.

MULADHARA

Journal prompt
Do you feel safe deep down in the core of your being?
How could you bring a feeling of safety in for yourself when you practice?

Enneagram Do you know your Enneagram?
The Enneagram is a system of personality typing that describes patterns in how people interpret the world and manage their emotions. It describes nine personality types and maps each of these types on a nine-pointed diagram which helps to illustrate how the types relate to one another. 1st chakra work has to do with who you are and knowing yourself. 

PRACTICE

Truth Vinyasa or Safety Restorative

References
Angelus by Erica Jago and Roos vander Kamp
Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodeao Judith
Kundalini in the West by Swami Sivananda Radha
Oshkosh Yoga Teacher Training with Kat Bettger
Center for Action and Contemplation - Fr. Richard Rohr's book, The Enneagram

CHAKRAS
Svadisthana and Manipura

Feel into the 2nd Chakra Svadhisthana

• Located below the navel and includes your sexual organs and womb

• Associated with the Water element

• It is the source of your intuition 

• Emotions are held and released here

• It helps the blood circulate through your hips, awakening a free flow of sensations, desires, and pleasures

Anytime you feel: motivated, passionate and graceful - this center is in balance

It manages you right to FEEL

from Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith
Purpose: movement and connection
Meaning: sweetness
Location: lower abdomen, sacral plexus, below the navel and includes your sexual organs and womb, the pelvic bowl
Demon: Guilt
Developmental state: 6 months to 2 years
Developmental tasks:  sensate exploration of the world, locomotion
Balanced characteristics: graceful, movements, emotional intelligence, ability to experience pleasure, ability to self nurture and nurture others, ability to change, healthy boundaries

Here we accept others, have new experiences, embrace change, appropriately connect through sexuality and the sensual expression of it by pursuing and receiving pleasure, and be playful. It is here we connect to our creativity - and creative problem solving, make magic, or experience alchemy,  flow and alignment. Here we move, feel emotions and connect to our senses, particularly the sense of touch and what we feel.

Trigger warning
What may lead to imbalances in the second chakra: sexual, emotional, physical abuse (overt or covert), volatile situations, neglect, rejection, denial, enmeshment, lack of freedom, religious/moral severity, alcoholism in the family, inherited issues.

These could manifest in either a deficiency or an excess in the following ways:
Deficiencies: rigidity, frigidity, poor social skills, denial or pleasure, excessive boundaries, fear of change, lack of desire, passion, or excitement
Excess: acting out sexually, sexual or pleasure addiction, excessive emotive emotion, poor boundaries, codependency, obsessive attachment

Which could result in the following physical malfunctions: reproductive organ disorders, difficult menses, sexual dysfunction, low back pain, inflexibility, numbed senses.

Healing practices to take care of the second chakra: 
Movement, emotional release or containment, inner child world, boundaries work, 12-steps

When the second chakra is balanced, we reclaim passion and pleasure, vulnerability and a connection to our senses that feels supportive and safe. This allows for a free flow of dynamic energy that is essential for growth, change, transformation, and the release of armor that keeps us separate. When the second chakra is balanced there is a steadiness to our emotional states. Sexuality is a healthy expression of intimacy, pleasure, and joy, with sensitive boundaries, balance, and a true sense of connection determined and communicated by consensual adults. 

Guilt and Shame
With your permission I would like to talk about guilt and shame. 

One major deterrent to receiving the benefits of a balanced second chakra is guilt as well as shame that can accompany it. The second chakra is feeling into our depths, moving from rational to intuitive, resistance to ease, imitation to originality. It is possibility, being in touch with emotions, and moving beyond shame.

Guilt and shame (the demons of the 2nd and 3rd chakra) can keep you in a pattern.

Through the second chakra we can start to reconnect to our deep and true desires.

When you start to feel the weight of emotion pulling you under, that is when you reflect.
Is this an emotion from now or a recurring pattern from the past?

Working with the chakras can move us out of the subconscious, unconscious, past patterning, enabling us to bear witness and build a nervous system that can withstand the ever changing sea of emotion and feeling.

Journaling is a place where you can safely analyze, contemplate, and evolve. So that we learn to express instead of explode, respond instead of react, and where we can begin to find or rest in equilibrium. As you journal, there is value in reviewing your past moments, especially if you do so with a lot of love so that you can understand your story and where that story (or stories) lives within your body. There can be alot of symbolism in our emotions. 

When we have an emotional trigger - a trigger is an emotional response that seems out of place for the experience in the moment, we hit the epicenter of original hurt. Then, there is an emotional release. 

I am someone who experienced shame. With a lot of support and effort, I worked through shame so that it doesn’t hijack my emotions or reality. If you are someone like me for whom shame is an issue, I want to share two resources that helped on that journey.
Healing the Shame the Binds You by John Bradford. 

This is what amazon has to say about this book:

Shame is the motivator behind our toxic behaviors: the compulsion, co-dependency, addiction and drive to superachieve that breaks down the family and destroys personal lives. This book has helped millions identify their personal shame, understand the underlying reasons for it, address these root causes and release themselves from the shame that binds them to their past failures.

and The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Vander Kolk.
The Body Keeps the Score is a very intense book where the first half of the book is full of second hand recounts of trauma, some extreme, but the second half is devoted to the how to deal part and Healing the Shame that Binds you is written in a similar way. 

We want to have clear perceptions of what occurred and not confuse that with what is occurring now.

FORUM: Let’s talk about desire. What do you want?
I know that this is a very broad question and I am taking a risk in throwing that question out without any advanced warning. 
Without knowing what you want you can’t create a willful plan to fulfill those desires.

Drop into more of an alpha state - relaxed, reflective or even a theta state - meditative, and then free-write for a little bit. 
Breath in through the nose and hold your breath for as long as you can. 
Exhale and repeat this 7x 
This strengthens your nervous system, which can influence the emotions you experience. 

Feel your body’s response to the question. Trust the first answer without analyzing.  Let it be mystical and symbolic, maybe magical. When resistance arises, allow yourself to feel compassion and nurture yourself, it is in this way that you develop emotional intelligence. 

What feeling am I allowing? What do I want to feel?
What feelings, emotions and conditions am I trying to control?
Can I commit to riding the emotions out? Can I take responsibility for what I feel and not emote my feelings onto others?
How many times in the past have I experienced this same feeling? Where did it come from? Who was there?
How do I choose to respond?

Let's refocus our attention on the third chakra Manipura

• Core, center - where your ribs emerge around your solar plexus

• Symmetrical 

• Associated with the Fire element

• Promise 

It's how you move yourself through the experience of pain and your programming.

scale: process to purpose, victim to empowered, dim to illuminated 

Anytime you feel: proud, reliable, and confident - this center is in balance.

It rules you right to DARE

The third chakra has to do with your sense of purpose. It is the seat of your power, in which you find self-esteem, purpose, personal identity, and individual will. It empowers you to transform, grow, and act in your life.

It is purpose, choice, confidence.

Associations:

• Self-confidence

• Control in life

• Power

• Energy

• The “how”

• Self-esteem

• Self-trust

• Follow through, execution

• Holding yourself to a high standard to get what matters done

• Priorities - working smart

• Effectivity

• Inner Fire

from Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith
Purpose: transformation
Meaning: lustrous gem or jewel, city of jewels
Location: solar plexus
Demon: shame
Developmental state: 18 mo to 4 years
Developmental tasks: realization of separateness, establishing autonomy
Balanced characteristics: responsible, reliable, balanced and effective will, good self-esteem, balanced ego-strength, warmth, confidence, spontaneity, playfulness, sense of humor, appropriate self-discipline, sense of personal power, or inner strength, able to rise to the occasion and meet challenges.

What may lead to imbalances in the third chakra: shaming, authoritarianism, volatile situations, domination, physical abuse, danger, enmeshment, age appropriate responsibilities, inherited shame

These could manifest in either a deficiency or an excess in the following ways:
Deficiencies: low energy, easily manipulated, poor self-esteem and follow through, collapsed middle, attraction to stimulants, blaming, passive, unreliable
Excess: overly aggressive, dominating, controlling, need to be right, manipulative, power hungry, deceitful, attraction to sedatives, temper tantrums, violent outbursts, stubborn, driving ambition, competitive, arrogant, hyperactive
Which could result in the following physical malfunctions: disordered eating, ulcers, hypoglycemia, chronic fatigue, hypertension, disorders of the organs around the navel: liver, stomach, pancreas.

Healing practices to take care of the third chakra: risk taking, grounding, emotional contact, deep relaxation, vigorous exercise, martial arts, core work!, psychotherapy to build ego strength, release or contain anger, work through shame, strengthen the will, and encourage autonomy.

When the third chakra is balanced
We experience aq healthy sense of power as well as its limits, wcan be proactive, confident, warm, responsible, and we can persevere. We can take on new challenges, follow through on tasks, confront opposition effectively instead of reactively or with retaliation, and take responsibility for our actions. With a balanced third chakra we have vitality and a playful ability to not take ourselves so seriously. 

