The Eight Limbs of Yoga: Fall 2016

FALL 2016

05 transformative travel 16 yoga for men 17 sleep: getting to the rest of your life

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• FALL 2016

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F ROM THE P UB LIS HER

Yoga Philosophy 101

*Source: “2016 Yoga in America Study” by Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance

On Our Cover

Emily Hampton, owner of Ignite Yoga in Ames, at Gray’s Lake in Des Moines.

Photo by Melissa Stukenholtz of Gorman House Photography.

Leaving chronic headaches and the corporate world behind, Lisa Acheson, RYT 500, has yoga to thank for her new life of ease and uncovered entrepreneurial spirit.

She shares her passion for yoga teaching classes at Shakti Yoga in Des Moines.

Sheree Clark, EdM., AADP, CHHC is an inspiring author, television show host, health coach, and raw vegan chef (fork-road.com). She’s written about and presented on topics ranging from raw food 101 to overcoming career burnout. Currently, she hosts a television show called “Fork in the Road with Sheree Clark” and advises private practice health and nutrition clients.

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Joseph Schneider teaches at Shakti Yoga in Des Moines and has been practicing asana for more than 25 years, first in the Iyengar tradition, then Anusara, and now simply hatha, drawing from various styles. He also studies yoga with philosopher Douglas Brooks.

Jim Earles has been teaching Kundalini Yoga in Dubuque since 2001. He has a deep interest in personal cultivation of yoga, as well as sharing information about various holistic health methods. Jim enjoys teaching people about nutrition from the perspective of the Weston A. Price Foundation (westonaprice.org).

Zen Priest Sara Siebert shares time between Ames and Jacmel, Haiti, to prevent sexual and domestic violence worldwide. Previously, she worked in 11 countries in West and East Africa and also in Papua, New Guinea. With her husband Eric McCabe, she teaches Buddhist meditation. Visit zenfields.org or email sasieber@gmail. com to learn more.

Mara Healy is a yogini dedicated to the spiritual tradition of yoga. She’s spent more than a decade studying Universal Yoga, working as Andrey Lappa’s North American assistant and senior disciple. She’s creatively woven together family life with the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism. Learn more about her at marayogini.com.

Melissa Stukenholtz of Gorman House Photography (gormanhousephoto. com) lives on a farm in rural Jamaica with her two dogs, one cat, and 17 organic free-range chickens. Yoga, meditation, healthy meals, and enlightening conversations are a few of her favorite things.

Dana Hinders first became interested in practicing yoga as a way to naturally cope with her anxiety and depression. She’s currently a full-time freelance writer living in Clarksville.

Learn more at danahinders.com.

Jim Karpen, professor emeritus at Maharishi University, has a PhD in literature and writing, and has practiced Transcendental Meditation for over 40 years. He writes about Transcendental Meditation and other health topics, as well as about technology.

HENNA

Betsy Rippentrop, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and certified yoga teacher.

She owns Heartland Yoga in Iowa City, and maintains a private practice that provides mind-body psychotherapy, a holistic blend of western psychology and yoga. She’s the co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Chakras. Follow her at dryogamomma.com.

YogaIowa’s Managing Editor Tracey L. Kelley, E-RYT 500, teaches at her boutique yoga studio in South Des Moines and specializes in working with beginning students. Tracey is also the founder of re: communications, a firm focused on improving communication through mindful listening. Learn more at recommunicationsmedia.com.

James Wesson is known throughout the Quad Cities as “The Yoga Guy.” He’s taught since 2009 after receiving Yoga Alliance certification through the Davenport School of Yoga. He’s an avid cyclist, a founding member of the Wandering Patriots Harmonica Band, and enjoys spending time with his family at Quad City events.

Carole Westerman of Omaha believes yoga is a living and ever-expanding practice that changes according to what is needed for the evolution of our souls. It’s not just a practice we do on our mats—it’s a practice we do each day and with each breath.

• FALL 2016

oga benefits millions of individuals worldwide, resulting in people being more awake and aware of their bodies, minds, and spirits. Since 2012, 150 percent more men are practicing yoga.* And in some cities in the United States, there are more yoga studios than Starbucks! This is all a terrific, healthy thing. Yet, the general idea of exactly what yoga is has changed drastically from the way it was originally practiced. Some people, especially in the West, pursue yoga as exercise divorced or watered down from its spiritual—or an exploration of consciousness—roots.

In all fairness, when I started practicing yoga, I counted it as cardio. A few Sun Salutations or any flow at a good, steady pace, matching my breath to the movement, got my heartrate going. And nothing beats building lower body strength like the Kundalini Frog Squats for shaping the legs and thighs. But slowly, my approach to yoga changed as I was introduced to yoga traditions, philosophies, wisdom, and spirituality. A classic is the Yoga Sutras, authored by Patañjali about two thousand years ago, a text considered to provide the philosophical foundations for the practice of yoga. Basically, he states that the physical practice isn’t less superior to the non-physical, or the other way around...they’re all important.

Think of the Eight Limbs of Yoga as the spokes of a tire, or petals of a flower. Each spoke is equally important to turning the great wheel of yoga; and the beauty of the flower depends on the petals being together.

This issue explores the eight limbs with the hope that yoga practitioners are inspired to integrate them into their daily yoga routine. In doing so, I believe that they will find their practice transformed with the physical, mental, and spiritual strength to live a fuller life.

