The Dog, Again

I know I talk about Shiner a lot on this blog, but I honestly believe that canine companionship has furthered my yoga journey in many ways.

My first yoga class ever, we learned, Downward-Facing Dog.
A week or two later, after practicing the pose daily, Shiner the dog ate my eye-pillow and gave me a yoga-breakthrough.
Midway through the semester I met Milo, Dr. Schultz's Golden Retriever, and Milo set the tone for an amazing yoga session.
Then, Shiner again reminded me the importance of detachment (and of putting away valuable items).

Now, Shiner joins me in most of my practices as my silent coach and fan.
When I spread out my yoga may in my bedroom, Shiner hops up on my bed, and lays down with her head resting on the edge, ready to observe my every move. Admittedly, I was a little creeped-out at first. Shiner rarely falls asleep, usually contenting herself to studying my poses, and her glare made me feel a bit nervous.

Obviously, I got used to it. Shiner is not an essential for my home practice- there are times when our schedules don't meet up and I must practice alone. But, for the most part, she is my companion in yoga. The domestic Dog has a certain energy that radiates positivity. Puppies are great teachers of detachment. Dogs are great examples of the fluctuation between rajas, tamas, and sattvas.
I strongly suggest that anyone new to yoga get a roommate with a puppy.

Downward Facing Dizzy

On Thursday, I walked into yoga feeling great. I was in a great mood, had the night off of work, and I was ready to do some yoga. Class started normally, with some Downward Facing Dogs and some Tree Poses. Soon we progressed into Inversions. 

When I started my handstand, I noticed that I began to feel very dizzy. At first, I thought maybe I was doing the pose wrong, and I tried to readjust. My dizziness worsened. I stood up out of the pose and told Dr. Schultz that I wasn't feeling great. She recommended a different pose to try, and I continued on with my altered practice. After about 5 minutes, Dr. Schultz called us all back together and showed us how to perform a shoulder stand, and then a headstand. 

Not wanting to miss out on the new poses, I went back to my spot on the wall and tried my hardest to follow my teachers directions. The 5 minute break from inversions helped a ton; I felt like a brand new person. I was upside-down! I started to relax my face an focus my breathing, and quickly felt calm and attentive to my body.

My bout of dizziness was pretty weird. I'd never really felt that way in a pose. The break I took helped a lot though, and really taught me a valuable lesson. In yoga, and in life, sometimes you have to take a break to reassess before moving on. If I had continued in my dizziness through that handstand, I probably wouldn't have been so successful in the later part of my practice. I could have even hurt myself. We all need to step back sometimes and give ourselves a break, then, it may be helpful to flip things on their head, and see from a different perspective. Maybe I'm just reading too far into it...

Yoga at Work

A few weeks ago, my yoga gave me a job opportunity. Meg, a Supervisor at the Baylor Call Center, told me of some job openings for people to call Baylor parents and alumni and ask for money for the University. Fun right? 

Well, I took the job, and I'm so grateful for it. My job at the Call Center is difficult at times, and often stressful. Talking to people that usually don't want to talk back to me can get exhausting, but in these times of stress and annoyance, I've found a place for yoga.

When I get particularly freaked out at work, or get nervous or stressed about my job, I sit up straight and firmly plant my feet into the floor. I try to spread out my toes and to squeeze my quads.I open my chest, pull the outside of my shoulder blades together, and then try to rest my shoulders. 

This subtle practice helps to keep me calm and focus, and usually does a great job of relieving my stress by reminding me of my yoga. When I consciously think about my practices of yoga, detachment, and meditation, I can remember what is truly important and make the calls that my dharma, and my boss, demands I make. 

When Yoga Makes You Sweat

On Thursday, I went to my Yoga class expecting another day of philosophical discussion and a good yoga practice. What I got was a yoga butt-kicking in the 3rd degree. There were only about seven of us in the class, which meant that we all got to name some specific parts of the body and types of poses that we wanted to focus on. For my back soreness, acquired after my long and uninterrupted hours of scholarly work (hahaha), Dr. Schultz suggested that we get a chair.

These chairs, like those supplied in Morrison 100, are not truly chairs, but some non-Platonic deviation from what a chair is supposed to be. In essence, these chairs are torture tools.

Working with the chair gave me a yoga experience I'd never had before. Using the chair allowed me to focus more specifically on perfecting my poses. The chair practice left me exhausted physically, as well as mentally from trying to remember how to do the poses for my home practice. I had worked up quite a sweat from trying to twist and bend my body with the chair, and my muscles would shake when I had to hold a pose for a bit. After performing numerous twists, bends, inversions, and of course, downward facing dogs, I was feeling great. My yoga felt better than even and I saw that the practice gave me a sense of calmness that I don't often get to feel.

The chair work was hard, and I certainly didn't enjoy every minute of it, but the chair helped me to perform better, and Dr. Schultz careful instruction allowed me to fix poses that I had been doing wrong. Although it was hard work, Thursday's yoga practice was probably my favorite one yet.

Krishna Commands

In my reading for this week, three particular shlokas stood out to me.

“Be kind and pure and never waver in your determination or dedication to the spiritual life. Give freely. Be self-controlled, sincere, truthful, loving and full of the desire to serve. Realize the truth of scripture; learn to be detached and take joy in renunciation.”

These words from Krishna tell us to “walk the walk.” In many of our other readings, out of The Bhagavad Gita and other yoga texts, we learned the philosophy behind yoga, and the broad ideas behind how to live a good life. Here, in Chapter 16, Vishnu’s avatar gives readers direct instructions for living right. Obviously, it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. Jesus, my pre-school teachers, my parents, and the cartoon characters on the shows I watched have all told me the same things over the course of my life. Just because Krishna’s revelation isn’t new news, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t pay close attention to it. In fact, perhaps it’s because we’ve heard these seemingly simple instructions so often that we should listen all the more carefully.  