I believe it is important to note that the 1st and 2nd chakra are instinctual. The fire in the 3rd chakra is dynamic and light, rising up and away from gravity, away from what is dense or heavy - like earth and water. It is here in the 3rd chakra where change is a necessary step towards the balance of the whole system. Someone (or it can be a system, or institution, or community) with a healthy third chakra has energetic vitality. There is a sense of enjoyment and enthusiasm. A sense of personal power gives us strength to be the change, to venture into the unknown, to take risks, or make mistakes. 

It is in the third chakra that you dare yourself to do something extraordinary.

When you let the third chakra support you as you take charge of what you believe you can do, that’s everything. 

What does it take to go from someone who is learning to someone who leads their life? 
I’ll tell you: You have to believe in yourself.

What will it take for you to cultivate a belief in yourself that is so strong that it could take you through the fire of your calling?
The fire of your calling is demanding that you make powerful choices, daily - that you bring consciousness to it. 

It is in the third chakra where you examine your choices and it asks … How do we put this into practice?

The second and third chakra are both self-focused. 
The second chakra is self-expression through sense and the third is self-expression through action. 

So in order to ‘travel along the rainbow bridge” to higher consciousness, we have to do some work here. 

I shared what Anodea Judith calls the “demon” - I think this word is apropos because we do have to face these “demons” to heal and integrate. The demon of the first chakra being fear, guilt in chakra two and shame here in chakra three. I mentioned the Body Keeps the Score and I would like to share a quote from this book about trauma.  (this is from p. 237)

Trauma stories lessen the isolation of trauma,and they provide an explanation for why people suffer the way they do. They allow doctors to make diagnoses, so that they can address problems ... (but) stories can also provide people with a target to blame. Blaming is a universal human trait that helps people feel good while feeling bad. But stories also obscure a more important issue, namely, that trauma radically changes people: that in fact they no longer are "themselves."

“It is excruciatingly difficult to put that feeling of no longer being yourself into words. Language evolved primarily to share "things out there," not to communicate our inner feelings, our interiority. Most of us are better at describing someone else than we are at describing ourselves. The task of describing the most private experiences can be likened to reaching down to a deep well to pick up small fragile crystal figures while you are wearing thick leather mittens. We can get past the slipperiness of words by engaging the self-observing body-based self system, which speaks through sensations, tone of voice, and body tensions. Being able to perceive visceral sensations is the very foundation of emotional awareness.  When you activate your gut feelings and listen to your heartbreak - when you follow the interoceptive pathways to your innermost recesses - things begin to change.

Integration
It's been said that the part of your brain responsible for feeling and the part of your brain responsible for sharing your feelings are so different. So the very act of telling a story of how you feel is healing because it creates a pathway of integration. The very act of sharing takes the power away from the feeling and repurposes the energy behind it into words. So if you can tell your story and own your story - that can be very powerful for you, and for others. Especially after you have shared it so many times that its sting for you - it changes. By telling a story we are creating a new pathway. It feels hard and awkward and uncomfortable, so of course there is going to be resistance. One way to get past resistance is to do the thing you are resisting until it becomes easier. We begin to integrate and it is the middle ground of integration where healing happens. 

FORUM/EXERCISE: What risks are you willing to take? What are you going to dare yourself to do? 
Physically feel into the question - trust the first answer without analyzing - let it be mystical, symbolic, magical .. 

Svadisthana

Journal Prompts
What gifts and wisdom does a balanced second chakra provide?
What longing or desire lives deep within you?

Manipura

Journal Prompts
What gifts and wisdom does a balanced third chakra provide?
In what ways do you ignite your own uniqueness? 
How can you bring your unique self and purpose to life through your daily actions?

+ see the Journal Prompts with the practices

PRACTICE

Desire Mandala Vinyasa or Emote Flow
Choice Kundalini Core

What is your Enneagram?
2 resources:
1. Fr. Richard Rohr - his book Enneagram, and the Center for Action and Contemplation
2. Sleeping at Last Podcast - he has one episode on each of the 9 enneagram types and an original piece of music for each which are poignant and revelatory.

References
Angelus by Erica Jago and Roos vander Kamp
Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith
Kundalini in the West by Swami Sivananda Radha
Oshkosh Yoga Teacher Training with Kat Bettger
Healing the Shame that Binds you by John Bradshaw
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel vander Kolk

CHAKRAS
ANAHATA AND VISHUDDHA

ANAHATA CHAKRA

FOURTH CHAKRA from Angelus - Rest into the wisdom of the 4th Chakra Anahata
● Located in your chest at the level of your heart and lungs, extending down to your hands.
● Associated with the Air element.
● It is the meeting place of your lower and higher chakras.
● It is the center from which you relate to others.
● It elevates self-love, kindness, and forgiveness in your life.

scale: intolerance to compassion.

Anytime you feel warmth and empathy for something or someone else, this center is in balance.

It accentuates your right to LOVE.

Associations

• Ability to love

• Joy

• Soft

• Expansive

• Fulcrum

• Balance

• Heart and lungs and heart to arms as in a hug

• Relationships

• Self-love

• Self-acceptance

• Big hearted

• Collaboration, opportunity

• Love - not competition

• Abundance

Lead with your heart. Cultivate abundance. Heal your relationship with self and others.

From Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith
Purpose: Love, balance
Meaning: unstruck
Location: chest, heart, cardiac plexus
Demon: Grief
Developmental state: 4 - 7 years
Developmental tasks: forming relationships, developing persona
Balanced characteristics: compassionate, loving, empathetic, self-loving, altruistic, peaceful, balanced, strong/balanced immune system
What may lead to imbalances in the fourth chakra: rejection, abandonment, loss, shaming, constant criticism, abuse, unacknowledged grief, including parents, divorce, death, loveless/cold environments, conditional love, betrayal
These could manifest in either a deficiency or an excess in the following ways:
Deficiencies: antisocial/withdrawn, critical, judgmental, intolerant, loneliness, isolations, depression, fear of intimacy/relationships, lack of empathy, narcissism
Excess: codependency, weak boundaries, demanding, clinging, jealousy, overcompensating/fawning with stress
Which could result in the following physical malfunctions: disorders of the heart, lungs, thymus, breasts, arms - I would also say shoulders, wrists, shortness of breath, circulation issues, asthma, immune deficiency/auto-immune, tension in shoulder, pain in chest
Healing practices to take care of the fourth chakra: Pranayama, working with arms, reaching out, taking in, journaling, psychotherapy: examine assumptions about relationships, emotional release/grieving, forgiveness, inner child work, codependency work, self-acceptance, integration
When the fourth chakra is balanced, we come to a place of acceptance and openness that allows the spirit inside to be still and find peace and stability without constrictions.  

“Since the heart chakra is the middle point, balance is essential at this level of integration. This implies that internal balance between various aspects of ourselves (mind and body, persona and shadow, masculine and feminine), as well as balance between ourselves and the world around us (work and play, giving and receiving, socializing and being alone). Finding this equilibrium support the basic issues of love and relationship.”

An essential aspect of finding this balance is self-love.

Demon: Grief

“All wounds cry for the medicine of love.”

Only through attending can we drop protective armor that keeps us bound. Through love we can evolve to express our truth. 

(Side note: this can feel self-indulgent, work around: being anchored in relationship. So, the work you do on yourself affects others, we can show up “clean” - see Clean Relations, p. 5 B&P)

notes from Erica Jago, Oshkosh Yoga Teacher Training

It is the element of air so it elevates our self-love, kindness, our ability to forgive. 

If there is an ache in your heart, the mind will try to resolve it. It try to find the logical reason that there is pain and through the 4th chakra and 4th chakra practices we redirect energy - not love into your thoughts, but attention on your heart so that you can care for yourself because the mind won't be able to solve it but your own love and attention will. 

FORUM/EXERCISE: on programs, patterns and self-limiting beliefs 
What are yours? Me: not good enough. I was programmed to believe that I needed to be the best - at everything.

I am going to set the table for this first ..  

Look at your relationships - this is where we learn to know ourselves. Whatever energy you have here or bring to relationships, that is your heart's story and where the deeper patterns of how we were taught to love and to be loved. 

We can learn to spend some time within the energy of your heart so that we can fulfill our own needs.

Let's talk about stress, when our nervous system is stressed or stressed out the energetic body gets tired - not just your physical body or your mental capacity to make decisions or to stay calm through conflict resolutions, our energetic body gets weakened with stress. Which then perpetuates the results that come from those old, habitual, hard wired, original hurts. And that can feel .. fatal.

Some ways to handle this is  .. ground yourself in the moment, (going back to the root chakra) parent or re-parent yourself so that when you start to toggle between extremes, we can come back to balance or experience, balance - balance behavior. 

When the programs run the show … When we work with the chakra system, when you use the chakras as maps, you can see when that's happening. In the case of the heart, the heart clenches down (you experience this as well through the other energy centers. The programs then shut down the flow of energy through the energy centers. 

When this happens .. to me .. I don’t have access to my stability, my creativity, my power, love, voice, vision to see myself, or my ability to connect into a bigger experience. My world starts to get a little smaller and I get bigger and bigger to the point where I am so focused on myself, that I can’t access the gifts of a balanced and open chakra.

In the case of the heart, I don’t have access to love and I start to look outside of myself. Can anyone relate?

What are your programs around love? We are going to ask the heart. 
Meditation/Breath - SIt with the center of your chest open and rising, float your attention into your heart space. Take a moment to get quiet and still. 