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mind-body PSYCHOTHERAPY blending the wisdom traditions of Yoga and Western psychology

dr. yoga momma

• Licensed Psychologist and Owner, Heartland Yoga 221 E. College St. Iowa City, IA | icheartlandyoga.com | dryogamomma.com

BETSY RIPPENTROP, PhD

YOGAIOWA IS DISTRIBUTED QUARTERLY THROUGHOUT IOWA. FALL 2016 VOLUME 4, NUMBER 4 P U B L I SH E R / FO U NDER Angela Ossian MA N AG I N G E DI TO R Tracey L. Kelley A DVE RTI SI N G R E P RESENTATIV ES Tom Smull Bethany Grabe

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T RANS FORM AT IVE T RAVEL

A Spirit of Learning

A

s a wandering Zen priest, my teachers have been the bright smiles and green leaves of many places. But it was Haiti—Ayiti, as the country’s people call her—that broke open my ego to let in the light.

The standard model for interactions with Ayiti is to arrive in groups, with tremendous good will, a t-shirt, a hammer, and the will to construct something. Yet, depending on how these efforts are done, Haitians often deeply feel the one-sidedness of this setup that, without meaning to, can make them feel like beggars.

My first week there in 2010, a Haitian cultural guide said in response to my need to help: “Billions of dollars for Ayiti since the earthquake, and it is stuck in our throats. We are choking on your billions of dollars. All we want to do is give you something. Let us!”

One afternoon, I walked far from my host family’s home, down a mountain path with my friend Dieunie. It was election time, and the US government had just done something many Haitians took as meddling in their democratic process. A group of men was listening to the radio and getting angry. As we passed, one started chanting, “the (white) foreigners destroy our country!”

Others joined in.

Unwelcoming behavior didn’t match my experience so far, but Dieunie looked uncomfortable. She slowed and put her hand on the bag of beans she was carrying on her head, to steady it. I said, “Give me the beans.” She looked confused, but did. The men continued to chant, dancing around and looking at me. I put the bag on my head and took a step, trying to balance it. It slid

off. I tried again. Dieunie cracked a smile. The men fell silent, watching. On my third failed attempt to keep the beans on my head and walk, the men started to laugh.

One—grinning—came over to give pointers on proper bean-carrying posture. Dieunie doubled over laughing.

Okay, so I was a fool, but in that moment I became their fool. And everyone there had something to give me.

More than I can ever repay.

It is in those uncomfortable moments—when people who were not socially set up to meet, do meet, and learn from each other—that the false divisions between us crack open and the light can enter. Even without leaving town, today, right now—this is possible. Ayiti’s lesson for me is possible to learn without setting foot there.

But it is up to us to learn and practice it: What new street can we each walk down? What unlikely friend can we saunter up to, to break open the sky?

What stops us?

For those who want to enter Ayiti (Haiti) with a spirit of learning, the N a Sonje Foundation can personally tailor trips for transformational travel: wewillrememberhaiti.org

Most Memorable M oment: Sitting in a sm

all room witnessing a large ceremony of the Haitian trad itional religion. T he drums vibrate the earth.

The the energy of a fem priestess is there, embodying ale spirit of the oc ean. She asks, “How are you?” I tell her my Buddhist te acher has recently offered to do a ceremony to authorize me to teach. I am not sure I am ready—I have so much to learn. She look s at me deeply and sa ys loudly, “There is nothing in yo u that is lacking.” Star tled, for the first time in my lif e, my eyes open.

Three Greatest Gifts I Brought Home: miss the bus, may be

1. Spirit-led life. If we

we were meant to meet someone on the next one. Ho w many miracles conspired for us to arrive 2. Consciousness. Do I right here, right now? work harder than th ose who make less than $1/day— is that why I have m ore? Racism is our responsibility. Ever y moment is a choi ce to own up, and heal. How can I be to gin?

3. Community. There is no Creole word for “privacy.” You have to explain you want to be alone, “but in a good way.” To wh people say, “huh?” ich Our lives are inextri cably connected.

have a yogic trip to share?

• FALL 2016

Photos courtesy of Sara Siebert

BY SARA SIEBERT

E-MAIL US AT EDITORS@YOGA-IOWA.COM 5

yama-niyamâ-âsana-prâñâyâmapratyâhâra-dhârañâ-dhyâna-samâdhayo THE EIGHT LIMBS OF YOGA ARE THE CODES OF SELF-REGULATION OR RESTRAINT, OBSERVANCE OR PRACTICES OF SELF-TRAINING, POSTURES, EXPANSION OF BREATH AND PRANA, WITHDRAWAL OF THE SENSES, CONCENTRATION, MEDITATION, AND PERFECTED CONCENTRATION.

• FALL 2016

The ancient Vedic sage Pantajali devised the Eight Limbs of Yoga as part of the Yoga Sutras more than two thousand years ago. They explain how we can gather together all the pieces of ourselves–mind, body, emotions, soul, and spirit–to extend beyond suffering and find purpose in stilling the pattern of consciousness. Then, we can experience a life of pure awareness.

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TH E E I G H T L I MBS

BY BETSY RIPPENTROP

atching the news can be a danger to your health these days. The social and political climate is so volatile, it’s essential now more than ever that we yogis rise up and radiate goodness and peace in the world.

The eight-limbed path of yoga is a clear and practical methodology for more peace despite our crazy world.

Ahimsa is step one of the first limb, yama, which means it is foundational and where we must start.

