Who Wears Short Shorts?

MMMMyello blogi's and blogini's out there. I thought I would write short entry today for anyone that dares to follow my blog...usually I try to get the word out that I have written a new entry, but this one is going to have to catch notoriety on its own. I would love to spend some more time organizing thoughts and opinions, but lately I have been busier than the only working vending machine in Mississippi. I've been preparing for a 2 week road trip on top of an already busy life.  But I digress, the point is this entry is going to be short and focused and about meditation.

Point: I am really excited about incorporating mudras into my daily meditation practice. In my last entry I talked about experimenting with mudras and taking scrupulous notes of the effects. Since using mudras, I have felt very optimistic about my future, and have been given quite a few opportunities to look forward to. I again won't be so zealous as to assume that the optimism springs entirely from the mudras, but I will be so zealous to say that I'm not ruling it out. Also, I feel that using mudras have contributed to the growth of my meditation practice; I am finding focusing is much simpler for me and I am able to detach my attention while still being aware of my surroundings. So much so that I'm even considering (humbly) that I may be progressing to the pratayhara stage of the 8 limb Raja Yoga (Royal Yoga) Path. In Raja Yoga there are 8 limbs that one must practice/accomplish in order to attain ultimate bliss. The stages are yama (restraints or ethical practices), Niyama (the observances or daily practices), asana (physical postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (withdrawal from the external sensory input), Dharana (the first stage of concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (ecstacy or the dissolution of separation between subject and object).  I feel that the integration of mudras have elevated me to a point where I can withdrawal my senses (specifically hearing) from certain situations, and center my focus elsewhere. Its pretty shweet.

I think thats all I really wanted to touch on...besides these computer keys..ohhhhh.  Hopefully I will be able to write a more inspired entry later. Maybe one that actually reads fluidly and is not choppy like this mess. Who knows. Could happen. I hope everyone out there is having a promising day,week,month. Peace and Contentment.

Mudras to the Rescue!

Hello and Welcome! Thanks for tuning in to this week's exciting adventures of yoga and its matters in daily life. Today's matter is going to be about mudras. In its simplest definition, mudra is a symbolic gesture of the hands. Mudras are typically used during meditation, kundalini yoga, occasionally hatha yoga, and according to the book "Mudras: Yoga In Your Hands" by Gertrud Hirschi, during times when one needs instant or long term healing.  For all them lawyers out there, I am confessing that the majority of my knowledge of mudras is taken from Miss Hirschi's book, who in turn took much of her information from the venerable Keschav Dev... so if you are interested in knowing more about mudra's please check out her extensively informative book. 

         Anywhosers, depending on the orientation of the hands, mudras are reputed to be able to heal, calm, help with arthritis and carpel tunnel, transcend (spiritually or mentally...), regulate (bodily functions), stabilize, energize, refresh, clarify, invoke primal truths, and to a degree open the doors to super human powers. Pweety shweet.   But hey I'm not willing to hand my wallet over to the wallet inspector just yet. I have been incorporating mudras in my mediation practice on and off for about a year now, and I can attest that yes I have received many of those positive effects after my practice, but I can not whole hardheartedly state or believe that those effects are direct results from mudras. I admit I got into mudras simply because I thought they added a little zest to my practice, but upon further inspection I could not deny that I had already adopted a strong belief system in hands gestures from my Western culture. Can you disagree with the more casual belief system of hand gestures? If you are driving and someone flips the middle finger at you, what do you interpret that hand gesture to mean? Its not lets play golf sometime, I'll tell you that much.  Or what about that silly hand gesture that had a stint of popularity in the early 2000's where one places their hands over head, palms up, and symbolically "raises the roof"...always the life of the party that started that one. Or shoot, one can even invoke sexual arousal via hand gestures ie the cunnilingus or fellatio gesture. Pretty powerful stuff.  By the basic rules of logic and rationality, I could not allow myself to completely disregard the curative powers of mudras to be hippy dippy hub bub snub flub.