This moment is for witnessing your heart’s programming.

Beyond wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field, meet me there. - Rumi

So witness without judgment or analysis.  Allow your thinking to dissolve into sensing and feeling. 

Take a deep breath and go deeper. 

Take a deep breath and let go. 

Take a deep breath and ask your highest love to arise.

“The voice of the heart is our breathing. Breathing is run by the autonomic nervous system When you put your attention on the breath, it can and will lead you into the subconscious mind. It is in the subconscious mind that we start to see these deep seeded patterns. The subconscious speaks in symbols and signs.” - Erica Jago

Find an appreciation for what this moment is offering. 

If anything tender comes up, name it, acknowledge and offer an affectionate prayer to sit raw and awake to your beautiful heart. 

Music: Heart Chakra Sound Bath - 4min

Heart practice
Do you forgive yourself when you make a mistake? Can you find compassion for others, especially if they are irritating or disruptive? Are you good at not taking things personally? Are you attracting the right kind of love? Are you aware when your masculine and feminine energy go out of balance?

Forgive - let it create space, safe space to reprogram the heart.

We are learning how to love ourselves - all of ourselves. Even our shadows. This is sincere self-love. During the practice let your breathing and thinking be soothing. Create space to give compassion. Then say, I am here to be patient with myself. 

VISHUDDHA CHAKRA

 FIFTH CHAKRA from Angelus communicate with the 5th chakra vishuddha

● Located at the base of your neck, where your collar bones meet, then moving up the cylinder of your throat to your mouth and chin. (Your face speaks, vulnerability shows up on the chin.)

● It is the energy of sound: our ability to listen, to express needs/wants/opinions, to make sure you are heard. 

● Associated with the Sound element.

● It bridges your feeling with your thinking through creative expression and speech.

● It is the center from which you relate to others.

● It provides you with the ability to listen and verbally express your needs, desires, and opinions truthfully and authentically. Is is sound, communication, hearting, and listening

● It is important that it is opened and aligned. 

scale: self-censorship to freedom of speech

Anytime you feel heard and able to communicate change and healing, this center is in balance.

It allows for your right to SPEAK and LISTEN.

from Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith 
Purpose: Communication, creativity
Meaning: purification
Location: throat, pharyngeal plexus
Demon: Lies
Developmental state: 7 - 12 years 
Developmental tasks: creative expression, communication skills, symbolic/abstract thinking
Balanced characteristics: resonate voice, good listener, good sense of timing and rhythm, clear communications, lives creatively
What may lead to imbalances in the fifth chakra: lies or mixed messages, verbal abuse - being yelled at or yelling, excessive criticism, secrets, authoritarian care-givers, alcohol or substance dependent family (don’t talk, don't know, don’t feel)
These could manifest in either a deficiency or an excess in the following ways:
Deficiencies: fear of speaking, small voice, difficulty putting feelings into words, introversion, shyness, tone deaf, poor rhythm
Excess: too much talking, talking as defense, inability to listen or poor auditory comprehension, gossiping, dominating voice/interruptions
Which could result in the following physical malfunctions: disorders of the throat, ears, neck, tmj, toxicity
Healing practices to take care of the fifth chakra: neck and shoulder rolls, release voice - singing, chanting, toning, storytelling, journaling, free writing, practicing loving silence, non-goal-oriented creativity, psychotherapy: to learn communication skills, letter writing (no-send letters), inner child communication, dialog

When the fifth chakra is balanced (paraphrasing EBWM) 

“The health of the throat chakra rests in its ability to accurately communicate the truth of one’s experience, witness and meet another’s truth, and approach life creatively and effectively. Balance characteristics reveal a person with communication skills, both self-expression and effective listening. They can ask questions that elicit information, make use of that information, and let someone know that they have been heard and understood. A person with a healthy 5th chakra has a resonant voice that is pleasing to listen to and has natural rhythm with appropriate tonality and volume. The 5th chakra relates to rhythm, there is a sense of timing and grace to one’s activities and movements. Finally a person with a balanced 5th chakra lives creatively - which does apply just to the arts, but it is an attitude about what is possible.” 

In conversations do you leave room for others to speak? Can you refrain from gossip and judgments? Do you soften your words before entering a hard conversation? Do you dare say what needs to be said, kindly and with love? Are you fearless in how you express yourself? 

Set boundaries and speak your truth. Align your thoughts and actions for exponential results. Communicate your desires with power, authority, and compassion. Can you communicate firmly with kindness, and once?

Mantra: I listen before I speak. I listen as I speak. I listen even after I speak.

You are trying to orchestrate everything that you are, feel, dare, love, and want to say into everything that you think, on top of dealing with everything else.

I want to be able to balance all the energy because, if I don’t understand who I am in my roots, how I feel, what I am daring to do, or my heart, it will warp my communication. 

We want to master our voice so that we can share the messages that are most meaningful and powerful for us. 

Tone represents how powerful the throat chakra is .. if you don’t say anything or you say something really simple - someone can still pick up on how you think and feel in your tone.

And you don’t need to use words to express yourself -  you can write, or move. One of the practices in Angelus is Free Dance (Ecstatic Dance in January) - put on music, dance around your house. You can draw, make art, make or play music.

FORUM/EXERCISE:  
Meditation/Breath
Lam 1st 
Vam 2nd 
Ram 3rd
Yam 4th
Ham 5th
Om 6th, silence 7th 

Seed sound of throat chakra is EEE
Take hands behind the neck
Can you ease up a little?

100 Questions
For this you are going to start writing down questions (you do not need to answer these questions). Open-ended questions that start with Why, What, How or When are the most interesting.

step one: Find yourself is a quiet place where you can relax. Take a voice recorder, press record and ask yourself 100 questions that are relevant to you in this moment. Open-ended questions are the most interesting, but your list can include anything from How can I save money? To When was the last time I went dancing, and why did I stop? Speak in a steady rhythm, without pause. Don’t worry about repeating the same question in different words.

step two: Asking 100 questions is daunting, but to get to the why beneath the why, it is important to stick with it. Your first 20 questions or so are “off the top of your head.” In the next 30, 40 questions, themes to your questions begin to emerge. In the later part of your questions, you discover unexpected, but profound material. Once you feel your have reached a state of flow and asked all that needed to be asked, move to the next step.

step three: After the dust settles, sit dow and listen to your recording. Refine your quality of listening. Focus on your words and take note of your tone, volume, and pace. As you listen ask: Can I detect the difference between the first and last question? Can I hear from what moment a deeper level of consciousness took over and I started channeling? What themes did I question the most? Can I relate them to a specific chakra? Write down your findings.

step four: It may be interesting int listen to your recording(s) again after a month (or a year) and discover even bigger themes in your life.

Music: Bija Mantras - Watering the Seeds by Jai Uttahl
Share

anahata

Journal Prompts
What gifts and wisdom does a balanced fourth chakra provide?
Consider and reflect upon your default mind-set when it comes to love or anything associated with the 4th chakra.

Visshudha

Journal Prompts
What gifts and wisdom does a balanced fifth chakra provide?
In what ways do you use, or don’t use, your voice?
What are you holding back that needs to be said?
How would softening your tone and becoming aware of the sound frequency of your voice change the way you listen and speak?

+ see the Journal Prompts with the practices

PRACTICE

Forgive Restorative
Freedom Free Dance!

References
Angelus by Erica Jago and Roos vander Kamp
Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodeao Judith
Kundalini in the West by Swami Sivananda Radha
Oshkosh Yoga Teacher Training with Kat Bettger
What We Say Matters by Judith and Ike Lasater

CHAKRAS
AJNA AND SAHASRARA

AJNA Chakra

• Located at the bridge of your nose, between your eyebrows in the geometric center of your brain, pineal gland : (Wikie) The pineal gland is a small endocrine gland. In the darkness the pineal gland produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone, which modulates sleep patterns following the diurnal cycles (the 24 hour day).The shape of the gland resembles a pine cone, which gives it its name. The pineal gland is located in the epithalamus, near the center of the brain, between the two hemispheres, tucked in a groove where the two halves of the thalamus joint. 

• Associated with the element of LIGHT

• It is the place of subtle perception

• It reveals the insight of your future, while your physical eyes see the present and the mind’s eye sees the past.

• It illuminates everything as it is without the filter of your history, your expectations, or your judgments.

• It is about dreaming big

• When you feel blocked and you want clarity - work here.

Anytime you feel in tune with your dreams, this center is in balance and aligned.
It illuminates your right to SEE.

