Omaha Yoga Path Post
Meditating Zombie
Meditating Zombie
One of the things that happens when practicing yoga is we calm the mind. I know that if I give myself to the practice, whether it be the poses or breathing or meditation, what starts to happen is that I can slow down enough that I can then stop thinking. Or at least thinking so much. But the operative phrase there is “stop thinking” . For many of us, this “stopping” is the sticking point. The thought of not thinking How could we do such a thing? Many of us, myself included, have the notion that if we stop thinking, we would, by default, be thoughtless. Or to put it another way, stupid! We’d be unthinking louts walking around without discrimination or judgement. This thought is almost unconscious. Yet our intellect, our memories, our judgments is even more important to us then our faces and the bodies that carry them around. So if we stop thinking, we’d be nothing but some ambling zombie void of personality. So in the back of our meditating minds, being a successful meditator is equivalent to joining the cast of extras in Night of the Living Dead.
And this belief undercuts many of our best efforts to slow the mind down. Or even noticing the quality of our mind in the present moment. Yet sometimes this thinking isn’t all that lofty. Sometime it’s obsessing, worrying, remembering how your brother bullied you 25 years ago, reviewing a grocery list for the 17th time, wishing you had said what you really meant to say last week in that meeting, regretting your past, longing for a better future, wanting a different color car; the list goes on. The thinking mind is often like cable TV with 175 channels and nothing to watch. Wouldn’t it be nice at times to turn it off and rest?
I ran across this statement In Thich Nhat Hanh book: Breathe, You Are Alive!, ask yourself if you believe it? “When we think to much, the quality of our being is reduced. If we can stop thinking, we increase the quality of our being.” When you read this, do you buy it? I know my busy, obsessive, thinking mind won’t allow such notion of stop thinking, but then when I practice my yoga, I find it’s true every time.
One of the Yoga Path student, who is an
One of the Yoga Path student, who is an astronomy buff, shared this with me. It show that more than just stars can dance around the world. Take a minute to enyoy. http://ow.ly/cdIYG
What to Practice while Mark is gone
Above is a link to file that lists most asanas that students at the Yoga Path would know. People have asked for a handout for these poses through the years, so in my teaching absence until July 1st, I’ve finally relented and am sharing them with you.
Remember the best way to set out to practice yoga is to only do 15 minutes a day, everyday. Sometimes these 15 minute practices turn into 30 minute or possibility an hour. Sometimes not. Doing your yoga everyday though, will bring a lot of health, joy, and peace! This is certain. So why would you deny yourself something that precious?
Remember the Five Friend of Practice:
Faith\Effort\Awareness\Concentration\Insight
The Song by Naomi Shihab Nye
Here is a poem shared in classes recently. It is by Naomi Shihab Nye an American-born poet of Palestinian descent. It was first shared with me by Mary Paffard, a wonderful yoga teacher, who also share it with us in a yoga class.
The Song
By Naomi Shihab Nye
From somewhere
a calm musical note arrives.
You balance it on your tongue,
a single ripe grape,
till your whole body glistens.
In the space between breaths
you apply it to any wound
and the wound heals.
Soon the nights will lengthen,
you will lean into the year
humming like a saw.
You will fill the lamps with kerosene,
knowing somewhere a line breaks,
a city goes black,
people dig for candles in the bottom drawer.
You will be ready. You will use the song like a match.
It will fill your rooms
opening rooms of its own
so you sing, I did not know
my house was this large.
Mud Settles
Do you have the patience to wait till your mud to settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?
Verse 15, Lao Tzu
The Art of Disappearing
The Art of Disappearing
by Naomi Shihab Nye
Five Mindfulness Trainings
For the Study of yama(s)
http://www.plumvillage.org/mindfulness-trainings/3-the-five-mindfulness-trainings.html
Mindful Meditation Reading
Mindful Meditation Reading
Click here to read the article from Shinzen Young on “Mindfulness Meditation“
Poem during Savasana
Last week in class I’ve shared a poem as students settled into savasana (corpse pose). To me the sentiment of the poem captures what keeps us from being at home in our own bodies. How we tend to believe that things somehow ought to be different then they are right now.
The poem it called “Being Human” by Naima of Climbing poeTree. More information about the author can be found at
Being Human by Naima
I wonder if the sun debates the dawn
some mornings
not wanting to rise
out of bed
from under the down-feather horizon
If the sky grows tired
of being everywhere at once
adapting to the mood swings of the weather
If the clouds drift off
trying to hold themselves together
make deals with gravity
to loiter a little longer
I wonder if the rain is scared
of falling
if it has trouble letting go
If snow flakes get sick
of being perfect all the time
each one trying to be one-of-a-kind
I wonder if the stars wish
upon themselves before they die
if they need to teach their young to shine
I wonder if shadows long
to once feel the sun
if they get lost in the shuffle
not knowing where they’re from
I wonder if sunrise and sunset
respect each other
even though they’ve never met
If volcanoes get stressed
If storms have regrets
If compost believes in life after death
I wonder if breath ever thinks
about suicide
I wonder if the wind just wants to sit
still sometimes
and watch the world pass by
If smoke was born knowing how to rise
If rainbows get shy back stage
not sure if their colors match right
I wonder if lightning sets an alarm clock
to know when to crack
I rivers ever stop
and think of turning back
If streams meet the wrong sea
and their whole lives run off-track
I wonder if the snow wants to be black
If the soil thinks she’s too dark
If butterflies want cover their marks
If rocks are self-conscious of their weight
If mountains are insecure of their strength
I wonder if waves get discouraged
crawling up the sand
only to be pulled back again
to where they began
I wonder if land feels stepped upon
If sand feels insignificant
If trees need to question their lovers
to know where they stand
If branches waver in the crossroads
unsure of which way to grow
If the leaves understand they’re replaceable
and still dance when the wind blows
I wonder where the moon goes
when she is hiding
I want to find her there
and watch the ocean
spin from a distance
Listen to her
stir in her sleep
effort give way to existence