Resolution: Yoga

You’ve purchased champagne, glitter and sparklers and you’re ready to party; that means there is only one thing left to do: come up with your New Year’s Resolutions! Don't groan!!

It's New Year's and everyone hopes to make changes for the better for 2015. Whether your plans are to exercise more and get in better shape, or to change a personal aspect of your life, you can find hope in knowing that many others have made similar plans before you.  With the end of one year and the beginning of new one, we often find ourselves at a precipice….one that involves change, endings and beginnings, new resolutions, and a new hope for things to come.

Many of us create the ever popular 'Resolution'. I will admit that I gave up Resolutions long ago, but still meet each new year with a new sense of purpose.  I have a theme or saying and a motivational song that help keep me on task and on rhythm to what I want to accomplish.

Many years ago I learned that the yearning for change happens each time I step upon my mat and that each mini lesson or cheap yet profound therapy session my yoga has offered me translates directly into my everyday life.  Yoga has become my resolution; my each and every day resolution.  Why? There is this amazing path of yoga that consists of eight limbs. In Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, the eightfold path is called ashtanga, which literally means “eight limbs” (ashta=eight, anga=limb). These eight steps basically act as guidelines on how to live a meaningful and purposeful life. They serve as a map of sorts, but in yoga as in life, the journey is more important than the destination!

The first 4 limbs are the limbs of tapas (spirituality in action).  Included here are the first 2 limbs known as the yamas and niyamas which are known as the 5 moral restraints and 5 observances of yoga.  (So think 10 Commandments!!!) The yamas and niyamas bring us into right relationship with ourselves, others, and God. The next 2 limbs of tapas are asana(postures) and pranyama (yogic breathing).   The asanas (postures) refine our bodies, deepen our awareness of the senses, and enhance our powers of concentration.  Pranayama (yogic breathing) develops our control over the flow of our breath and therefore our life energy.  These first 4 limbs combine to form our path of action as we deepen our practice and become actions taken (or not taken) with our bodies. These 4 practices refresh the body, refine the mind, bring peace to our heart, and allow us to meet our life’s pressures with equanimity.

Limbs 5 and 6 are called svadhyaya (self-study) and they are pratyahara (turning inward, withdrawal of the senses, turning our senses inward) and dharana (concentration). In the stillness of pratyahara, dharana can be developed. Together these two limbs make the deepest form of connectedness possible.

The last two limbs are what are considered the limbs of isvara (the final frontier).  These two limbs are known as dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (union with God).

When I first learned of this 8-limbed path I though, "All right! A linear path! Most excellent!"  I am a strategic thinker so I thought Step One was mastering the Yamas.  I laugh now at that thought!! This thought also reminds me of an Eagle’s song lyric from Life in the Fast Lane: WE DO EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME.   What is cool about this yogic path is we unknowing begin to do all 8 limbs without realization. As we practice our postures (asanas) with our breathing (pranayama) we are refining our relationship with our bodies.  To be present, to practice in the moment, we must have a mind that has left go of the habit of distraction and developed the habit of concentration (dharana).  All limbs function in support of the other ones.

Each time we come to our mat, we have the opportunity to work the entire path, moment by moment. Rolf Gates once told me after I took one of his classes, “Just remember, as we move through postures, our bodies, our breath, our minds, and our choices are being refined in the laboratory of our yoga mat.” How cool is that??!!! As our yoga practice becomes more and more established on our mats, meaning we show up to our mats more often, it becomes established in our lives as well.  Driving to work, mailing a letter, checking out at the grocery store, having coffee with a  friend, saying hello to a stranger on the street as you pass by--basically ANY INTERACTION and every given moment become part of our yoga practice  Our life ultimately becomes an uninterrupted flow of our yoga practice.  We are doing our yoga all the time!  All the limbs, all the time!

Let Yoga be your resolution, be your change, be the transformative tool you come to every day.  Get on your mat and evolve in a way that is perfect for you! It’s your own journey so enjoy the ride!
 

Onward!