Associations
Imagination
Visualization
Intuition
Dreams
Seed of wisdom
Scale: blocked vision to clarity

Cultivate your intuitive capacity, get clear on where you're going and why, and create a vision for your life. When this energy center is in balance, you are unstoppable - and in a constant state of flow!

from Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith 

Purpose: pattern recognition
Meaning: to perceive, command
Demon: illusion
Developmental state: adolescence
Developmental tasks: establishment of personal identity, ability to perceive patterns
Balanced characteristics: intuitive, perceptive, imaginative, memory.recall, symbolic thinking, able to visualize
What may lead to imbalances in the sixth chakra: cognitive dissonance - what you see doesn’t go with what you are told, invalidation of intuition, gaslighting, violence

These could manifest in either a deficiency or an excess in the following ways:
Deficiencies: insensitivity, vision issues, memory issues, difficulting envisioning the future, lack of imagination, poor dream recall, denial, monopolarization
Excess: hallucinations, delusions, obsessions, difficulty concentrating, nightmares
Which could result in the following physical malfunctions: headaches, visions issues
Healing practices to take care of the sixth chakra: create visual arts, meditation, psychotherapy - art therapy, memory, dreamwork, hypnosis, guided visualization

When the sixth chakra is balanced, we can intuitively perceive, we are imaginative and creative, we can calm the mind and see clearly, we can think symbolically, make plans, and find a guiding vision that gives meaning to our lives. We can transcend - this can radically shift our perception and bring profound insight. A balanced sixth chakra can elevate our understanding and embrace a broader perspective; our consciousness can expand. We can imagine - anything. Here we start to understand the dance of divinity and consciousness that we’ll learn about in the chakra seven. 

When you feel blocked and you want clarity to work here. 
(Heroine’s story on pg. 112 from Angelus) 

We can become blocked with everything that we experience. We can unblock, uncover, and put it all back together. You can see above all the areas of your life and put it all together. 

Where are you now, where do you want to go?
What are the excuses, justifications, self-limiting beliefs? I say “the” because it's less personal than “your”

Perception can be changed. One way to find out if it is a perception and how to change, is by asking: Is this causing me pain?
Which honestly is a little dramatic. Pain means it's not right, discomfort is not the same thing. We are real smart - we can create and give excuses and justification; and we can operate, subconsciously, from self-limiting beliefs. 

Self-limiting beliefs are .. “thoughts, ideas, and stories we tell ourselves that keep us from pursuing our dreams, fulfilling our goals, and doing the things we feel called to do. These beliefs can be about ourselves and our own abilities, but also about the world at large.”

So we have to ask deeply. We have to ask the deepest part of ourselves, as at the soul level. 

We will prepare for writing with Alternate nostril breathing

designed to bring you into universal flow

Both hemispheres become very watchful.
When you are moving into Universal Flow you are conducting your life in accordance with what you see you want to create and what you’re doing. The key being personal integrity. Doing what you say you’re going to do. Focus on your vision whilst engaging your will. This is something we can master. 

Being aware of your visions and confident (your third chakra) sets the parameters for entering a state of flow. A vision takes time to build. You have to begin and build confidence from there. Synchronizing the third eye and third chakra. That is what flow state is: putting your vision into practice is about taking action. 

You are both and - both a work in progress and enough.

Forum
Do your daily actions match your future dreams? 

Where are you now, where do you want to go?

What are the excuses, justifications, self-limiting beliefs?
Write in present tense. Affirm.

Music during writing https://open.spotify.com/track/3MO7wFWv3OJGZlFM3GvjnQ?si=ff7c371505a84255

SAHASRARA CHAKRA

• Located at the soft spot on top of your head that adjusted and closed 3 months after you were born, the crown of the head, the halo above the head, the cerebral cortex - the part of the brian responsible for cognition.

• The element of thought - associated with Bliss, it allows you to experience what is beyond the mundane.

• It provides access to Universal Intelligence.

• It is the center from which you sense subtleties and gestures from a higher source that guides your every step.

Scale: alone to one with all

Anytime you feel that everything is interconnected and that you are a part of the larger web of life, this center is open and in balance.
It channels your right to KNOW

Associations

● Abode of consciousness

● Supreme connection

● Divine intelligence

This is where you connect to a power greater than yourself. Enter into this energetic space to relax, recharge and remember that we are all interconnected. This is what the eight-limbed path of yoga (not just physical practice) is really all about.

It illuminates everything as it is without the filter of your history, your expectations, or your judgements.

from Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith
Purpose: understanding
Meaning: thousand petal lotus, or thousand fold lotus
Demon: attachment, attachment to ideas or ways of seeing
Developmental state: adulthood
Developmental tasks: assimilation of knowledge and the development of wisdom
Balanced characteristics: ability to perceive, analyze, and assimilate information, intelligent, thoughtful, aware, open-minded, able to question, spiritually connection, wisdom, mastery, broad understanding.
What may lead to imbalances in the seventh chakra: withheld information, education that doesn’t allow for curiosity, forced religiosity, blind obedience, invalidation of beliefs, misinformation, lies - personal integrity lays the groundwork for a balanced seventh chakra.

These could manifest in either a deficiency or an excess in the following ways:
Deficiencies: spiritual cynicism, learning difficulties, rigidity in beliefs, apathy, excesses in the lower chakras - like materialism, or greed, or power over others
Excess: overintellectualizatin, spiritual addiction, confusion, dissociations

Which could result in the following physical malfunctions: migraines, amnesia, delusions

Healing practices to take care of the seventh chakra: reestablishing physical, emotional connection (excess) or spiritual connection (deficiency), learning and study, spiritual discipline, meditation, working with a higher power

When the seventh chakra is balanced, we have an experience of awakening to the reality of our spiritual nature. As we eliminate the demons of fear, guilt, shame, grief, lies, illusions, and attachments, we are liberated from the habitual patterns of our thoughts and free to experience the expansion of consciousness. We can open this chakra by developing our capacity for stillness, for concentration. Mediation being a pathway to do this. There is also a correlation between our emotions and consciousness that I want to touch on. “We feel the pull of consciousness on our emotions, but who or what feels those emotions?” There is an aspect of the witness that we can develop here in the seventh chakra. 

Notes from Erica Jago

… speak about little baby bliss …

There is a bigger plan, there’s a larger web of life. And we have a right to know this. So we have magic, our aura, and we have transcendence. We have to remind ourselves of this connection. So when I think of this, I imagine the church bells ringing and the churches in europe. This is about understanding that there is a higher purpose, that there is a Guidance. This can come in the form of coincidence, synchronicities. Something happens and your consciousness shifts.

Practice: Morning Call (Long Ek Ong Kar) 
Ek - root
Ong - second
Kar - third
Satnam - fourth and fifth, truth from the heart
Siri - pause
Wahe Guru extending out

Anything is possible - it may not come in the way that you think, but it will come in a way that nourishes your soul and evolution.

Here we develop our aura. The aura is the electromagnetic field around you (9 ft), there is a radiance in that. 

You have the power to uplift others. You can sense an aura. I have that (the power to uplift others with my aura). I know that because after class I see so much beauty that I sometimes have to look away. It can be overwhelming for me sometimes, especially if it's a new group or something like that where I feel nervous and shrink a little. 

It’s that we can have loving intentions and love - and this together is so beautiful and vibrant! There is also an experience that is an emotional at-ease-ness and mental clarity.

Here we experience Beauty, Universal Source. Here we rebound from fear to love, illuminating your entire being and eliminating obstacles. There is such subtlety here. According Erica Jago, and Aura practice is “a projection - of everything that you are, feel, dare, love, speak, see, and know - and it is a protection.” 

This is the journey - it’s a lot so for our final exercise for this month of our Immersion, we will meditate for about three minutes and we will end with that. So before we do - questions, comments, anything that is coming up for you now, that you would be willing to share? 

Meditation

https://open.spotify.com/track/53HOml3JWSbRpxwZgqhD21?si=0c90ec218dd8419a

ajna

Journal Prompts
What gifts and wisdom does a balanced sixth chakra provide?
Are you open to bigger visions and manifesting new realities?
Are your attitudes positive?
Do your daily actions match your future dreams?

sahasrara

Journal Prompts

What gifts and wisdom does a balanced seventh chakra provide?
Do you believe in miracles and magic?
How do you connect to something much larger than yourself?

PRACTICE

Meditation music for meditation is in Classes

References
Angelus by Erica Jago and Roos vander Kamp
Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodeao Judith
Kundalini in the West by Swami Sivananda Radha
Oshkosh Yoga Teacher Training with Kat Bettger
What We Say Matters by Judith and Ike Lasater

8 limbs

Radiance Sutras - Verse 148
Being transformed by even one of these practices,
Fullness of experience develops breath by breath.
One day the desire of the self for the great Self is consummated.
Come ready for that moment!

8 limbs overview

1. Yamas: Ahimsa (nonviolence) Satya (truth) Brahmacharya (lusting) Aparigraha (non-possessiveness) Asteya (non-stealing)
2. Niyamas: Shauca (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), tapas (discipline), svadhyaya (self-study), ishvarapranidhana (surrender)
3. Asana
4. Pranayama
5. Pratyahara sense withdraw
6. Dhaharana single pointed focus/concentration
7. Dyana meditation
8. Samadhi bliss

YAMAS AND NIYAMAS

The first two parts the yamas and the niyamas are contemplative tools for living a healthy and peaceful life. They enable us to build a world free from violence, dishonesty, greed, addiction, and possessiveness. While living in this unique world we are not a threat to others and others are not a threat to us potentially helps us explore all the obstacles known and unknown that may prevent us from creating this ideal world and delineates a clear path for removing them. The remaining six parts of the eight limb path focus on the techniques for mastering our body, mind and senses like steps in a letter each part serves as a foundation for the next.

