Yoga Philosophy - Don't Worry

Follow the arrows.

Thanks to Damn Good Yoga

Don't worry.  Easier said that done.  Often that worry turns to hunched shoulders and a clenched jaw.  Or tears and angry words directed at loved ones.  We think too far in the future, we worry about where we will be in five years, we agonize over not finding a job, we beat ourselves down about extra weight that we carry.

What I get from the words, Don't Worry, is live for now.  Live for this exact moment.  Don't stress about losing weight in time for a wedding 6 months from now - choose to go for a walk at this moment or to not eat that brownie.  Don't stress too much about not finding a job - I am not starving, I have support and I am taking the necessary steps to obtain one.  5 year plan?  Great, but remember that life throws you curve balls and sometimes you have to take a different path.

Worry causes stress - it makes me bite my cheeks, it causes my psoriasis to act up.  Worry leaves me with a feeling of tightness in my chest.  Worry makes me sick to my stomach.  Sometimes I find it easier to worry than I do to let it go.  Maybe because I've been doing it my whole life.  Maybe because I feel it's easier to carry burdens than to let that monkey slide off my back.

I'm tired of the worry.  It's time to let the monkey go.

To Know

"Know yourself.  Know what is good.  Know when to stop."

- Lao Tzu

I feel as though it is so important to know when to stop - when to take a step back and evaluate what's going on.  This pertains, not only, to things that do you harm - too much food, booze, drugs - but also to those things that are good for you.  I have been, in the past, obsessed with food and booze as well as exercise and yoga.  I remember not only overeating but also exercising too much.  An obsession with food is, in my opinion, just as bad as an obsession with over exercising.  I used to feel horrendous guilt if I missed a day of yoga or hate myself if I ate ice cream.  It's important to find balance in all things, whether they be "good" or "bad".  I've started to find that balance, especially with food and yoga.  It's OK if I miss a day or two of practice and it's OK if I've eaten a handful of homemade cookies today.

Relax The Neck and Tongue

In B.K.S. Iyengar's book Light on Life, he discusses how we must relax into the poses - that we must relax and open as we hold the stretch, which in turn will also relax the brain.

 "You must relax the neck and head as well.  If you keep the back skin of the neck passive and the tongue soft, there is no tension in the brain.  This is silence in action, relaxation in action." 

Iyengar states that there is a connection between the tongue and the throat and the brain.  We must relax the tongue and the throat in order to relax the brain.

I went into class this morning with this in my mind.  I was going to try to keep my tongue and throat relaxed through my entire practice.  I have noticed, in the past, that my tongue holds a lot of tension when I practice.  I like to press it against the top of my mouth - especially in Standing Bow and Savasana.

It was humbling to have Iyengar's words in my mind as I went through my practice.  I often caught myself with my tongue tense, but took a moment to relax it.  I found the experience of exerting myself to my 100% in the Standing Series but relaxing my tongue and my throat to be almost laughable.  The teacher cannot see my tongue, she would not have known if it was tense, so I could have kept up with this action with no one being the wiser - except for me.  I feel like I've taken a step in a different direction with my practice today.  I'm not sure where yet - but I know I picked up Iyengar's book Light on Life two years ago and could not finish it.  Right now, I am loving every word that he has written - devouring it.  Our teachers tell us Yoga is a journey.  I think that, today, I actually realized what that means.

Philosophy of Yoga

"Yoga is a fine art and seeks to express the artist's abilities to the fullest possible extent.  While most artists need an instrument, such as a paintbrush or a violin, to express their art, the only instruments a yogi needs are his body and his mind.  The ancient sages compared yoga to a fruit tree.  Fom a single seed grow the roots, trunk, branches and leaves.  The leaves bring life-giving energy to the entrie tree, which then blossoms into flowers and sweet, luscious fruit.  Just as the fruit is the natural culmination of the tree, yoga, too, transforms darkness into light, ignorance into knowledge, knowledge into wisdom and wisdom into unalloyed peace and spiritual bliss."                                                                                                          - B.K.S Iyengar

I like the idea that I am an artist and that my body, mind and spirit are my pieces of art.  I've read somewhere, and I really wish I could find this quote, that people get the same sense of relaxation or meditation from painting, writing, creating and from yoga.  We are all artists in charge of creating our own masterpieces of our Self.