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There are five yamas in total:

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Ahimsa, or non-violence Satya, or truthfulness Asetya, or non-stealing Brahmacharaya, or continence Aparigraha, or non-coveting

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To seek a path of observance through all five is an important quest of any yogi. But it has been said that if we can perfect the practice of ahimsa, one need not learn any other practices of yoga.

When I was first introduced to ahimsa in my teacher training almost 10 years ago, it felt like a “no duh” precept upon learning it meant “non-violence”. Yes, I won’t beat up my neighbor, or stone my boss. And for extra credit, I’m also anti-guns and a vegan.

But by diving deeper into ahimsa, I realized love lies at the core of nonviolence and begins with love of self. Not ego-centric, narcissistic love, but love that’s accepting, nonjudgmental, forgiving, lenient. Suddenly I realized I had a long way to go to release judgment of my body, forgive those who had wronged me, reign in my impatience with my kids, and start to soften the perfectionistic expectations I placed on myself and others.

As a psychologist, it’s my experience that the majority of people coming to see me all have something in common: there’s lack of self-respect and self-love. I would even go as far to say that this is the critical thing missing for most of us (including myself). It seems we aren’t finding peace inside, which leads to problems on the outside. Carl Jung has wisely said that “Acceptance of one’s self is the essence of the moral problem and acid test of one’s whole outlook on life.” This is what ahimsa is all about.

So how do we foster more ahimsa toward ourselves?

And then how might that contribute to a more peaceful planet? We commit to daily practice which may mean yoga, meditation, or simply practicing non-judgment. We avoid gossip, self-recrimination, and keep our anger in check.

We foster loving kindness toward ourselves and the world.

Then we wake up the next day and repeat.

I recently spent a week at a meditation retreat with Deepak Chopra. His goal is to get a billion people around the earth meditating. He believes if this happens, we will reach a critical tipping point where peace will prevail in the world because so many have found peace in their hearts. I plan on being part of that billion. How about you?

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TH E E I G H T L I M BS

BY JIM EARLES The totality of yogic theory and practice is like a vast ocean, bigger than any single human being can ever fully experience. Every asana which we practice is like a swimming technique to help us explore that ocean.

But even the strongest swimmer can’t cross an ocean without a boat, which is why traditional yoga doesn’t begin with asana practice.

Traditionally, yoga begins with the twin disciplines of yama and niyama, the moral and ethical foundations which can be likened to a sturdy boat to take us far into the ocean of yoga. All yogis can benefit from learning about and practicing these precepts.

While the yamas focus mostly on behaviors that should be avoided by aspiring yogis, the niyamas tell us what we should do. Some ancient sources list ten niyamas, but it’s common to follow Patanjali’s listing of five:

• • • • •

Sauca (cleanliness or purity, in body, mind and actions) Santosa (contentment) Tapas (calm acceptance of adversity and suffering) Svadhyaya (introspection) Ishvara pranidhana

While the first four of these are relatively non-contentious, the last one opens the door to a wider discussion.

Pranidhana means to surrender to or show devotion towards something. Ishvara pranidhana, then, means to surrender to Ishvara.

Who or what is Ishvara? There’s no universally-accepted answer to this question, but the process of engaging the question strongly mirrors the spiritual questions found in every yoga class of the modern day: Is yoga a religion? Can yoga co-exist with my religious beliefs? How can atheists observe niyama?

In a nutshell, Ishvara means God (or Brahman, if you will). The fifth niyama tells us that we should surrender to and show devotion towards God...but whose God? The six major systems of Hindu philosophy all have different definitions of what Ishvara means, ranging from:

• A Creator God • An impersonal spiritual force • Anything that has personal spiritual meaning to the practitioner

• Transcendental consciousness

• FALL 2016

It can also be accepted as simply irrelevant and unnecessary (in the atheistic-leaning branches of Hinduism). This diversity of thought is the beauty of both Hinduism in general and yoga in particular.

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Yoga teachers and practitioners are frequently looking for ways to take their practice “off the mat” and into everyday life. Practicing the yogic yamas and niyamas is a perfect way to do this. No matter what religion or spirituality a person may hold before coming to yoga class, these precepts are fairly universal. Then, when we turn our attention in particular to Ishvara pranidhana, we find the perfect illustration of the universality of yoga. A Christian may feel quite free to equate Ishvara with Jesus, or a Muslim with Allah, or a Jew with Yahweh. An atheist may just as legitimately think of Ishvara as their own conscience. The important part is simply the devotional act of surrender, as we set sail into that vast ocean of yoga.

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BY JOSEPH SCHNEIDER

e at Shakti Yoga have been working our poses using some verbal cues from Maty Ezraty, a master teacher from L.A., who owner Brette Scott and fellow teacher Lisa Acheson visited at an intensive in Chicago. These cues are not so much different from what we had been using as they are refinements and subtleties of those earlier instructions. But there are some changes. Getting these cues “into our bodies,” moving slowly and very mindfully all reminds me yet again how a sustained practice of asana is inseparable from the rest of our lives.

First—big surprise—if we think we If I stay with the are reasonably good at something, we practice... I have don’t much like to change it. And, it a chance to learn seems, yogis really don’t like change! better how to stay There’s been all kinds of complaining with my life and to the left and right and even from experience more of the center of my mat, to the effect, “I don’t like it,” “That’s not the way its rich possibilities. we do it!,” “I can’t get it,” What’s the point?,” “Why did they change it?,” “Too many words—can’t we just have some quiet?!,” “My arms are killing me!” and “Wait.

What?” Some people even stopped coming to class.