ASANA

The third part enables us to master our body and reclaim its natural strength, stamina and flexibility when practiced with focus and precision. Asana restores our innate beauty, charm, vigor and self-healing power. It forms the ground for the fourth step ..

PRANAYAMA

This part of the practice enables us to access the immense pool of prana, the life force that links and sustains the body and mind. Awakened by the practice of pranayama the life force empowers the body and mind to enhance their mutually supportive relationship. The mind becomes acutely aware of the body's needs and comes forward to meet them. The body senses the mind's intent and responds spontaneously.

PRATYAHARA, DHARANA, DHYANA, SAMADHI

The remaining four parts of yoga unfold from here the entire sequence - collecting the scattered forces of the mind, pratyahara, bringing them to their home base dharana turning the mind inward to discover its main powers and privileges dhyana and finally bringing all of our mental powers to bear on discovering and uniting ourselves with pure being samadhi - is the natural process of spiritual unfoldment, provided we practice the first four steps of yoga perfectly and precisely.” (intro Sadhana Pada) The 8 limbs are all interdependent.

Contextual Details

There are many yoga lineages.
The 8 limbs comes from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Patanjanali is said to be mythic, many authors, a historic person, but historical dates prove that Patanjali is not a singular historical person that wrote one singular text, those dates being (according to my Source) 250 ce-200 bce.

These Yoga Sutras come from the Upanishads - you don’t need to know any more about the Upanishads at this point. They are ancient texts from India that were orally composed in sanskrit - and some are pre-sanskrit. What I know of sanskrit apart from using some sanskrit words and ideas in class are from my college linguistics course and sanskrit is one of the first human languages. You are welcome to nerd out of that if you want to.

The Upanishads and the Yoga Sutra (remember there is not only one, but many Yoga Sutra and many lineages) and the early works that yoga begins to be fleshed out.

Patanjali’s Yoga Limbs are foundational in the west in particular.
The Yoga Sutras are 4 books/chapters of 194-196 aphorisms - little phrases to be remembered. Because, like all original traditions, Yoga is an oral tradition, so they had to be easy to remember. The 8 Limbs are a part of Patanjali’s interpretations of Yoga Sutras. Sutra meaning thread, or a stitch .. tantra meaning all of the threads stitched and weaved together.

So those Four chapters on Freedom: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras - The 8 Limbs are I’m going to go quickly through this because you don’t need to remember this …

Samadhi Pada - on Enlightenment - the why, what, the process of subtilization
Sadhana Pada - on Practice - actions that lead to the present, the now - expanding consciousness, responding in the world instead of reacting reflectively; on-going and evolving. Results - are to chanell experience and wisdom of samadhi back into life, grow and blossom into energy and understanding that flows to us as a result of our sadhana (practice). Sutra 29-55
Vibhuti Pada - on Powers/Manifestation - the “ash”, the remnants of when you do your practice the energy moves to you, you know what to do. Its is both the fruit and process.
Kaivalyam Pada - on Liberation - who we become and how we experience the world as a result of weaving the experience of samadhi back into our lives - Who are we then?

It was Swami Vivekananda - who brought his own interpretation to modern west - in the late 1800s.

The thing that I believe that is most important that you know and start to understand is that we have within the Yoga Sutras - dualism.
The Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali are dualistic. A dualistic system is where, for example, spiritual and material are separate. Pause The way my teacher describes is via this idea that life was a problem that needed to be solved. The Yoga Sutras are aesthetic and are meant for those that choose not to be engaged in the world. To use the language of my Christian background - they were not for being in the world but not of the world. The goal of Patanajali’s Yoga Sutras achieved a reality (a bliss state) that is not this reality. Does that make sense?

Knowing this is how we hold the line of appreciation and don’t cross over into appropriation. Ideally we would want to integrate all of this, weave our own understanding of these 8 limbs we are going to talk about. Just like yoga is a homonym, the 8 limbs mean different things in different context.

YAMAS AND NIYAMAS

So the yamas and niyamas - the first two limbs we are going to focus on show what what an ethical person would look like. And the question then becomes How am I doing with … this? … Yama, etc. This is what we’ll talk about in the forum, k? Ok so we’ll start and see how far we get today.

YAMAS

Sutra 2:30 The five self-restraints
Ahimasatyaasteyabramacharyaaparigrahayamah
Non-violence, truth, honesty, sensual abstinence and non-possessiveness are the five self-restraints

That is all it says - nothing more. (I’m fine) They pertain to the outerworld and your behavior in relationship to the outer world. We practice all 5 restraints together. (The way I remember which is which is that the ni-yama are about me, what I do internally.)

Ahimsa

Himsa - strike, cut down “Non-animosity toward all living things, all the time, in every respect.”
We’ll spend more time on this one because all 8 limbs are rooted in ahimsa.

“Do not allow yourself to indulge in animosity.” - Elena Brower

A spirit of tolerance. To practice Love is constant work. It provides a remedy for animosity, cruelty, jealousy, self-righteousness. Elena had us do an exercise at a training I did with her at Kripalu (on the yoga sutras) and it went something like this. She had us section off four lines on a page and labeled each section with: animosity, cruelty, jealousy, self-righteousness .. and I’m going to give you the cliff’s notes version ..

Animosity - friendliness, kindness. Cultivate unconditional love and enjoyment for those who are happy, peaceful, content and successful.

Cruelty - compassion. Cultivate joy, supportiveness for those who are suffering, including yourself

Jealousy - happiness, honor. Cultivate happiness for those who are successful, virtuous, spiritually noble - they worked hard to get that.

Self-righteousness - non-judgement, equanimity. Cultivate equanimity for those who are troubled or projecting in a hurtful or negative way, that you judge immoral.

Sutra 1:33 (this is the first sutra about others)
Transparency of mind comes by embracing an attitude of friendliness, compassion, happiness and non-judgement toward those who are happy, miserable, virtuous and non-virtuous.

Clarification of mind, the process, results from the cultivation of friendliness.

Equanimity, equilibrium of mind can be maintained through:
-Unconditional love and enjoyment towards those who are contented, peaceful, happy
-Compassion toward those (including self) who encounter challenging situations that cause suffering.
-A sense of joy and supportiveness for those who experience honorable success.
-Equanimity when confronted by those who you judge as immoral.

Sutra 2:35 fruits of ahimsa - all hostility is abandoned In the company of a yogi established in non-violence, animosity vanishes. (Yogi’s Roadmap) For the one aligned with ahimsa, they stimulate friendliness in others and all hostilities are abandoned in the presence of such a being. (Secret Power) Embracing reverence for all, we experience oneness.

The fruit of ahimsa is the elimination of animosity. Both himsa and ahimsa are extremely subtle.

Satya

There is no a, in this yama In this practice we are not concerned with another’s truth telling, we are only concerned with how we are with ourselves. We are only concerned that we feel that we are trustworthy, not how others are living and what they are doing.

Can you trust yourself?

This is a fierce and demanding practice. Bring compassion in, when you practice satya. Truth, like Nature, (like God) has no agenda. The body doesn’t lie.

Ask yourself why?

We can only see part of it.

fruits of satya: shortening of time between having an intention and having that intention come to fruition. Whatever is spoken comes true. Restraint of speech. Truth grounded in personal experience and in the experience of a long line of masters. Discovering our pure being, our pure self.

Asteya

Enoughness. List what you are grateful for - gratitude turns what you have into enough, “more” fills a void, what is the void? Also means honesty.

fruits of asteya: Sutra 2:27 On being firmly established in honesty, all gems present themselves.

A power of cognition is developed - intuitive awareness. When the mirror is clean, you can see your face clearly in it. You can see clearly. You are not projecting.

Brahmacharya

Acting out. After the act, we feel the effects of not practicing brahmacharya. The practice is to pause, consider the consequences. Traditionally, celibacy because babies. Now with consent and birth control you can be more promiscuous but there are other consequences. (share accident story - person on cell phone).

Aparigraha

Non-possessiveness. Giving up the tendency to accumulate objects of utility and enjoyment, only keeping the objects that are essential for living. This is a temporary course of sadhana - if continued beyond reasonable limits, it gives rise to obsession.

What are you grasping onto? Why?

The gifts of the yamas:
-When one is grounded in non-violence, all conflict and hostility ceases in the presence of that person.
-Make a difficult person, or emotion, or situation, your personal deity - embracing reverence and love for all we experience is ahimsa. The one aligned with ahimsa stimulates friendliness in others and all hostility disappears.

Bhavani Silvia Maki says to “vigilantly watch over our thoughts and constantly align ourselves with love.”

This is the gold. Love is the force that underlines the Universe. The ultimate, the greatest thing is to love and be loved. When you live in love, all is well, you are worthy, there is enough. Love is a discipline and the acknowledgment of abundance.

“By restraining ourselves from lying, stealing, abusing our senses, minimizing and our mental and worldly possessions, we are automatically embracing the principle of ahimsa.” (Padit Rajmani Tigunait).

Which is why we are to practice all five together.

Sutra 31 The great disciplines How do we master the 8 limbs - practice the opposite “to arrest afflicting thoughts, cultivate thoughts opposed to them.” “As long as we have anger, greed, or confusion about the motivation behind our actions, we will have a negative mind.”