“Do not get angry or harm any living creature, but be compassionate and gentle; show good will to all.”

This particular shloka turns the commandments out word. Most of the first shloka focused on things we can do internally to be happy and become enlightened, but, as we’ve learned, yoga isn’t just about focusing on one’s self. Krishna tells us to treat every living creature as we would treat ourselves. When I first read this I groaned a bit; is Krishna seriously gunna drop this cliché on me again? Then, I flipped back to the cosmic realization, the description of Krishna’s awful and terrible true self, and decided not to question the avatar of God.

“Cultivate vigor, patience, will, purity; avoid malice and pride. Then, Arjuna, you will achieve your divine destiny.”

I picked the third shloka  to share because it sums up the other two quite nicely, and then reminds us exactly why we are following these rules in the first place. Krishna tells Arjuna that if he obeys these commands, he will be able to “achieve [his] divine destiny.” After all, isn’t that what we’re here for?

Krishna as God/The Terrifying Destroyer of the Universe

I’ve really enjoyed reading The Bhagavad Gita over the past few weeks. The text is very accessible and the chapters are concise enough to read in one quick sitting. The Gita travels with me to work, lunch, errands, and occasionally even to friend’s houses.  Throughout my reading, and our thought provoking discussions of the text in class, I’ve come across many interesting ideas and topics, ranging from Love to Violence and from scripture to evolution. One particular aspect of The Bhagavad Gita that intrigued me was the cosmic vison that Krishna shows to Arjuna.

            The Gita’s depiction of God’s true form startled me, and captured my imagination long after my initial reading. Before I start to discuss the chapter, a brief report of the leading events may be necessary. Here it is: Sitting on a battlefield, in the middle of two opposing armies, an avatar of Vishnu is teaching Prince Arjuna the true nature of reality and of God. Having heard about the various paths to enlightenment, an explanation of terms, and the nature and power of God, Arjuna becomes free of delusion and proclaims his understanding of the divine. In Chapter 11 of The Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna asks Krishna to show his “immortal self.” Krishna, loving his friend and student, grants Arjuna “spiritual vision to perceive [His] majestic power.” Here, the scene breaks, and the reader is brought back to Sanjaya, the story’s framed narrator, who tells his selfish King about Arjuna’s cosmic vison.

            Krishna/Vishnu/God is revealed to Arjuna through a dazzling, terrifying, and awe-inspiring scene. Krishna is described as displaying “an infinite number of faces, ornamented by heavenly jewels, displaying unending miracles and the countless weapons of his power.” Arjuna is amazed. The Gita invokes imagery of miraculous sunrises, infinite bodily forms, celestial objects, and wise and ancient sages. The text involves a variety of images in an effort to convey the sublime nature of God through words, a truly impossible mission.

            Krishna, having been described, now speaks to Arjuna. His words seemed shocking and horrifying to me at first, but with closer inspection I soon realized their meaning and purpose in The Bhagavad Gita. Krishna says to Arjuna:

“I am time, the destroyer of all; I have come to consume the world. Even without your participation, all the warriors gathered here will die. Therefore arise, Arjuna; conquer your enemies and enjoy the glory of sovereignty.”

            After 10 chapters describing God’s loving and caring nature, and of Vishnu’s supporting role in the cosmos, Krishna scared the hell out of me with his sudden doom and gloom. Beyond my initial alarm, his call to action provoked me, and made me pay closer attention to the text. Throughout my studies of literature, I’ve learned that good writing always provokes a reaction from its reader. The Bhagavad Gita masterfully draws its audience in with its promise of divine understanding. Then, the text shocks you with its sudden intensity.

            Krishna’s words help to sew the philosophical and situational threads of The Bhagavad Gita into a more cohesive story. After all, Arjuna is a warrior and as we learned in the earlier chapters of The Gita, warriors (like all living things) have a dharma to uphold. Arjuna’s dharma is to slay his brother’s enemies on the battlefield. In his cosmic manifestation, Krishna scares Arjuna into action, and calls for the young Prince to be God’s tool in restoring balance to the world. The chapter also inspires readers to action. Arjuna represents all spiritual aspirants, and we can all look to him and his conversation with the divine for guidance in our own lives.

Krishna seems terrifying, but our dharma may often look that way. We are all faced with struggle: problems to be solved and battles to be fought. Obstacles are often hidden at first, but always have a way of revealing themselves in time. Krishna tells those who seek enlightenment to face their obstacles head-on, with an understanding of God’s power and of their duty to fulfill His plans.

Wisdom

The Bhagavad Gita in Chapter 7 discusses  Hindus ideas of "jnana" meaning spiritual wisdom and "vijnana" meaning, an intimate of practical familiarity with God. These terms exists in every religion, albeit under  different monikers and, I believe, every religion seeks to support their own idea of jnana through specialized practice. Catholics believe they know the true nature of God and worship accordingly. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus are all the same. All people have a glimpse of spiritual wisdom, but depending on circumstances, people find different ways to praise honor their deity.

Krishna says "when a person is devoted to something with complete faith, I unify in that."

I believe that God sees faith, regardless of the wrapping individuals place it in. God honors faith, because those with faith honor God, in whatever way they choose. I believe that God is bigger than any denomination or religion, and that God cares not for the Earthly labels we place on our faith. This passage from The Bhagavad Gita really stood out to me, and I cherish it as Truth in textual form.