But as philosopher Douglas Brooks advises, “Don’t opt out of your life. Stay in the game.” If you leave for these kinds of reasons, you’ll never know what might have been—what you might have encountered and what that may have taught you about yourself and others. Consistently and seriously working our practice teaches us forbearance, consideration, thoughtfulness, humility, and both the price and benefits of trust. It also opens up new experience in the poses themselves! The philosopher Spinoza had a line for this: “We do not even know what a body can do.” We might add, “Or what our lives offer.” If I stay with the practice, pay attention, and stop complaining, I have a chance to learn better how to stay with my life and experience more of its rich possibilities, not all of which are sweet (part of life’s “deal” with us), and not all of which I can know even exist until they do.

Second, this business of trust. I don’t know about you, but if I don’t sense that my teacher knows what she or he is doing and doesn’t have a clear intent behind the instruction, it’s difficult to put myself in her or his hands. I hold back a bit—I feel I have to protect myself. Practice easily pushes your buttons and challenges your confidence. It’s demanding, difficult, “kicks your butt.” It asks you to be both sharp-minded and receptive; for your intelligence, but also for your compliance. It requires you to collaborate with the teacher and the practice, and even with the energies of others in the room, to get somewhere you have not been before. But to do that, you have to trust all of those elements and stay aware. When you feel this trust and what it opens for you, it’s an amazing gift and challenge.

To make yourself vulnerable, willingly and with no guarantees, is the basis of intimacy in your life. It’s a little scary, actually, but thrilling at the same time. Yoga on and off the mat are not all that different! Because we sometimes think it is only doing the poses, we miss seeing the yoga in our lives. Pay attention. Stay in the game. Love your life.

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“Asanas are the means of reducing illness and for promoting health. t’s not often that you’d think The practice of asanas of your physical practice as a makes a person agile. waste of time. It’s informed The asanas should you of its importance to be taught according this point, and your body to the individual’s demonstrates grace, agility, requirements and must resilience, and strength as a result.

But even if you do nothing, your be taught in vinyasa.

If correct breathing is breath exists. Even if you need assistance to breathe because of a not done, the practice is a waste of time.” health condition, your prana, or

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life force, continues—a wondrous action that occurs automatically — T Krishnamacharya (1888-1989) as another example of the power of your body. You could possibly forgo asana altogether and simply focus on yama, or control/restraint of prana, and still feel connected, relaxed, and whole. However, there’s a reason the combination of movement and breath is usually best, regardless of the discipline or style.

During a 24-hour period, the average person takes 23,000 breaths, at a rate of 12-to-20 breaths per minute. What you remember from science class is on an inhale, you take in oxygen, and on an exhale, you release carbon dioxide. This matters because fresh oxygen feeds your cells’ new energy production; stale carbon dioxide, a byproduct of your cells’ energy production, is carried out of the body. Your body really wants to rid itself of carbon dioxide, because too much of it creates an acidic condition, and this pH imbalance hampers cellular function.

This is why breath is your life force: it’s the origin of all regeneration. Paired with asana, where every fiber of your being is encouraged to move, stretch, and grow, the power of this combination is revealed. You know this immediately in your practice when you extend into a particular pose and your breath stops for a moment—what does this mean? How should you proceed? What have you learned? Conversely, when you breathe freely, in a posture or otherwise, how do you feel? What have you released? Why does it matter?

Just because breathing is an automatic function of your body doesn’t mean you can’t facilitate a greater release of what no longer serves you. What asana does for your body, pranayama does for your mind. Deliberately channeling your breath while on the mat allows for a duality of purpose, and there are many methods to do this including, but not limited to: • Counting breaths • Changing the speed or flow of inhalation and exhalation through a sequence • Using a metronome for regulated breath • Focusing on Ujjayi, or Ocean breath, between postures • Creating a pattern of breath directly related to the movements of the spine, as pioneered by T Krishnamacharya

Breathing techniques off the mat are just as important.

Something as simple as inhaling and exhaling deeply through your nose for 10 seconds creates vibrations in your throat, signaling your vagus nerve. The vagus nerve—the longest of the cranial nerves—is the command center of your parasympathetic nervous system. This “wandering nerve” touches the majority of your organs and sends their status reports to your brain, and also influences your heart rate, digestion, and respiration. Once the vagus nerve picks up the signal that you want to be calm, it relays that purpose throughout your entire body. The best ways to transmit that signal include focused breath, yoga, and meditation.

In his presentation of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, Patanjali intended the scientific technique of pranayama to induce a conscious awakening of peace and open a portal to a deeper awareness of self. By incorporating this vital aspect into your practice and your life, you’re following the path to your origin of being.

TH E E I G H T L I MBS

BY DANA HINDERS

Pratyahara, the fifth limb in the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, refers to making a conscious effort to pull away from external stimuli. Think of attention and concentration as limited resources. If your environment is over-stimulating, this diminishes your ability to focus on what truly matters.

Why develop this focus? Jim Biederman, a psychology teaching professor instructor at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Minnesota, explains it this way: “If we’re constantly switching channels in our brains as far as what we’re attending to, it dramatically affects the completeness and accuracy of the information we take in,” he says. “This then affects the completeness and accuracy of information that makes it into memory.”

To practice pratyhara in a mindful way, it’s important to allow space between actions, remove yourself from negative impressions and associations, and cultivate better control over your senses. Then, what you choose to focus on stays with you, and your ability to meditate—the seventh limb of the Sutras—improves.