Suppression will not do. Ponder over the opposite. When practiced universally without exception due to birth, place, time and circumstances they become great disciples. It’s said that place, time, birth, etc. cause hindrances when practicing the yamas; that it is difficult to practice them without exception, but it is still recommended that you practice them without exception. Basically, no modifications, no excuses.

Unobstructed mind, clear mind, mind free of afflictions, kleshas.
5 kleshas:
- our unwillingness to examine the validity of what we believe to be true (avidya, ignorance)
-unwavering faith in our distorted self-identity (asmita)
-attachment to what appears to be us and ours (raga) -aversion to what poses a threat to what we are and what we own (dvesha)
-fear of losing ourselves and our familiar world (abhinivesha, fear of death)

forum

How am I doing with … this? … each of the yamas, each of the niyamas

Journal questions

YAMAS

Satya: Ask yourself why?
Aparigraha: What are you grasping onto? Why?

NIYAMAS

Svadyaya: What is your most persistent pattern?
Ishvarapranidhana: What are you giving your lifeforce to?

PRACTICE

5 minutes of formal seated Mediation each day
Slow Flow class

References
Four Chapters on Freedom - Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - BKS Iyengar
The Secret Power of Yoga - Nischala Joy Devi
The Yogi’s Roadmap - Bhavani Silva Maki
The Secret of the Yoga Sutra and The Practice of the Yoga Sutra - Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
Teaching the Yoga Sutras Teacher Training with Elena Brower at Kripalu
The Radian Sutras - Lorin Roche, PhD

8 limbs - NIYAMAS

Radiance Sutras
I am awake to the electricity of life.
The dynamic power of breath is renewing me moment by moment.
Nature is wild and serene, and so am I.

Niyamas

Sutra 2:32
the five observances - niyamas
Saucasantoshatapahsvadhyayaishvarapranidhaniniyamh
“Purity, contentment, austerity, self-study, trustful surrender to Ishvara are the observances."

They pertain to the internal world. (ni = me) The Knights Who Say "Ni!" - Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(a silly way to remember the difference between yama and niyama)

Perfection and precision in the practice of yoga comes from tapas, svadhyaya and, ishvarapranidhana. Tapas means austerity. Svadhyaya, self study, Ishvarapranidhna, the trustful surrender to a higher reality. The three together constitutes kriya yoga - the force that brings the practice of yoga to life. Tapas, svadhyaya and ishvarapranidhana constitute the heart and soul of yoga because these three components enable us to shake off our inertia and empower us to put the principles of yoga into action. Patanjali calls his system kriya yoga, yoga in action. Yoga sadhana leads to self mastery only in conjunction with these three factors, without them yoga is merely a skill.

Sutra 2:1 Y
oga is action composed of authenticity, self-study, and trustful surrender to Ishvara. (Yogi’s Roadap)
Sacrifice, self-study, and surrender comprise yoga is action (kriya yoga). (Secret Power)
Kriya yoga or yoga in action embraces: tapas - igniting the purifying flame, svadhyaya - sacred study of the Divine through scripture, nature, and introspection, ishvarapranidhana - wholehearted dedication to the Divine Light in all. (Sadhana Pada)

Santosha

Contentment, relaxing in, not doing - the more we chase, force, the more elusive contentment is, from lack to abundance. Giving thanks, practicing and expressing gratitude.

Sutra 2:42 Unexcelled happiness come from the practice of contentment.

Saucha

Clarifying, cleaning things up - space, mind, relationships, in all endeavors.
Fruits of shaucha: you develop a kind of indifference or non-attachment to your body, and others. This also refers to mental clarity.

Sutra 2:41 By the practice of mental purity one acquires fitness for cheerfulness, one-pointedness, sense of control and vision of self. When mental clarity is practiced, one is fit to practice cheerfulness, concentration and sense control, and is able to see oneself clearly.

Tapas

The yogic approach to practicing tapas is different from what we commonly think of as austerity. Tapas is a precise, regimented set of disciplines that awaken the inherent power of our body and mind and uses that power to overcome inertia, sloth, and carelessness.
Constancy, keeping the fire going .. keep the ember alive. It is the effort we use in training, focusing, purifying, the senses, mind, emotion.
Sacrifice - fully aware of what we are getting into (physical).
Subjecting the body to “hardships” so that it becomes fit for meditation.

Svadhyaya

Similarly svadhyaya, self-study entails more than simply reflecting on the current condition of our mind. It is a refined practice that connects us to our own inner brilliance, the shining being within. Once connected to the center brilliance, we are free from fears and doubts and are thus in power to do our practice wholeheartedly. The awareness that is cultivated through the study of the unconscious patterning that obscures our true nature as Pure Consciousness. Also the teachings that lead us to a direct experience of that true nature. It nourishes our psychology, emotional nature, and introspections (that which is our true nature).

Ishvarapranidhana

Ishvarapranidhana is more than merely believing in God. It is the trust in, surrender to, a high reality and it is a well-defined practice that leads to experiencing the presence of higher realities in every breath we take. It is a practice that engenders a constant awareness of our creator, guide, and provider. This awareness removes self isolation and self alienation. It frees us from the subtlest pain of all - loneliness.
Trustful surrender to a dedicated Ishvara (god). - your personal deity.

What are you giving your lifeforce to?

Wholehearted dedication to the Divine Light in all, surrender

I practice. I observe myself. I surrender. I can change the world, but only through my own state.” - Elena Brower

When even one of these eight limbs of yoga is practiced in the light of tapas, svadhyaya and ishvarapranidhana, it will open the door to infinite possibilities. When all eight of them are practiced methodically in this light, the promise of yoga is fulfilled. We are the highest expression of our creator's joy and we are destined to experience that joy, that is the subject of the Sadhana Pada (the book/chapters on practice).

Truth grounded in personal experience and in the experience of a long line of masters. We are discovering our pure being, our pure self.

forum

Ask: How am I doing with … this? … niyama? (For example, ask yourself - how am I doing with santosha?)

ASANA AND PRANAYAMA

expansion

Asana

Previously, I defined asana as: a posture meant for meditation; a method of sitting. Per the Yoga Sutra, to master asana, we are to: be steady and comfortable, overcome tension and effort, be relaxed, concentrate not struggle or apply force; without muscular or nervous tension

Mastery results when opposites cease to have impact and the mind moves from disturbance to stillness. We develop resistance to these disturbances through yama, niyama and asana

So, we know asana as the postures, but really it's a seat for meditation. In the yoga sutras it only talks about asana as a seat. That doesn’t mean that other postures are unnecessary just because they aren’t mentioned in the yoga sutras. In Yoga Pradipika however, it talks about a lot of different kinds of asana.

One of the main points is that of effortless effort. We are loosening the effort, overcoming tension and effort, not struggling or applying force. 

Before it can become effortless, it's effortful. You experienced this by doing any challenging posture, like chaturanga. The first time may have been hard, but by the 400th time, it becomes easier. It always requires some effort before it is effortless before you master anything.

The result of mastery is an undisturbed body and mind. Polarity causes disturbances. A high level of resistance leads to disturbances. So we are moving from the disturbed mind, body, physical effort, and from the rigors of yama and niyama to the steadiness and comfort of asana.

"Practice of postures increases our sensitivity to solar and lunar energies while unblocking, balancing, and further nourishing these energies." 

- from The Practice of the Yoga Sutras

The dynamics of asana builds the foundation for the practices of pranayama and pratyahara, which prepares the ground of dharana, dhyana and samadhi. 

So we become really sensitive to all the things. When we practice we become really sensitive to, most accurately I think, and this is what I have known to be true from having conversations with students, it's this: [points to head, laughs] that causes the most disturbances. 

Of course your physical body feels - the pain of holding plank for example and you’re like oh I can’t do this, your body starts to shake - those are all disturbances. And by disturbance I just mean like when you throw a pebble into a calm lake, there’s all these ripples and disturbances. It’s not negative. (I think we are quick to categorize, often this is subconscious.) You start to become really sensitive and then overtime, you are more able to manage those fluctuations. You start to learn to ride and ups and downs.

So the purpose of asana is (nothing but) "lasting fulfillment and ultimate freedom" because asana leads to pranayama, leads to pratyahara, leads to dharana, dhyana, and finally to samadhi - which we will talk about next week and the week after. 

Sutra 2:46 sthira sukham asanam 

Sthira is steadiness. Sukha is, I always remember this as sweetness. 

Steady and calm - is what we are after in our asana practice. If you can find steadiness and calm in the challenging postures. If you can find steadiness and calm in the quiet postures that don’t require a lot of physical effort but may require you to stay still - you begin to develop (this is how Panjditji says it like) intrinsic wealth. 

We learn “how to discover and reinvest the intrinsic wealth (that is buried) in our body.” (Panditji) 

Our body has a lot to teach us. (The Body Keeps the Score, When the Body Says No). Anyone who has done somatic practices knows that the body holds so much. And we can learn so much just from being in asana. Which is why it is so popular, which is why the majority of our yoga classes are almost always going to be asana, if not all, asana. 

And it's the most accessible, right? Everybody has a body. Our souls live within these vehicles. So we can use our bodies as a way to discover steadiness and safety and a ground of being and peace and all the things that we're trying to learn how to do in our human existence.

