Quote for Today - Persistent Practice

Just knowing about yoga is not going to give relief from
sorrows, anxieties & depression

Daily persistent practice alone makes
you face the turmoil of life.

-B.K.S. Iyengar

Upcoming Event - Iyengar Yoga Association of Canada/Association canadienne de yoga Iyengar AGM and Conference - Saskatoon, May 26-29, 2011

The Difference Between Action and Motion

Mr. Iyengar says, "Yoga is the science of action, not the science of motion."

At first glace you might say, is action and motion not the same thing?  At least this is what I thought.
But upon reflection I came to understand this sentence. 
An action is an act that one consciously wills, either physical or mental.  Motion on the other hand is any movement or change in position or place that is not necessarily done consciously.

Mr. Iyengar says, "Action is movement with intelligence."

We can create all sorts of motions everyday.  The subconscious lifting of our hands to our mouths to eat something in front of us and then not remember eating it.  The movement of the breath even when we are not paying attention to it. 

But, action on the other hand requires us to consciously put awareness into the movement. We are aware we are putting something into our mouths and conscious of the texture and taste.  We are paying attention to the breath, how it is moving in our bodies and actively participating in its movement through the practice of Pranayama.

Mr. Iyengar says, "To live in the moment and not in the movement of moment."

This is Yoga!

The statement in Light on Pranayama that says  - "knowledge without action and action without knowledge do not help man.  They must be intermingled.", begins to make more sense.
If we have knowledge, but don't put it into action, it is fruitless and if we have action with no knowledge of why, it is fruitless.

Mr. Iyengar says - "Take action, no mater how small"

Mr.Iyengar did not become the yoga master he is overnight!  He has dedicated over 75 years to his yoga practice.  It is only through our many small actions that we can perceive that larger ones may happen. 

Lord Krisna  says in the Bhagavad Gita, "Yoga is skillfulness in action."

As Mr. Iyengar explains in Light on Astanga Yoga, skillful action is an action that is performed with skillful intelligence.  He says every action yields fruit, yet it is the selfish motive behind the action that we must avoid.  He says that one should not expect or accept any reward or fruit of his action.  When this is done the action already ends with fruits!  That does not mean we are to do an action without aim, but without ambition for the self.

To end a quote from Ernest Hemingway - "Never mistake motion for action". 



We too often can have the appearance of action, when really we are "just going through the motions".
I hope you can bring more action to your everyday and your every movement...no matter how small.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
http://www.plnyoga.vpweb.com/

Aims of Yoga

I read this line somewhere.  Sorry, can't place where at the moment, but it said:

"Yoga aims at attending to the blockages and obstructions in the system to improve function."

Yoga therapy is about 90% waste removal.  This is true not only in the physical sense, but also in the emotional sense. 
We often look at things as, "What can/will I get out of this?” instead of wondering, "What can/will I let go of?"
We cleanse ourselves physically with the yoga asanas and pranayama, and mentally with the yamas and niyamas.  We reach a new level of clarity both in body and mind.  As we learn to listen to ourselves we then are ready to let go of our negative tendencies and come into our true selves.

To quote George Eliot, "It's never too late to be what you might have been."


Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
http://www.plnyoga.vpweb.com/

Yamas and Niyamas - Week 10 - Isvara Pranidhana

Sutras II.40-II.45 describes the effects of practicing the five niyamas.  They are the internal disciplines or individual rules of conduct.  They are the positive and help one to follow the yamas.  If one is disciplined in niyama it will be easy to follow yama.

As we come to the last week of the Winter Yoga Session, we also arrive at the last of the Niyamas.
This is not the end of our journey though.  Our yoga practice is not a linear journey.  Like the body, where all the systems must work together to complete the whole, the same is true of Astanga Yoga - the eight limbs.  They need to all be integrated. 

Y.S.II.45 samadhisiddhih Isvarapranidhanat
Surrender to God brings perfection in samadhi.

Isvara pranidhana is the study of the scriptures and surrender to God.  In Light on Life, Mr. Iyengar says Isvara means God in the universal, comprehensive sense.  It is Divinity in a general and nondenominational sense.  We surrender our ego through meditation and devotion.

B.K.S. Iyengar says in Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, that when one surrenders to God through intelligence then the sadhaka is released from the bondage of earthly desires.  This is done by stilling the body and mind so one can reach pure awareness.  When we let life happen and not control it one can attains real pure awareness.

Judith Lasater, in Living Yoga, translates the fifth niyama as "giving up the fruits of all practice to God."  We do the best we can and then we let go of any attachments we have to our actions and the outcome of our actions.  Then we can live in the present moment.

As I understand it, Isvara Prandihana does not mean doing what we think God wants us to do.  It is following the yamas and niyamas and then surrendering ourselves, our ego so that our individual self can merge with our Universal Self. 

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
http://www.plnyoga.vpweb.com/

Celebrate Spring Equinox - Find Equanimity in your Body, Mind and Breath

According to most calendars Spring officially arrived March 20th.  This time of year marks the Vernal Equinox.  Having studied Geography these things always tend to interest me.  How the earth moves around the sun, the tilt of the earth on the axis, etc.  So the Vernal equinox marks the time of year when the day and night are each about 12 hours long, they are equal.  The sun crosses the celestial equator going northward, rising exactly due east and setting exactly due west.

This is a time to celebrate the beginning of new life and growth on the earth.  The earth renewing itself.  I know here in Saskatchewan we might be wondering if spring is really coming with all this snow, but I'm sure we have all noticed the increase in birds to the feeders, more little critters out to explore and the thoughts of what seeds to order. (although I am probably behind in this and should have ordered months ago!)

Take time to cherish this earth that is trying hard to provide us with so much, trying hard to compensate when we maybe have not been so kind in practicing aparigraha, non greed.

In your asana practice, celebrate the new energy spring brings but try to find equanimity in the pose.  The place for you where stability and mobility are equal.  The spot where the effort to perform the pose become effortless.  The place where your body, mind and breath are equal.

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
http://www.plnyoga.vpweb.com/