Simple steps take pratyahara off your mat and into each day: • Clear the clutter in your home, donating the items you no longer • • • • •

need.

At mealtime, slow down and savor every bite of your food.

Eliminate situations or people in your life that create extra drama due to their lack of clear boundaries.

See how long you can practice functional speech, talking only if absolutely necessary.

Take a social media fast for a day, a week, or even a month.

To give your eyes and mind a break from impression overload, take breaks throughout the day to gaze on uniform impressions, such as a blue sky, a single leaf, or a pattern in a pillow.

HAVE YOU TRIED

everything?

Another way to practice sensory withdrawal is flotation therapy. A float tank is a specialized enclosed tank filled designed to let a person float effortlessly on the surface. The room temperature water is mixed with Epsom salt, which softens the hair and skin while detoxifying the body. Talia Chaffee is the co-owner of Fadeaway Floatation Center in West Des Moines. “Some of our clients float twice a week, others once a month.

You can’t overdo it,” she says. “Some people who have tanks in their homes float every single day. Every person is different. Just listen to your body—it will let you know when you’re in need of a session.”

• FALL 2016

If you’re struggling to achieve depth in your meditation, Chaffee offers this suggestion. “If you are serious about exploring consciousness, the float tank provides the optimal environment in which to do so,” she says. “Shamans have sought out extreme solitude for thousands of years—the float tank effectively replaces the dark cave or isolated mountaintop.”

11

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BY CAROLE WESTERMAN I’m a recovering “multi-tasker.” I have to work at it every day, because my mind loves to keep busy. I can barely talk on the phone without also simultaneously putting dishes away and/or cleaning my kitchen.

Special classes also are available; instructors include Kate Cardamon, P.T., PYTC, trained in medical therapeutic yoga; Kari Smith, D.P.T., trained in Stott Pilates; and Kathy Mercuris, P.T., D.H.S., trained in tai chi for arthritis and fall prevention.

I know I’m not alone in my habit of doing several things at once, because we live in a culture that values busyness and efficiency. It’s engrained into our habits from a young age, and it’s only getting worse with the advent of technology, cell phones, and our “there’s an app for that” culture. We literally don’t think twice about having multiple tabs and apps running at the same time, all while trying to work at our desk listening to music. We order a great meal at a restaurant, and we want to tweet about it. Our best friend gets married and we Instagram it. We hashtag our daily lives to the point of missing out on the thing that moved us to post in the first place. Our attention spans are practically nil.

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It sounds almost comical, but it’s now become the norm.

Technology has invaded our lives, and enticed us into multi-tasking at every opportunity.

What’s the cure for this addiction to multi-tasking? Well, yoga has an app for that! It’s called dharana, and it means “holding steady,” “single focus,” and/or “concentration.” Simply put, it’s a practice of bringing you back to “uni-tasking” and only doing one thing at a time. It reminds you of the beauty and simplicity of living in the moment, to be present for your life. Dharana is an invitation to live your yoga off the mat.

Yogic sage Pantajali once described dharana as the “binding of consciousness to a single spot.” So how can you practice dharana daily?

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• Do one thing at a time and enjoy the space that surrounds that moment • Get outside and enjoy nature at least once a day • Look people in the eyes when they talk to you • Put your phone away at meal times • Practice silence by looking at a beautiful object, a flickering candle flame, or a single raindrop while you breathe evenly • Unplug from all electronic devices by 10 p.m.

• Check social media only once or twice a day, and turn off notifications • Turn off your ringer whenever you can • Avoid using your phone to “pass the time;” instead, let yourself daydream

Those ideas will you get you started on ways to practice being present for your life. Use technology to enhance your life and relationships, not detract from them. From experience, I can tell you there will times where you’ll want to reach for your phone to fill the empty space, but instead, hold steady. Let the moment hold you, and the urge to hashtag will pass.

You’ll start to cultivate a better ability to be present. You’ll begin to feel whole again in a way you had forgotten was so wonderful.

T HE EIGHT LIM BS

BY JIM KARPEN Take time to explore various types of meditation methods to see which one truly resonates with you. Here are just a few.

• Christian Contemplative: designed for people

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

of Christian faith, this practice uses devotions, prayer, spiritual teachings, specific Bible verses, and “sitting with God” to direct intent to understanding a higher presence within self.

Guided Meditation: this approach to meditation incorporates a variety of techniques to prompt relaxation, including spoken word, visualization, special music, affirmation, and binaural beats.

Kundalini Yoga: this yoga style, founded

by Yogi Bhajan, has specific components to its meditation that include mantra, breath, mudras or hand positions, and focus; and each meditation is dedicated to a particular outcome.

Mindfulness-Based Meditation: started

by Jon Kabat-Zinn, this meditation combines astute breath awareness and a deliberate body scan to relax and release tension, and can be done seated, lying down, or walking.

Primordial Sound Meditation: developed

by Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. David Simon, this mantra-based meditation uses Vedic mathematical formulas to correlate your mantra to a vibrational sound the universe created at the time and place of your birth.

Qigong: this Chinese method uses slow body movement, regulated breathing, and inner focus for health, meditation, and marital arts training to help improve concentration and the circulation of the body’s energy.

Transcendental Meditation: created by Maharishi Mehesh Yogi, uses a series of Sanskrit words or a mantra provided by a teacher based on a number of significant factors to increase deep focus.

Vipassana: part of the Theravada Buddhist tradition, this word means “clear seeing,” and is an intensely breath-focused meditation to allow other sensations and perceptions to appear.

Zen Meditation: also referred to as Zazen, which means “seated meditation,” this method originated with Buddhist philosophy as to how to best acquire insight by observing the mind and breath, perhaps with help from a teacher and chants.

• FALL 2016

editation is trending big these days, with major media coverage constantly telling you it’s good for you.

The research on approaches to meditation such as Transcendental Meditation and mindfulness supports this enthusiasm. It shows greater relaxation, lower blood pressure, and a reduction in hormones associated with stress such as lactate and cortisol. Meditation even increases the gray matter in your brain.

If benefits like these appeal to you, your next step is to choose a particular approach to meditation. Among the most popular are mindfulness, Transcendental Meditation, and Vipassana, with a majority of the studies being done on the first two.

Whatever approach you choose, my advice is to go with a meditation that’s based on an established tradition. Sure, you can read articles that give you a few steps to meditate, such as closing your eyes, breathing deeply, and paying attention to your breath. But it’s much better to learn from an experienced teacher of a technique that comes from an established tradition, whether from India’s Vedic tradition, or the secularized Buddhist approach called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction developed over the past 30 years by Jon Kabat-Zinn, or the Buddhist Vipassana meditation.

Why? There are often doubts and questions surrounding your practice.

Am I doing it correctly? Is the experience I’ve been having typical? How long and how often should I meditate? A teacher from a tradition can expertly guide you.

And there’s a second important reason: enlightenment. Yes, meditation has its benefits for mind and body, but if you choose wisely, if you learn well, and if you make a commitment, you may get more from meditation than you ever dreamed. This is the access point many yogis yearn for: dhyana, which leads to self-knowledge. In fact, for a yogi following the Eight-Limbed path, it’s difficult to be liberated in samadhi, the final aspect of true awareness, without first clarifying the conscious state in dhyana.

How might this clarification appear? One study on Transcendental Meditation by Fred Travis of Maharishi University, for example, studied 17 long-term meditators who were experiencing what Maharishi Mahesh Yogi referred to as cosmic consciousness. The experience of who they are was transformed. They had come to perceive themselves as that unbounded field of existence that underlies everything.

Asked how they would describe themselves, those in the control group who hadn’t yet learned Transcendental Meditation said things like, “I guess I’m open to new experiences, and I tend to appreciate those things that are different.”

Those experiencing cosmic consciousness had these comments:“I experience myself as being without edges or content, beyond the universe… all-pervading, and being absolutely thrilled, delighted with every motion that my body makes. With everything that my eyes see, my ears hear, my nose smells. There’s a delight in the sense that I am able to penetrate that. My consciousness, my intelligence pervades everything I see, feel, and think.”

Not only did their perceptions of themselves change, their brains changed, too. When a person does Transcendental Meditation, EEG measurements show alpha1 brain waves, an indication of relaxation. Other meditations might be typified by theta or gamma waves.

The longer they meditate, the more alpha1 creeps into their waking, sleeping, and dreaming brain states. If they’re awake and they’re focused on a task, their brains not only exhibit gamma waves, which are typical of high mental activity, but also alpha1 waves. This alpha1 gradually increases over the years, until eventually a threshold is crossed, and cosmic awareness dawns.

13

THE EI GHT LIM B S

mayakoshas of the self

hat makes samadhi possible? Being connected. To be truly connected to the body, we must connect not only to moving the body through space, but also to moving space through the body.

In breathing, we must connect not just to inhales and exhales, but to the still spaces between the breaths. In the mind, we need to be connected not just to thoughts, but to the suspended spaces between them. Samadhi is the place where you transcend fluctuations and get absorbed into the in-between. It takes practice to get there, but once arrived, you gain access to a peace-filled power and a harnessed harmony that has always been there, just untapped.

Realization of samadhi gives you a healthy detachment toward all life’s circumstances. You will be interested and able to observe your life, but finally free of any notion controlling how things arrive to you. Your life will feel and appear fluid and easeful, yet skillfully managed. Knowing the mayakoshas is the perfect guidebook for understanding how to attain the control and balance required for samadhi.

There are seven mayakoshas in all. The last two are un-manifest, and thus not commonly taught to beginners or uninitiated practitioners. Maya means veil of illusion. Kosha means sheath. Thus, mayakosha means “illusory veil of sheaths.”

You’re not made up of these layers— you are a soul experiencing these interdependent layers.

Following extensive practices on the layers of all of your sheaths, you’ll finally come to the unifying vision of the sheaths as one. There will be no division on any layer.

You will be in samadhi, but to operate in daily life, you will have to come out of that state. No worries; practice brings you back.

• FALL 2016

Beginning November 2, Marayogini leads an extended module 200hour teacher training with Zaplin Vermie at The Blissful Willow Yoga Center in Iowa City. For topics, schedule, and tuition information, go to blissfulwillowyogacenter.com.

Registration is open until October 30, 2016. There’s a required reading list, so earlier is better!

14

SECOND LAYER Prana-mayakosha Connecting to breath is the primary practice on this layer. Prana rides the breath, and breath anchors the soul to the body. Breath makes you whole; therefore breathing is a holy thing. Breath practices leading to samadhi are those relating to bandhas and breath retentions. Being silent, or practicing mouna, also supports the foundation leading to samadhi.

THIRD LAYER Mano-mayakosha Mano comes from the word manas and refers to “mind-stuff.” It’s about the content in your mind.

This layer of mind is subject to misunderstanding, moodiness, emotionality, and subjectivity. If your asana practice never develops into something more mature beyond asana, like a mantra and meditation practice, you may feel stuck in emotional reactivity.

Mano-mayakosha’s main practice is pratyhara. Prati means away and ahara means anything consumed.

Pratyhara is about putting aside what the mind normally consumes and instead, feeding it something new: non-reactivity.

FOURTH LAYER Vijnana-mayakosha Vijnana means “power of discernment.” Through vijnana-mayakosha, you go beyond animal instincts and selfishness. To operate from this layer, employ self-sacrifice, spiritual generosity, and compassion.

This layer is about differentiating between intellectual knowing and wisdom. Knowing is about having the facts. Wisdom is about integrating knowledge meaningfully into life.

FIFTH LAYER Ananda-mayakosha Samadhi is revealed here. Contact with this layer provides a still, quiet stability. It’s a state of supraawareness coming through a combination of practices like those in The Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

Kundalini awakening brings you to this state automatically. This layer requires time just as boiling water does. Even at 1,000°F, water takes time to boil.

There is no substitute for daily, quiet practices accumulated over time.

Illustration by Sheri Baemmert

BY MARA HEALY

FIRST LAYER Anna-mayakosha Anna-mayakosha is your food-built layer. This external layer is made up of anything visible. The practices creating balance on this layer are: an organic diet, a healthy lifestyle including solid rest, not too much sex, and a consistent asana/vinyasa practice.

on our

ARE YOU READY FOR SOMETHING MORE?

IF YOU’RE READY TO EXPLORE DEEPER ASPECTS OF YOUR YOGA JOURNEY, HERE ARE SOME RESOURCES.

M AS TE R Y O GA T EA CHER T RA INING

The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali: various editions The foundation of classical yoga starts here: how to attain the experience and realization of the soul. Various editions provide graduated levels of philosophy, Sanskrit, scholarly examinations, and other aspects of exploration.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga: A Handbook for Living Yoga Philosophy by Stuart Ray Sarbacker and Kevin Kimple These yoga masters and authors present this framework of yoga in a clear, concise way to enable readers to use the book for a more modern application of practice, explaining the three “inner limbs” and the five “outer limbs.”

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The Yamas and the Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice by Deborah Adele Through her work as a yoga teacher, Gestalt practitioner, and Somatic educator, Adele details practical and thematic approaches to the yamas and niyamas that allow western practitioners access to a deeper understanding of yoga.

A Life Worth Breathing by Max Strom Strom, a frequent guest at various yoga festivals and workshops in Iowa, champions the powerful breath-yoga connection as a way to move into a new form of healing and into an authentic life of meaning, joy, and health.

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Observing yogic practices off the mat doesn’t have to be complicated, as opportunities are everywhere. The display about water conservation at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium shows how much water is used in an average household on a daily basis—for example, washing your car at home can use up to 100 gallons of water in just 10 minutes; and reducing shower time by just four minutes can conserve a truly precious resource. An article I read online discussed the amount of food discarded by Americans—per family, more than 1,100 pounds of food goes to waste annually. With this new knowledge, I keep a closer eye on the length of showers and use as many leftovers as I can for lunches. I also try to bike commute to my teaching jobs as often as possible.

In seeking to not waste water, food, or other resources such as gas, this is a way to practice the non-harming tenant of ahimsa, one of the five yamas of yoga, or ethical guidelines to living.

Another yama, asteya, translates to non-stealing. So to ensure that students receive the entire class time they have paid for, be it a 45-minute lunch session or a full 60- or 75-minute evening class, I start right on time, every time.

One of the things I often talk about in my classes is the counterintuitive nature of the practice of yoga. We have to relax to find the strength of the pose, as opposed to tightening our muscles up even more, and then we find ourselves needing to be fiercely focused so we can be calm. The inward focus we bring to our practice on the mat has a similar counter-intuitive aspect in that instead of growing self-absorbed, we find a growing awareness of the greater connection to the people and world around us. Another counterintuitive thought: to take yoga off the mat and into daily life, we need to be on the mat doing yoga! So keep practicing, and your awareness will go with you when you step off your mat.

Photo courtesy of James Wesson

COM MU N I TY + FAM ILY

sleep: Getting to the “Rest” of Your Life

BY SHEREE CLARK

dequate slumber is essential to happiness, health, and longevity. A lack of sleep—or poor quality rest—is associated with weight gain, metabolic syndrome, cancer and early mortality.

We all have occasional bouts of insomnia, but what if you just can’t seem to get your forty winks and it’s becoming more than an irritation? Here are some remedies—things other than prescription drugs or medications—to help you give life a rest.

Timing is everything. Anyone who is a parent knows how crucial a nighttime routine is so that both child and parent get regular sleep. If you’re not a parent, it’s still important to have a simple evening ritual that signals your body and mind that it’s time to wind down. Maybe it’s 10 minutes of stretching, a warm shower, prayer time, or listening to the same music each evening right before bed.

Too little, too late. No matter how inspired your nighttime ritual is, if you’re fighting yawns or rereading the same paragraph without absorbing it, you’re up past your bedtime.

Close the laptop, power down the TV, turn off the light, and lay your head down on the pillow. Try to go to bed at the same time each night, and get up at the same time each morning. This includes weekends!

Cool down and chill out. Room and body temperatures affect sleep and sleeping comfort. Most people experience better, more restful sleep in a cooler room, particularly one which has fresh air. If you’re exercising right before bed, give yourself time to cool off and recover before slipping into the sheets.

Nix the bedtime snack. For the deepest and most restorative rest, stop eating at least three hours before bed. The body uses a lot of energy during the process of digestion, so this schedule gives you time to burn off calories and digest. Also, reduce your evening intake of caffeine and alcohol. That nightcap before bed may help you drift into dreamland quicker, but it disrupts your sleep cycles.

WE ARE DIAMONDS TAKING SHAPE The “Diamond Body,” or vajra deha in Sanskrit, is a yogic ideal used to describe the end product of intentionally refining your physical body through the practice of yoga as a mean of developing your whole self.

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I invite you to learn more about Adamantine® Yoga, and discover how you can forge a flexible, strong, and beautiful new you through the fires of your daily practice.

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Sheree’s Simple Sleep Solution 1 tablespoon dried chamomile 1 tablespoon dried lavender Combine chamomile and lavender with 1 cup boiling water, then steep for 20 minutes.

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• FALL 2016

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Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who attended the Fall issue launch party.

We are so grateful for our readers, friends, supporters, and for the opportunity to help grow and unite our community.

A HUGE thank you to our sponsors and host: Recycle Me Iowa Samples: FarmHouse, Mo’rub All-Natural Seasoning, Veggie Thumper, Mystic Chocolate and Peace Tree Brewing Co.

Could you please describe the difference that yoga has made in your life? Yoga helped me gain a better understanding and acceptance of every dimension of my body, mind, and spirit. The different limbs and practices have aided in transporting me back to my purity, peace, love, joy, and truth. In turn, it’s brought me closer to my own and everyone’s light, seeing the godly and soulful beauty in every living being. It connected me to the world.

What did you find most challenging about learning yoga, and how did you overcome that challenge? Discipline was my biggest challenge, for when parts of me I didn’t want to face emerged unexpectedly, the urge to run off the mat was intense. My teachers and mentors (in a firm but loving way) coaxed me to stay. The setup of class and being asked to stay until the end was torture at times. I worked through it and to this day, when in a lifechallenging experience, I’m more likely to stick with it and see it through, thus becoming stronger each time.

What was your most memorable experience from teaching or practicing yoga? Teaching: When I was teaching a multi-lingual class, the attendees nearly started fighting! But it turned into hugs and tears following a group exercise and meditation. Through tears they all tried to explain to each other, “You don’t have to speak my language; I feel you. We are ONE.” Practicing: When yoga got in the way of smoking, and I quit.

What makes your style of teaching unique? Coupled up with my slightly British/Maltese accent, I see the potential and light in everyone. I lovingly coax each individual student to recognize just how much further they can go in loving and accepting themselves on that given day. It’s a personal practice and I can intuitively feel and offer what they need. Anyone in my class can feel the space is held for everyone to be as they need to be, and we support and love each other unconditionally. We support every beautiful soul.

What inspires and motivates you? Our actions and behaviours are not us. What we have been labelled culturally or have labelled ourselves is not who we are. This motivates and inspires me to keep bringing people closer to each other and themselves.

Upcoming Highlights: I’m presenting a series of workshops and retreats this fall, I’m collaborating on a book due the end of this year, and speaking of “due,” Baby #2 is expected to arrive February 2017!

Artist: Henna by Maggie

We can’t wait to share our next issue with you!

• FALL 2016

SAVE THE DATE! January 17, 2017

18

Photo by Melissa McWilliams

Community yoga practice led by Emily Hampton, Owner of Ignite Yoga in Ames, IA

COM M U NIT Y + FAM ILY

BY LISA ACHESON

Asana is important, and it’s definitely how most westerners come to find yoga, but our practice should be continuously morphing and growing, teaching us new things, not just new poses. Yoga, after all, has eight limbs, not just one. This issue’s question shifts the focus from your personal asana practice to that of other things in your life that help to inspire your practice and teach you how to delve deeper and grow from an authentic place.

“Please share the things that help you deepen your practice off your mat and grow from an authentic place.”

EMILY HAMPTON IGNITE YOGA AMES

To me the word “yoga” means more than the practice of asana. The eight limbs teach us how to live with more peace. For example, I use pranayama to deal with stress, to focus, to relax, and in my running. The yamas (morality) with ahimsa or “nonviolence” help me approach life and people and also help me with how I talk to myself. When we incorporate more of the Yoga Sutra, we begin to create a more unified and balanced life on and off our mat.

CONNIE REYNOLDS THE YOGA COLLEGE SIOUX CITY

Observing ahimsa changed my health, my relationships, and how I treat the earth as an avid gardener. Ahimsa or, do no harm, benefits everyone. If I need to discuss a difficult issue with my husband, or anyone, I first respect their feelings and opinions. You can imagine all the relationship improvements when we both practice ahimsa. If truly practicing ahimsa, mother earth will get the same respect as we give our own bodies. This is one word out of the entire Yoga Sutras. Imagine what the rest can do!

LYNN MARIE NELSON ILLUMINATE YOGA DES MOINES

Little by little we make a difference with every good word, smile, and kind action. Yoga is a loving activity for self that positively influences our community. To support the well-being of our community and remind students that by giving to yourself you also give to others, I extend a donation for every class registration, am an advisory committee member, and host activities in support of Pinky Swear, a non-profit organization that supports kids with cancer. In addition, I happily extend my yoga practice off the mat by writing.

Please submit your questions for Ask the Teacher to editors@yogaiowa.com.

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