Going back to this idea of “wealth.”

(btw: Panditji - a pandit is a teacher with specialized knowledge, so Pandit-ji is a nickname or a term of endearment.) 

I want to talk about a few things that he talks about that I find to be inspiring .. so like when I’m in a pose that I don’t necessarily want to be in or my mind starts to wander and I wonder how long this yoga practice is going to take or how much longer I’ve got to be here or whatever. Which doesn’t happen that much, honestly - usually I’m pretty interested in my asana practice. But here are some things that keep me going.

They are:
Rupa - beauty
Lavanya - tastefulness, grace
Bala - vigor, vitality (balasana, child's pose)
Vajra samhananatva - healing power

So your practice is going to give you beauty and grace and vitality and healing power.

We are imbued with vast potential. 

Think of asana as a way “to restore your connection with your body, your inner balance and return to harmony. … Through asana we are restoring the natural connection with our bodies and re-establishing inner balance and harmony ...” (Panditji) 

One of the things we don’t do well sometimes is pay attention to our body. We are not always so tuned into our bodies. As yoga practitioners I’d say we are more tuned in than the general population or at least maybe more aware that we are because we’re paying attention and we're practicing paying attention.

So, we are working towards stability and comfort 

“The pose that removes stress and enables us to experience the pleasure of having a comfortable body is considered to be a yoga posture.” (Panditji) 

We are in the seat of meditation when there’s harmony, when there is steadiness, when there is comfort. Otherwise it's just effort, right? Which is also required. Does that make sense? 

It's so paradoxical. I think that's the most interesting and fun thing about yoga - the paradox in which we have to play with and it just gives me an immense amount of joy and it also makes me giggle a lot. Sometimes, it's a snarky giggle. You’ll probably hear me laugh in class or in a random conversation because it's such a game. Lilla - play. 

The goal of asana other than steadiness and comfort is … samadhi. If you are constantly disturbed you can’t reach samadhi. You can't reach samadhi if your thoughts are bouncing around or your body’s uncomfortable or your fidgeting. So we use the asana to train our bodymind for stability and comfort. Also, you don’t want to meditate in a house that's on fire! 

It takes a lot of discipline and some of us don’t have the neurological ability to sit still or be quiet. So how can you find your way to samadhi? 

This is where we give space for humanity. 

Someone might be in class fidgeting but actually internally they are as cool as cucumber. Someone might seem on the outside totally put together but inside their brain is screaming at them that they’re not good enough. 

Precision is more important than length and how vigorous you practice asana. Better to practice 10 minutes of really clear awareness of the hands, shoulder, hips than to try to bust through an hour and half of like a really challenging practice. 

If you want to increase intensity, say you are in, like, a child's pose, increase your awareness. Pay more attention to your breathing, the subtle sensations of your skin, the fold of your hip. What would happen if you extended your spine? What would happen if you soften your heart (or the muscles around the heart) a little? These are elements of precision and alignment. These can really change the experience of your practice or yourself within these poses and really can lead to more comfort and effortlessness. 

We are using both our will and our intelligence.

Effortless effort: effort, tension, exertion and letting go of, relaxing, loosen. when we’re practicing asana. 

I believe it's important to remember that we have these bodies for a specific (and unknown) amount of time. We don’t know how many sunrises we have, how many sleeps we have. So don’t let your asana practice cause more tension. Move towards effortless effort.

In The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada tells how to apply effortless effort. 

So that’s all I want to say about asana. I’m going to talk about pranayama for a moment and then touch on pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi which we will explore next week and the week after. 

Pranayama

Pranayama is Sutra 2:49 “Complete mastery over the roaming tendencies of the inhalation and exhalation is pranayama; it is to practice only after mastering asana.”

It's about less and longer breaths, and kumbhaka - breath retention. But what we are really trying to do is create less breaths, slow the breathing down. 

There’s this amazing book called Breath by James Nestor and it talks about these different experiments that he did with breathing. 

One of the findings that was so interesting to me was the fact that if you breathe in and out through your nose,you live longer.  It was studied that people that breathed in and out through their mouth had shorter lifespans. It's so cuckoo. 

So pranayama then is to expand your longevity. 

Pranayama will also build prana. 

You also get the most out of your life too when you're paying attention to your breath. You're allowing your breath to stay steady. When we're really hyped up we forget about our breath. Time goes a lot faster and it causes a lot of stress on the nervous system which of course affects longevity. 

So, some of the practices - like in kundalini - are to pump the endocrine system, clear it out, get the fire going, then .. we sit, in stillness. So if you're like okay what about the Breath of Fire right where there's quick quick exhales. That's really designed to clear it out but then the true power of that breath work comes when we're able to sit. There is a vibration, vitality, aliveness. 

Just like everything, training takes time, dedication.

It is said that pranayama shouldn't be practiced in physical asana but only in "asana" siddhasana, padmasana, shiranasa, sukhasana. 
However we’ve heard ujjayi breath right. 

One of the things I learned from my teacher Elena Brower a few years ago is this idea of making the breath more and more subtle. In the beginning you’re just trying to get through your practice and you’ll see this in students and then someone along the way, they will start to discover this ujjayi breath and start applying it and you’ll hear this really deep breathing in class. 

But the masters are really subtle with their breath. We want to move more subtly.

The aim is to retain prana. You don’t want to get all worked up. Prana being the lifeforce, the amount of breaths you have from the day you were born until the day you die. So we want to retain as much prana - the ambrosial honey of life .. 

The effect isn’t so much on the lungs, but on the nervous system, the brain. It calms the nervous system, it quells overthinking. So one way to practice this is to do a 6:8:6 breath count (from Breathe book), slow breathing in and out through your nose 6:8:6 to start.  

It is said when you practice pranayama, the veil covering the luminosity of subtly is removed. So beautiful. 

When someone is calm, they’re beautiful. Those of you who have a dog in your life, when they are calm and they’re breathing and they’re like sleeping, there's not a care in their world, they are the most beautiful - like suspended moments of pure bliss. Or babies. Their brains aren't all over the place, they aren’t worried, they’re not performing, they haven't been through trauma yet. They are able to access that really sweet calm feeling - that's luminous. 

per sanskrit grammar, it means “expansion or stretching of prana, the life force.” 

Sutra 1:2
We attain mastery over the mind by arresting its roaming tendencies, or its chaotic functions.

The whole first book of the yoga sutras is all dedicated to that. The second book is the “how to”, the first book is “what is it”. 

We use the breath to train the mind so that our brain and our thoughts aren’t roaming all over the place. It's not chaotic and then through pranayama we develop a capacity for pratyahara - sense withdraw, which allow for concentration dharana, then meditation dhyana, then samadhi

Journal questions

Svadyaya: What is your most persistent pattern?
Ishvarapranidhana: What are you giving your lifeforce to?

PRACTICE

5 minutes of formal seated Mediation each day
Spring class

References
Four Chapters on Freedom - Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - BKS Iyengar
The Secret Power of Yoga - Nischala Joy Devi
The Yogi’s Roadmap - Bhavani Silva Maki
The Secret of the Yoga Sutra and The Practice of the Yoga Sutra - Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
Teaching the Yoga Sutras Teacher Training with Elena Brower at Kripalu
The Radian Sutras - Lorin Roche, PhD
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

8 LIMBS - Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana

Pratyahara

• Sense withdrawal, turn attention inward, to know the infinite soul.

• The main thing with pratyahara is that if you can master it, then concentration becomes very easy. It’s about becoming aware of the fluctuations that the sense experience produces, withdrawing your attention away from the external and the distractions produced by the senses, and then, directing your attention inward. 

• I believe it starts with awareness - being aware of everything that you can. 

• It’s the moment when we go from distraction to direction - Rolf Gates describes it as the process of going on vacation … 

“Withdrawing the senses, mind, and consciousness from contact with external objects, and then drawing them inwards towards the seer, is pratyahara.” (Yoga Sutras)

• It literally means the control of ahara - the control of food, so anything we put in ourselves.

“It is the decision to turn inward to let go of drama. It's the choice to release our grip on the external world and all of our attempts to control it in order to focus our minds entirely on the internal.” - Rolf Gates

It's about cultivating an internal landscape. Not as an escape but as an essential practice of embodiment, presence. 

Forum: “What reservations might you have about doing this? What resistance do you have to letting go of the past and the future? In your practice, can you notice that moment when you move from the external to the internal - to explore your internal landscape?

We practice yoga to become free.

“It is the movement away from energy-draining distraction toward energy-building concentration … Pratyahara is the recognition that we are not meant to be onlookers in our own lives, but full participants, no matter what.”
- Rolf Gates

Dharana

• In dharana we deepen our awareness of what's internal by focusing on a single-point of focus for as long as possible. 

• The breath is an effective point of focus, a mantra, a concept - so the mind can focus, so there is less distraction - longer and longer periods of this kind of concentration leads to meditation.

• It's holding your attention.

• It's developing and utilizing your powers of concentration.

• In dharana, the past and the future dissolve and we are simply existing in the now. (I experience this when I teach.) When we are doing something we truly love, we cannot help but give ourselves to it wholeheartedly, therefore dharana is a by-prodct of love. In the clarity of a focused mind, we find the timeless place where we connect to spirit - it is a pathway to spirit. 