       As such, I will be performing a week long experiment incorporating the hand mudra Apan Mudra (energy mudra) into a daily practice. Anywhere from 5-45 minutes a day is recommended, but for ultimum results they suggest 15 minutes a day 3 times a day. We'll see how that works out.... The picture the right is what it looks like.

Supposedly it supports the removal of waste materials and toxins from the body, eliminate urinary problems, balances the mind, gives patience, serenity, confidence, inner balance and harmony, and (on the mental realm, and the main reason I chose this mudra) it creates the ability to develop vision for the future...confront probable challenges the future may hold and how to overcome them in order to achieve the future one desires. I also am going to mentally say a lil mantra ..(inhale) patience (exhale) now, (inhale) persistence (exhale) now. I'm probably going to be practicing this as home, but what's cool about mudras is that if one chooses to, they can be practiced anywhere...hence the daily yogic matter application.  All it takes is a lil awareness and practice.

   In exactly a week I'll write an updated post about my findings, so check back if you have a chance.  Thanks for reading yall! Of coarse if you have comments, lay them on me.

  Cheers and Namaste Dawlings.

One Moment Meditation

Here's a lil instructional video about lil meditations that take lil time and can be practiced anywhere.  I just want to offer everyone the understanding that mediation doesn't have to be arduous, or time consuming, or that if you don't stop your thoughts then you are not meditating. Little stick figure man thinks about cake in the video...I think about cake all the time. Yet I meditate, he's meditating, and I'm confidant you can too. So Enjoy!

Home Practices

You know what might be the best thing about home practices? That you can stop and dance to Rhianna if the mood strikes. Then go right back to what you were doing.  So Shakti.

A Girl's First Pair of Mala Beads

Yesterday I bought my very first pair of mala beads.  I kinda fell in love with them instantly. I slept with them on last night, and I'm not the type of girl that sleeps with anything the first day I meet them. Shits getting real real fast.
     For those who are not yet familiar with mala beads they are a string of beads <please refer to the example to your right> that are used to meditate, or to repeat mantras, or as a symbol of one's spiritual beliefs.  There are a 108 beads on a string, and about 108 suggested reasons why there are 108 beads. Non can be absolutely substantiated.  If you're interested in these suggested reasons head on over to Swami J's website:  http://www.swamij.com/108.htm
      In my case, I bought them as a reminder of my dedication to Yoga. Many many ....many times I get caught up in life's wonderful whirlwinds. In fact I can say with confidence that there are a bazillion times in my life- say after a crappy day at work or a fight with someone I love- when I run straight to the wine bottle, and not so much the yoga mat. I felt strongly that I needed something of a talisman to remind me that I can always choose a yogic option, if that's my intention.  Maybe instead of that glass of wine, I could try something new. It's definitely possible that I won't necessarily prefer the new thing in future situations, but the fact that I chose to try something new right now...totally yogic, bra.
       Also, its kind of nice to have something to play with with my hands.  See, I have obsessive busy hand syndrome (self diagnosed, but I'm pretty confidant its a serious clinical condition).  Either I'm creasing shirts, or biting nails, or messing around with my hair...my hands always are doing something.  So now playing with beads is just one more option! yay for options!
    Ok yallins, I'm all blogged out. Thanks as always for reading, and of coarse leave comments if you gots something to say!
Cheers and Namaste.

Hey, remember that one time....

"Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory is too good."
Fredrick Nietzsche

Oh Memory...you are some piece of work. I mean really, sometimes I love you, sometimes I hate you,  sometimes I wish you would just stop being so damn stubborn and help me out with those lyrics I've been trying to sing for dayyyyyys. I know I know them, but I just can't put my finger on it. SO FRUSTRATING. Sometimes Memory, you just straight up disable me from moving forward with my life because you keep telling me that I don't like this, or I don't like that, or this will hurt beyond what I can handle, or this person is lame...remember?  Memory, if you were my boyfriend I would seriously dump your controlling ass. But as it is, you are not a boyfriend. Or something that I'm ever going to give up willingly. So what do we do about this sitation? Well, this is what I have decided to do, and readers you can take suit if it fits for you as well. I think it is of great benefit to approach situations as if it is the first time. Observe succinctly whats going on around you. Move your body that makes sense and feel good for you, not what you know to be safe. Eat that food, because hey you may just like it! To be clear, I'm not suggesting a self induced amnesia. I'm suggesting a neutral, fresh, and unattached approach to each encounter. Is this making sense? Hmm...how about an example.
        Some yoga teachers who's classes I've taken or who's writings I have read have advised their students to approach asanas (poses) as if it were their very first time. Take each one slowly and with much consideration, studying each subtle movement and sensation. If you are a regular hatha yoga practitioner, this is can prove to be quite a difficult task. For one, there is an element of ego and pride in knowing the basic poses. Finally you don't have to look up at the teacher every time for guidance,  and in fact you know what they are going to say before they say it. Boy, don't you feel neato. (and by you of coarse I mean me). But now that you're here in Neatoasana, you may find that whoops you've lost or balance, or your mind has wondered away from you and your focus on your breathing has vanished. Maybe not, but I've heard a story a many where this has happened. Even worse, I've talked to some practitioners who've attested that their memory was the cause of injury, as they took for granted the many anatomical elements of the pose and hurt themselves. Sad face icon =(.
           From a yogic belief system point of view, yogi's believe that there are 5 types of thoughts. That is to say that there are 5 categories that thoughts fall into even though the idea or thought impressions are infinite. The five categories that thoughts can be filed under are: right kind of thinking (pramana), wrong kind of thinking (viparyaya), imagined (vikalpa), deep sleep (nidra), and of coarse memory (smriti).  Through meditation and deep conscious focus, one can detach themselves from these thoughts and simply witness them happen without being consumed by them. You can find this in Patanjali's Sutra 1.5. So try this as homework: try to view and experience situations by simply observing. Don't judge. Don't expect. Don't rely on past experiences to dictate current experiences. Simply watch and accept it for what it is.
        That's all for now. Thanks so much for reading. Again please comment if you have any questions or additions or this topic, or suggestions...chu know...the typical comment stuff.

Cheers and Namaste.


 PS: I remembered the lyrics to that song I mentioned before. It was "Let me see that thongggggg. Thong, tha tha tha thong." I feel so much relief right now!


       

And so these are the yogic matters of our lives...

Well hello there. Welcome. Please take your shoes off. But don't put them too far as this entry will be short...just a lil blib about the blog and what it is going to be going to about. So basically I'm starting this blog because my doctor says, and my bartender agrees, that I need to start activating/expressing my creative side ...I'm a devout believer in the age old saying "you don't use it, you lose it." I think I'm starting to lose it. Looks like the watching the ol' tele isn't quite cutting it anymore, which is weird because lifetime movies ARE creative. But I digress. This blog is going to be mainly yogic based, as the title suggests, and report on things in daily life that upon further inspection are either full of potential to be yogic or are already in fact yogic. But Roxy what do you mean by Yogic? Well you, great question. Thanks for asking. I'll be giving examples and then relate to maybe the philosophy, or a yoga sutra, or a limb of raja yoga, or an act of seva (selfless action)...and things along those lines. I intend to fully explain the yogicness of each situation as I understand and respect that some people do not in fact study yoga as much as I do. I'll also be posting other things like sequences I'm stoked on, meditation tips, etc. So in that effect I also hope that this blog educates about Yoga.  Please leave comments, questions, compliments, and criticisms. I encourage all these things as it is all great feedback to help me grow as a teacher, articulator, and practitioner. So here it is...I hope you enjoy and learn...and by golly enjoy learning. That's all for now, but check back soon. As I have lost my remote control and inspiration is bound to strike soon.

Cheers and Namaste.