BE COMMITED TO THE PRACTISE FRENCH STYLE
Peter gave us permission to practice french fidelity today! All these rules, but we can break em.... once in a while! :)
Peter Thompson Iyengar Intensive
I am in the middle of my 3rd intensive with Peter Thompson in 5 months. Yes, I think I am truly addicted now. I have installed ropes in the yoga room, have my own blocks.....and it takes me 5mins to set-up in Tadasana. ok, not quite, but I do things a lot more slowly and with thought.
Some of the learnings from this week :
1.There are 3 aspects to the life of a practitioner ; Practise, Teaching & Community. Practise is the foundation. We practise because we love the practice. We teach because we want to practise and need to make a living (and I think we teach because we want to share!). When we teach, we cannot teach in isolation, we need support from a community.
In Community, there are rules and structures; something that many of us (especially me!) have difficulties with. Organisation and freedom is however not the opposite of each other. There has to be one, for the other. Process and method is there to support freedom!
As in our practise, freedom and creativity is only possible if there is understanding of process and method. If not, it is just damaging.
Same as in life. In anarchy, there is no freedom, merely chaos and destruction.
2."I can explain, but you may not have the intelligence to understand." from the teachings of Don Juan.
To have intelligence, we need mental powers of perception; to listen, to see, to have a fixed gaze and a mind that does not flicker. In asana practise, we look, listen and feel in complete awareness to train our mental power. A mind that flickers in asana will flicker all the time; in communications, in relationships..... and then we ask ourselves why we are unable to commit!!
3. The inter-connectedness of all asanas. In previous intensives, we went backwards to go forwards, and now we go forwards to return backwards! (ok, maybe this isn't too clear!)
a. We worked in Adho Mukha Vrksasana to understand point of balance and then applied it to Janu Sirsasana. (AMVSIJS). The "point" in JS is in the front of the foot of the bent leg which is pressing into the floor. Keep intention in the "point" and extend the whole spine down without collapsing the structure. And keep the balance, with as much attention as you would in a hand-stand!
b. Understand Dandasana in Janu Sirsasana (DIJS) ~ widen the sitting bones & find the outer legs
c. Understand vrksasana in Tadasana ~ If we do not have 1 leg to stand on in vrksasana, we will have no legs to stand on in Tadasana!
4. Ride the wave of the asana ~ When there is intelligence in the asana, energy will flow like a wave through the body and all we have to do is ride the wave. No need to think and do!
Urdhva Dhanurasana was my homework after the 1st intensive. It is still far from perfect, but as Peter said, it is not perfection we seek, but intelligence in the process..... And, I am happy that I have made some progress! :)
Intensive 1 ~ Mar 2010 / Intensive 3 ~ Jul 2010
Apparently, I still have "heart issues". Instead of just thumping his chest, Peter now calls it The EPS (Elaine Phenomenon Syndrome) ~ "No action in the front of the spine". I wonder which is worse, issues with just the heart or in the whole of the front of the spine! Well, at least I share the problem with someone else now. Both Elaine 1 and I (Elaine 2) have EPS!
Some of the learnings from this week :
1.There are 3 aspects to the life of a practitioner ; Practise, Teaching & Community. Practise is the foundation. We practise because we love the practice. We teach because we want to practise and need to make a living (and I think we teach because we want to share!). When we teach, we cannot teach in isolation, we need support from a community.
In Community, there are rules and structures; something that many of us (especially me!) have difficulties with. Organisation and freedom is however not the opposite of each other. There has to be one, for the other. Process and method is there to support freedom!
As in our practise, freedom and creativity is only possible if there is understanding of process and method. If not, it is just damaging.
Same as in life. In anarchy, there is no freedom, merely chaos and destruction.
2."I can explain, but you may not have the intelligence to understand." from the teachings of Don Juan.
To have intelligence, we need mental powers of perception; to listen, to see, to have a fixed gaze and a mind that does not flicker. In asana practise, we look, listen and feel in complete awareness to train our mental power. A mind that flickers in asana will flicker all the time; in communications, in relationships..... and then we ask ourselves why we are unable to commit!!
3. The inter-connectedness of all asanas. In previous intensives, we went backwards to go forwards, and now we go forwards to return backwards! (ok, maybe this isn't too clear!)
a. We worked in Adho Mukha Vrksasana to understand point of balance and then applied it to Janu Sirsasana. (AMVSIJS). The "point" in JS is in the front of the foot of the bent leg which is pressing into the floor. Keep intention in the "point" and extend the whole spine down without collapsing the structure. And keep the balance, with as much attention as you would in a hand-stand!
b. Understand Dandasana in Janu Sirsasana (DIJS) ~ widen the sitting bones & find the outer legs
c. Understand vrksasana in Tadasana ~ If we do not have 1 leg to stand on in vrksasana, we will have no legs to stand on in Tadasana!