• When we have applied ourselves to something we love and we have withstood the rigors, we have broken through fear and found ourselves in a state of deep connection. Love draws us deep into itself - into a place beyond space and time, fear and doubt, right and wrong and we find that we are guided by a thinking that is beyond words. People who embody their roles or themselves, have turned life into an expression of love. 

• Householders work hard and they need bodies, minds, and spirit that can withstand the rigors of life. 

Pratyahara and dharana together make it possible to acquire wisdom.

You need pranayama, pratyahara, and dharana combined to have dhyana - meditation. You need to be able to breathe because the breath controls the mind. You need to be able to notice and then discern where you want to place your attention, and you need to be about to focus. Then you can experience meditation. 

“The stillness of a concentrated mind creates a void where there had been mental chatter. The Universe pours itself into the void, so dharana is like a river that flows in two directions - our job is to create the void, to dig the well, to create the space, the emptiness so that the light can pour in and through us.” - Rolf Gates

Dhyana

Once you have practiced dharana, to quiet the mind through focused effort, something else begins to happen. Dharana leads to dhyana, attention becomes effortless, there is no longer the seer only seen. This is esoteric dialog and this is not the place to get too far into that.

• Dyana is meditation. Where there is an unbroken, uninterrupted flow of concentration. 

• The 2nd Yoga Sutra, the very first thing I learned in my very first Teacher Training with Amy Sulva, an Ashtanga Teacher from New York in 2005 was Sutra 1:2 Yoga chitta vritti nirodhah which translates as:

  Complete mastery over the roaming tendencies of the mind is Yoga (Panditji)

  Yoga is the intentional resolution of all self-limiting, self-defeating thoughts, patterns and tendencies within your personal energy field. (Bhavani) I love that!

  Yoga is the uniting of the consciousness in the heart. (Nischala Joy) I also love that! Because there is softness in it.
  

• There is another Sutura that describes the mind as a crystal …

  1.41 A mind free from roaming tendencies is like a crystal. It takes the form of whatever object is perceived, the process of perceiving, or the object of perception. This is complete absorption - samapatti  - a state of deep concentration produced through the practice of meditation. (Secrets of the Yoga Sutra) 

  When the vritti (the fluctuations of the mind) are resolved, the mind becomes lucid like a transparent crystal, and reflects whatever it rests on with perfect clarity. (Yogi’s Roadmap)

  As a naturally pure crystal appears to take the color of everything around it yet remains unchanged, the yogi’s heart remains pure and unaffected by its surroundings while attaining a state of oneness with all that is. This is samadhi. (Nishala Joy, Women’s Guide the Yoga Sutras)

• Complete absorption, unification - the mind is clear

• So it's not just the experience of an unbroken flow of concentration, it's also the awareness of the experience of an unbroken flow of concentration.

Dharana, dhyana and samadhi are viewed as a continuous flow of mind returning to Mind, spirit returning to Spirit.

“Yoga works from the outside in. We begin with a study of our actions, move on to our bodies, and on to our breath. Then, turning inward, we follow our thoughts to their source. We use our own light to return to the source of light. With our attention resting steadily in the present, our bondage the past conditioning slowly dissipates. Who we thought we were slowly fades into unimportance in the brilliant light of our true nature.” - Rolf Gates

• 3 Signs your practice is working - more joy, less fear, and shortening of time between having an intention and having that intention come to fruition - no doubt of mind, its flows

“So what does it all mean? For us, to quote Appa, “your yoga project is you becoming yourself.” Appa used to say that it’s not a question of whether or not you’re doing yoga, because yoga is engagement and you’re always engaging with something, so the real question is are you doing your yoga well? Yoga is the light of Self-knowledge. It’s mind-science. It is our capacity to be our best selves, our Highest Selves, and to make our mind our finest instrument.” - Selena Garefino

Next week, we explore samadhi and wrap up.

Journal questions

What reservations or resistance might you have about practicing pratyahara, dharana, and dhyana?
What resistance do you have to letting go of the past and the future?

PRACTICE

5 minutes of formal seated Mediation each day
In your practice, can you notice that moment when you move from the external to the internal - to explore your internal landscape?

References
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - BKS Iyengar
The Secret Power of Yoga - Nischala Joy Devi
The Yogi’s Roadmap - Bhavani Silva Maki
The Secret of the Yoga Sutra and The Practice of the Yoga Sutra - Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
Teaching the Yoga Sutras Teacher Training with Elena Brower at Kripalu
Meditations from the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison

8 LIMBS - SAMADHI

SAMADHI

• Patanjali describes this either as the final state of ashtanga or as a state of ecstasy. At this stage, the meditator merges with their point of focus and transcends the self altogether. The meditator comes to realize a profound connection to the Divine, an interconnectedness with all living things. With this realization comes the “peace that passes all understanding”; the experience of bliss, and being at one with the Universe. On the surface, this may seem to be a rather lofty goal. However, if we pause to examine what we really want to get out of life, would not joy, fulfillment, and freedom find their way into our lists of hopes, wishes, dreams and desires? What Patanjali described as the completion of the yoga path is what deep down, human beings aspire to. We also might give some thought to the fact that this ultimate stage of yoga - enlightenment - can neither be bought nor possessed. It can only be experienced. The price of which is the continued devotion of the aspirant.

• Per the Yoga Sutra:

  • In samadhi, consciousness is one with the object of concentration.

  • The object of concentration becomes all there is - the object of meditation becomes clearer and clearer, its appearance more vivid as you go deeper.

  • You do not remain aware of your own existence.

  • Two characteristics of samadhi.

    • 1. The object alone shines.

    • 2. There is no awareness of the process or of the self.

  • In the first stage of samadhi there is suddenly a void, you remember the object but there is no other awareness. The mind/conscious temporarily appears to be non-existent - you are not aware of yourself or the process of concentration

    ex: Think about a time when you were whole-heartednly immersed ..

• Samyama: the totality of the dharana, dhyana, and samadhi

  • Sam perfect or thorough

  • Yama control

  • Complete mastery - giving rise to secret yogic powers

  • Can only be complete when there is a fusion between the three.

  • With mastery, higher consciousness dawns - suddenly it shines forth from inside with all its clarity and vividness - this is higher consciousness.

“It starts with subjective and objective awareness. This is dual awareness - dyanana. You are aware of your object of meditation within as well as in the outside world, but gradually the outer doors are closed and you see only the thing that is inside - this is dhyana. The thing seen inside becomes clearer and clearer and simultaneously you lose your personal consciousness - that is samadhi.”  - from Four Chapters on Freedom

When you’ve learned, through experience and practice, to develop awareness, how to quiet the arousal of the senses, fluctuations, and distractions, how to focus and still the mind, how to concentrate, how to concentrate for an extended time so that you fall into a state of meditation, then you can begin to experience samadhi. 

Samadhi is a profound connection to all that is. Poetry is more effective in describing this than other forms of communication. Shiva Rea is one of the most, if not, the most, poetic teachers I have ever known, and she opened the pathway for my own experiences of samadhi. Words really cannot explain the experience. Let me be clear that though I have experienced glimpses of samadhi, I don’t spend a lot of time in samadhi, in a state of ecstasy. Any experience of samadhi I’ve had has come spontaneously from Grace.

Rolf Gates (in his book Meditations from the Mat) entitles each of the 8 limbs like this:

Yamas - The beginning
Niyamas - Sustaining practices
Asana - Postures of yoga, posters of life
Pranayama - Breathing mindfully
Pratyahara - Turning inward
Dharana - Concentration
Dhyana - Effortless Attention
Samadhi - Self-forgetting 

He describes samadhi in the following ways:

“All of us have experienced moments of profound connectedness - the caress of a spring breeze (and sun) on bare skin, the feeling in our chests when we look into another’s eyes with love, the holy awe of gazing at a star-strewn night sky (in the summer or winter). There is greatness right beneath the surface of everyday life, and every once in a while, we catch a glimpse of it. Those are the sudden, lucid flashes when life beguiles us out of the prison of our minds and leads us right into the moment.”

“Samadhi is the experience of ecstatic oneness.” .. The lesson in the practice of samadhi is that it can only be reached by self-forgetting, and that lesson can be applied to life.” 

“The intention of yoga is to give us a place to start, and sustenance for our journey Nothing is wasted. Every ability we foster in our practice of yoga supports the living of a full life. The clarity, insight, and equanimity we derive from the consistent experience of samayama provides the basis upon which both wisdom and creativity can flourish in our lives. Effectiveness, health, and lightness of heart are the concrete results of our practice.”

He end’s with .. the only mistake I have ever seen a person make on this mat is to stop practicing.

Journal prompt

Take time to reflect on what you have learned these last three months. Both within this course and in your life?

PRACTICE

10 minutes of formal seated Mediation each day
Restorative and Yoga Nidra practice

References
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - BKS Iyengar
The Secret Power of Yoga - Nischala Joy Devi
The Yogi’s Roadmap - Bhavani Silva Maki
The Secret of the Yoga Sutra and The Practice of the Yoga Sutra - Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
Teaching the Yoga Sutras Teacher Training with Elena Brower at Kripalu
Meditations from the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison