The common theme in all of my experiences during this experiment was focus. I had to focus my mind on the task and be in the moment. It reminds me of a favorite quote from Charles Dickens; “ He did each single thing, as if he did nothing else.” In the future, I’ll call again upon this simple exercise to remind me to be present in the moment whether it is while eating, during asana practice, hiking in the mountains, everywhere.
Tag Archive for: Axis
Each student at Axis Yoga Teacher Training completes a personal experiment on the subject of their choosing. This student examined the effects of Sadhana, daily spiritual practice. And what happens when you then take it away. The results were enlightening and point to a life-long practice ahead.
For my personal experiment, I chose to study the effects and benefits of Sadhana. I chose Heart of Sadhana, by M.P. Pandit, as my book to coincide with the experiment.
Since this course began, some three months ago, I have adopted a daily sadhana practice, which includes pranayama, meditation and mantra. Over these months, I have noticed a dramatic shift in both my attitude and approach to daily life, as well as in difficult situations.
In my daily life, I have noticed that I don’t get as emotionally entangled in certain situations. I have been able to observe and remain engaged, without allowing so much of my prana, or vital energy, to be drained. I have also noticed that I have been able to handle stress in a much healthier and productive manner.
A few days prior to the beginning of this course, my step-father passed away. It was not completely unexpected, as his health had been failing in the past few years. I had a very difficult and painful history with him, and held a lot of resentment and anger towards him. My mother, even knowing this, asked me to come while he was dying. I thought this was to offer support for her, which I felt blessed and honored to do. However, something else profoundly beautiful and moving occurred. Despite the fact that he had also been unkind and abusive toward my mother for years, I observed the most pure and honest compassion I have ever seen, extended from her to him. Also, in those final hours, I was able to release all of my anger, and forgive him. It was a deep and profound spiritual experience for me, which I will treasure always.
Typically, after a situation like this, I would tend to sink deep into the emotionality of it. I would internalize all the intense emotions and seek external comfort and peace. In this case, I believe largely because of the daily sadhana, I was able to begin to process the experience in a very honest and conscious way. This was a very pivotal awakening for me.
As part of this experiment, I decided to abandon my sadhana practice for a week, just to see if I noticed a difference. This sort of backfired, as one week very easily became two, and then, even crept into three. I was shocked at how easy it was to come up with excuses not to practice. Mainly it was, “I need more sleep”, or “I’m too busy”. Well, I had been just as busy and sleep-deprived in those previous months, but I still awoke around 4:30 or 5am to fit in my sadhana. I made time for it.
Also worth mentioning, was the noticeable shift in my attitude and stress level. I so easily reverted back into old samskaras, or patterns, allowing myself to be drawn into situations and emotions, then feeling drained.
Another thing that I observed was my swearing. Being a mom has pretty much taught me to forego this habit…at least out loud. During this experiment, I became very conscious of just how much I do swear, even if it is mostly inside my own head. Suddenly, I was acutely aware of every time I silently swore at a rude driver, an inconsiderate co-worker, or sometimes just people in general, or a situation. So, here, I realized that I had not been doing this in the past couple of months. I noticed that it almost hurt a little each time I swore, on a subtle spiritual level. Also, I felt like I was just hurling that angry energy out into the Universe, no matter how silent it was.
I am currently trying to rebuild my daily sadhana practice. I am finding it difficult to focus, but know that with consistency and intention…it will come. To quote M.P. Pandit, “…surrender is not a one day affair. Surrender is the end-product of a long process of effort. And personal effort lies precisely in working out the determination, the will to surrender.”
The final practicum for Axis Yoga Teacher Training graduates is open to the public.
These students have dedicated themselves intensely to the practice and now wish to share the fruits of their discoveries with you!
Sumptuous refreshments served every session!
Located at Sixth Ave UCC ~ 3250 e. 6th Ave (sixth and Adams)
~ Please bring any props if you have them ~
Dates and Times:
Session I: Sat. June 11, 3:30-5:30
“the Pelvic Girdle”
John, Courtney, Rebecca, Kayla, Nyke
Session II: Sun. June 12, 1-3
“Yoga 101”
Mike, Marla, Jo, Niko
Session III: Sun. June 12, 3:30-5:30
“Journey through the doshas”
Richard, Annie, Kari, Jenn
Session IV: Sat. June 18, 1-3
“Bhakti Yoga”
Kevin, Mary Ann, Laura T ., Jeane
Session V: Sat. June 18, 3:30-5:30
“An experience in kriya yoga”
Bob, Vanessa, Kara, Laura G.
Ayurveda, the sister-science to yoga, has many pieces for preventing disease and prolonging life. Axis Yoga Teacher Training students have the opportunity to begin their Ayurvedic journey through a personal experiment. This student, like most, began with a few changes and plans to continue embracing more Ayurvedic principles in the future.
with great curiosity and delight the following three-part experiment was undertaken from thursday the 28th of april 2011 until today, friday the 13th of may 2011.
the first part of my experiment was aligning my sleep schedule with the natural cycle of day and night. my goal was to be in bed at least eight hours before the sunrise in order to support deep, healthy sleep. having spent the last four years on a very noisy street corner, i felt consistent sleeping habits may be an easy place to experience a notable difference in my energy levels and perception of wellbeing.
this goal proved to be very difficult to achieve. in order to be asleep at least eight hours before sunrise, i would have to be in bed by 9 pm. the challenging part was that in addition to the regular oddities of life that keep us up later than we expect, each tuesday, wednesday and thursday evening classes, make-up classes and practice sessions were scheduled until 9 pm every week. occasionally, some went later, even as late as 9:45 pm. as i now commute 45 minutes one way from lafayette, this made my regular bedtime closer to 11 pm on most nights. regardless, i seem to wake about 15 – 30 minutes before the sun rises, which varied from 6:11 am to 5:52 am during the course of the experiment. i soon realized the vanity of trying to stick to my goal of sleeping a full eight hours per night every night by going to bed early. i tried to stay asleep longer by blacking out my extremely large bedroom windows first with dark blankets. the blankets proved too translucent, allowing enough light to easily wake me as soon as morning tiptoed over the horizon. next, i made giant cardboard cut outs (they are reeeeeeally large windows) and both nailed and duct-taped them up. exact fitting proved difficult and light streamed through the sides and seams of my corrugated franken-blind, though it did block much more light than the blankets. now, after the end of the official experiment, i am going to put up aluminum foil. it should be much easier to fit the odd a-frame shape, is much easier to attach than heavy card board, and blocks light much more effectively than blankets or cardboard.
even with my sleep schedule regularly disrupted, most nights i averaged around 7 hours of much higher quality sleep than i have had for years. before moving into the apartment on downing i could easily sleep 9 hours at time. while living in the apartment it was rare for me to sleep more than 6 hours a night. now in lafayette, the quiet and lovely surroundings make going to sleep much easier. waking up also is much easier and has not been accompanied by the sharp aching around my eyes and temples that has characterized my mornings for the last several years. i plan on continuing my cultivation of healthy sleep as it appears to be the single most effective variable i have found to change my experience of consciousness from challenging to vibrant. i am committed to rising early enough to complete sadhana and meditation practice during the sunrise. there does seem to be some energetic benefit, at least in my experience so far, to practicing during twilight.
the second part of my experiment was to follow ayurvedic dietetic principles for a vata dosha. when i first read the text’s sections on discerning one’s dosha, it seemed every single characteristic of vata was something i had lifelong experience in. upon completing the two weeks, i now have some doubts as to whether i am actually vata, or some other combination that is vata-aggravated. i have scheduled with alakananda ma to get some kind of professional guidance in general. i am really looking forward to meeting her, also.
for most of my life, i have prepared and cooked my own food. it has always been a blessing to be able to cook healthy food both for health reasons and just because its fun to share and offer home-made gifts with meaning to loved ones. there were several long-time staples that i culled: 1-2 daily servings of fresh greens, frequently snacking on home-made gorp of nuts, seeds, dried fruit and berries, 2-3 fuji apples a week, raw, home-made chocolates (ouch!!), frequent teas, kefir and fruit as a snack or meal, eating things quickly and often cold, avoiding the foundational trifecta of the american diet, meat, wheat and dairy. for this experiment, meat, wheat and dairy became dietary centerpieces once again. well, not much meat, but it certainly showed up at least three times a week. i began heating everything and finding ways to make formerly cold things hot. for years i have made a tasty gruel (sounds awful, tastes delicious!) of steel cut oats and amaranth in a nut or grain milk, with thick orange zest, and loaded with spices: cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and vanilla. i made it with various grains, always with amaranth, tho. it was always my go-to snack in a hurry, and i never bothered to heat it because the spices were very tasty and warming themselves.
after just a few days of heating, i found i could really feel and really enjoyed the warmth of the spices and grains when they are heated up. i was surprised how much i looked forward to the warm gruel instead of just grabbing it and heading out. it didn’t take much to heat either, just toss a little milk in a pot with some gruel. so it’s easy to maintain the change. i also found instead of eating cold sandwiches, i really enjoyed open faced broiled melts with high quality, organic cheeses. eating hot foods was something my belly looked forward to…this is one part of the experiment that has definitely made an impression on me.
sitting and relaxing after eating has also taken some patience. i found i was wanting to immediately get up and start doing dishes, preparing some other dish, attending to other people’s needs…it was challenging to keep in my seat, allowing dirty dishes to set and other’s to attend to their own interests. this principle of resting after eating, not rushing around, but settling and processing, gives me other opportunities to examine my health and relationships, too.
over all, i found i gained a huge amount of weight in this experiment and am going to go back to eating more greens and plants, less wheat and meat. i feel really heavy in general right now. and not just weight-wise. i feel slow and clunky in my head and thoughts. overall, the diet portion of my experiment was very interesting. i have a lot of new questions now!