4. Ride the wave of the asana ~ When there is intelligence in the asana, energy will flow like a wave through the body and all we have to do is ride the wave. No need to think and do!
Urdhva Dhanurasana was my homework after the 1st intensive. It is still far from perfect, but as Peter said, it is not perfection we seek, but intelligence in the process..... And, I am happy that I have made some progress! :)
Intensive 1 ~ Mar 2010 / Intensive 3 ~ Jul 2010
Apparently, I still have "heart issues". Instead of just thumping his chest, Peter now calls it The EPS (Elaine Phenomenon Syndrome) ~ "No action in the front of the spine". I wonder which is worse, issues with just the heart or in the whole of the front of the spine! Well, at least I share the problem with someone else now. Both Elaine 1 and I (Elaine 2) have EPS!
A journey into Zen Buddhism
I spent the month of June in Japan on a whirlwind romance with Zen Buddhism. Unable to decide what to do and where to go, I decided to try it all.
Kumano Kudo Pilgrimage
This 1st week was spent with my boys walking the ancient pilgrimage of the 3 sacred shines. It was quite a challenge trying to meditate with 3 huffing and puffing boys in tow, but even the children learnt the meditation of the walk.... after about 5hrs of walking, everyone was walking in complete silence : No more mindless chatter... just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other!
Hosenji Temple
http://www.zazen.or.jp/zencenter-e.html
We weren't really supposed to be taking pictures but these shots were irresistible! I taught my room-mate Miki yoga during our free time in the garden (just look at how beautiful the garden is!!), and that is Miki doing forest meditation after a 2hr hiking meditation up the mountain behind the temple, before doing sutra chanting on top of the mountain! It was really awesome!
Hosenji Temple is a small Rinzai Zen temple that is supposed to be relatively strict. Days started at 5am and ended at 10pm with many many hours spent in meditation : sitting meditation, cleaning meditation, working meditation, calligraphy meditation, eating meditation, walking meditation..... The meals were so complicated and filled with so many rules and rituals that I could hardly eat the first 2 days!!
It is here that I had my first real encounter with the chanting of sutras and I feel that I may be getting intimate with the Hannya Shingyo; (The heart sutra). The vibrations from this sutra stirred me even before I understood the words and now with each chanting, I see and understand new aspects that astound me!
Shikoku 88 Temple pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is not merely a walk, it is a meditation that uses all the 5 senses so as to awaken the 6th sense (mind consciousness) and the 7th sense (ultimate reality).
It was on this walk on my own from temple 11 to temple 16 with no one else for company other than Saint Koba Dashi that I guess I learnt the most. I chanted my sutras, reflected on koans and chatted with Koba Dashi..... There were many little lessons and one big revalation! I think I finally understand what life is about!!!
I used to think that life was a journey and it didn't matter much which path one took because it was the journey that mattered. Well, No! Life is not just a journey, it is a pilgrimage. We walk through life with all our senses, completely in the NOW, but there is a purpose in the walk; a destination. There is a raison d'etre! Phew!! Socrates said that Knowledge is the most important thing and the most important knowledge is to know thyself. When we know ourselves, we will know what our purpose is (our destiny)! Pretty good stuff right? I guess it is much better than just wandering through life aimlessly..... you can enjoy every moment, but after a while, it is just pointless without that greater meaning!
Oh, and I learnt something about living in the NOW that I am feeling pretty chuffed about too! Everyone kept talking about being present in the NOW and not dwelling in the past or projecting into the future... For me, that always had a sense of recklessness to it that I was not too comfortable with! If we live in the now and never think of the future, isn't that living a life of no consequence and isn't a life without consequence therefore inconsequential and meaningless! You know when Eckart Tolle (the guy who wrote The Power of Now) abandoned his life and was homeless for I don't remember how many years... Well, I never really understood that! The Zen Now, I found out, is not just about a single moment though, it actually encompasses all moments from the past (in this life and previous lives) and encompasses all moments of the future (including that of future generations), because every moment, every encounter, everything that happens, happens for a reason. Everything is interconnected and interdependent. The Zen life is therefore not the life of a libertine, but is a life of past and future karmic responsibility; for society, for community and for family!
Double Phew to that!!! :)
Shikoku Tokushima Sandbath
I did an amazing 4 1/2 hrs in a sandbath; the longest meditation I have ever done! Sitting immobile and silent buried neck-deep in sand was actually relatively easy; the beach was beautiful, there was a gentle breeze and there were clouds and waves to meditate on. After 3 hrs, I had a desperate need to pee though and it made the rest of the meditation pretty difficult. All I could think about was pee and I kept trying to do it, but it was sooooo difficult! I think I managed to do it after about an hour of trying.
Kumano Kudo Pilgrimage
This 1st week was spent with my boys walking the ancient pilgrimage of the 3 sacred shines. It was quite a challenge trying to meditate with 3 huffing and puffing boys in tow, but even the children learnt the meditation of the walk.... after about 5hrs of walking, everyone was walking in complete silence : No more mindless chatter... just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other!
Hosenji Temple
http://www.zazen.or.jp/zencenter-e.html
We weren't really supposed to be taking pictures but these shots were irresistible! I taught my room-mate Miki yoga during our free time in the garden (just look at how beautiful the garden is!!), and that is Miki doing forest meditation after a 2hr hiking meditation up the mountain behind the temple, before doing sutra chanting on top of the mountain! It was really awesome!
Hosenji Temple is a small Rinzai Zen temple that is supposed to be relatively strict. Days started at 5am and ended at 10pm with many many hours spent in meditation : sitting meditation, cleaning meditation, working meditation, calligraphy meditation, eating meditation, walking meditation..... The meals were so complicated and filled with so many rules and rituals that I could hardly eat the first 2 days!!
It is here that I had my first real encounter with the chanting of sutras and I feel that I may be getting intimate with the Hannya Shingyo; (The heart sutra). The vibrations from this sutra stirred me even before I understood the words and now with each chanting, I see and understand new aspects that astound me!
Shikoku 88 Temple pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is not merely a walk, it is a meditation that uses all the 5 senses so as to awaken the 6th sense (mind consciousness) and the 7th sense (ultimate reality).
It was on this walk on my own from temple 11 to temple 16 with no one else for company other than Saint Koba Dashi that I guess I learnt the most. I chanted my sutras, reflected on koans and chatted with Koba Dashi..... There were many little lessons and one big revalation! I think I finally understand what life is about!!!
I used to think that life was a journey and it didn't matter much which path one took because it was the journey that mattered. Well, No! Life is not just a journey, it is a pilgrimage. We walk through life with all our senses, completely in the NOW, but there is a purpose in the walk; a destination. There is a raison d'etre! Phew!! Socrates said that Knowledge is the most important thing and the most important knowledge is to know thyself. When we know ourselves, we will know what our purpose is (our destiny)! Pretty good stuff right? I guess it is much better than just wandering through life aimlessly..... you can enjoy every moment, but after a while, it is just pointless without that greater meaning!
Oh, and I learnt something about living in the NOW that I am feeling pretty chuffed about too! Everyone kept talking about being present in the NOW and not dwelling in the past or projecting into the future... For me, that always had a sense of recklessness to it that I was not too comfortable with! If we live in the now and never think of the future, isn't that living a life of no consequence and isn't a life without consequence therefore inconsequential and meaningless! You know when Eckart Tolle (the guy who wrote The Power of Now) abandoned his life and was homeless for I don't remember how many years... Well, I never really understood that! The Zen Now, I found out, is not just about a single moment though, it actually encompasses all moments from the past (in this life and previous lives) and encompasses all moments of the future (including that of future generations), because every moment, every encounter, everything that happens, happens for a reason. Everything is interconnected and interdependent. The Zen life is therefore not the life of a libertine, but is a life of past and future karmic responsibility; for society, for community and for family!
Double Phew to that!!! :)
Shikoku Tokushima Sandbath
I did an amazing 4 1/2 hrs in a sandbath; the longest meditation I have ever done! Sitting immobile and silent buried neck-deep in sand was actually relatively easy; the beach was beautiful, there was a gentle breeze and there were clouds and waves to meditate on. After 3 hrs, I had a desperate need to pee though and it made the rest of the meditation pretty difficult. All I could think about was pee and I kept trying to do it, but it was sooooo difficult! I think I managed to do it after about an hour of trying.
Acroyoga Jam Session
Acroyoga jam session
11th July Sunday 3.30-5.30pm at
Oasis Holistic Block 10 Selegie Road #01-50 Selegie House Singapore 180010.
Our friends are offering us the space for free but please leave a donation in the Dana Box on your way out.
Love & light,
Elaine
Tel : 90114405
11th July Sunday 3.30-5.30pm at
Oasis Holistic Block 10 Selegie Road #01-50 Selegie House Singapore 180010.
Our friends are offering us the space for free but please leave a donation in the Dana Box on your way out.
Love & light,
Elaine
Tel : 90114405
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