| Yoga has to reach beyond the mat
and into daily life, says holistic yoga teacher Chandrika
Gibson.
 What
does it mean to cherish something? To hold tightly to
it? Or to tenderly encircle it for a moment and let
it go willingly? What is worth cherishing? Where are
the real jewels of human experience? The yogis would
say all the jewels worth cherishing are in the mind.
So what should we cherish in our minds?
Certainly not the whirlwind of thoughts that follow
each other around, repeating themselves, justifying
their own existence. Not our attachments to people,
possessions and philosophies. The thing to cherish is
that which lies beneath all the permutations of our
lives. That permanent ocean of bliss that exists even
when we are making shopping lists, watching movies,
caring for families, working, exercising, eating and
socialising.
In yoga, that cosmic consciousness that pervades all
existence is called Parama Parusa. The ancient yogis
may have had simpler lives than their modern counterparts,
but they still had many tasks to perform to keep their
lives running. So the spiritual science of yoga has
advice and techniques for keeping our minds in touch
with our highest wisdom so that we can stay aware of
what is worth cherishing.
Every action can be transformed from the mundane to
the sacred by using our conscious attention wisely.
By paying attention to the pauses in our lives we can
find the way in to a deeper space, the underlying peace
beneath the action. Observe the pauses in your own life.
First think of the big ones like the recent holiday
period. Then the weekly pause created by the weekend
or a day off. Within each day we take rest overnight,
but also, if we observe more closely, there are many
small pauses in our sometimes hectic daily lives. We
pause at traffic lights, before performing ablutions
and hopefully when we stop to take nourishment. As we
slow down we see that each breath has a pause. In yoga,
this awareness of the natural rhythm of the breath is
the beginning of pranayama (breath/prana control).
Hatha Yoga teaches breath awareness and uses the timing
of the breath to bring movements into a harmonious flow,
connecting mind and body through the subtle prana of
the breath. This is a perfect analogy for daily life.
In order to move through life in harmony with the natural
dharmic flow of the universe, it is helpful to stay
connected. By cherishing each breath and the pauses
between them, our minds can rest in the supportive ocean
of consciousness, cherishing the wonder and beauty of
life while doing all the normal stuff.
A suitable starting point to help people consciously
link their minds and bodies is asana classes. A common
practice in yoga asana classes is to link simple movements
with the breath. You can try this wherever you have
floor space and a few minutes to look inwards. Lying
supine in savasana (corpse pose) allow your body to
rest heavily on the mat or floor. Begin to observe,
without altering, your natural breathing. As you inhale,
raise your arms from the sides of the body, up through
the air and over your head, placing the backs of the
hands to the floor behind your head. Arms remain straight
throughout the arc of movement. Let your arms rest a
moment and then when the natural impulse to exhale comes,
allow your arms to float up and over, bringing them
back to the sides of your body. Again, let the arms
and hands rest in the pause between breaths and then
lift them up again with the next inhalation. Notice
how the inhalation seems to give the arms lift, allowing
them to float effortlessly up and over. The pause when
the lungs are fully inflated is made more pronounced
by the contact between fingers and floor. The instinctual
impulse to exhale gently propels the arms skywards again
and carries them back to the sides as the lungs seem
to empty out.
Always there is a resting place between breaths. We
do this all day and all night throughout our lives and
yet we seldom pay attention to it. Our breathing can
be an external indication of our internal state of mind.
When we are particularly anxious, our breath tends to
become shallow and rapid. Similarly, emotional states
such as anger, shock, excitement or grief affect our
breathing patterns, sometimes leaving us gasping for
air.
Asthmatics, sufferers of emphysema, CPD, pneumonia,
bronchitis, lung cancer and even common colds are forced
to become aware of their breath. Acute respiratory illnesses
affect many people and cause them to be grateful for
the gift of easy breathing when the illness abates.
For most of us that gratitude is short lived. As soon
as there is no physical problem, we allow our autonomic
nervous system to do its thing with no conscious awareness
on our part. We quickly forget to cherish our breath
and be grateful for our vitality.
Just as athletes and yogis approach breathing in a
more conscious way, we can all learn to apply our consciousness
to all the areas of our lives, increasing our capacity
to cherish each moment. The pause at the top and bottom
of each breath is symbolic of the dusk and dawn of each
day. Inhalation can be seen as night, a time of regeneration,
and exhalation as day, a time of outward activity. In
each breath, there is a cycle of rest and activity,
just as there is in each day, week, month, year, decade
and lifetime. The planet and indeed the universe follows
the same pulsating rhythm. We are just miniscule microcosms
of the vast cosmic consciousness, Parama Parusa. It
is in the gaps, the pauses between breaths, that we
can sink into a deeper awareness of the connections
between all of life.
Off the mat, wise people still need to shop, prepare
food, eat, clean, wash, fold laundry, make phone calls
and engage in relationships. The challenge for sadhakas
(spiritual aspirants) is in maintaining that inner peace
and cosmic awareness they have gleaned from spiritual
practice throughout the ups and downs of life in society.
It sounds tempting to take the sadhus' (wandering ascetics)
approach of renouncing all worldly attachments. A life
lived in hermitage has plenty of time for yoga and meditation
with few distractions. Some paths of yoga do advocate
long retreats and solitary practices. But most teachers
in the great yoga traditions of India advise students
to maintain the life of a householder. It is within
society that karma can be worked out. Isolation may
bring some insights, but the test of wisdom is in dealing
with the conflicts and foibles of other humans. It is
also very easy to go off on a tangent and forget the
purpose of your practices without the forces of a sanga
(community) to pull you back on track.
A frequently repeated story illustrates well, how the
novice yogi can cherish something valueless even while
attempting to grow. This story has been passed on by
teachers to their students as a cautionary tale.
"A master sends his novice to meditate alone in
a cave in the Himalaya for seven years. In the process
of his practice the novice receives the siddhi (power)
to walk on water. So enamoured is he with his newfound
skill he practises it over and over until it is perfected.
Considering himself enlightened, he forgoes the meditation
practice set down by his teacher. At the end of seven
years, the Master returns for his pupil. Together, they
travel down from the mountains and on the way come to
a river crossing. Gleefully, the student takes the opportunity
to impress his teacher and glides easily across the
surface of the water to the other side. The elder pays
the ferryman a small sum of five rupees and reaches
the riverbank a few minutes later. Expecting great praise
from the teacher, the younger man is instead met with
disdain. The Master admonishes him. "You spent
seven years on a skill worth a mere five rupees. You
have wasted your opportunity my child."
This story usually serves as a warning of the dangers
aspirants face as they are tempted by such things as
psychic powers. But it also illustrates the simple wisdom
of being present and patient with the many seemingly
mundane activities of worldly life. The enlightened
master could well be found on public transport, but
is unlikely to be found levitating. The supraphysical
powers that spiritual practice may bring are a side
effect and not the goal of yoga. It is wise to cherish
only that permanent goal and not the ever shifting milestones
along the way.
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