“Fascia are both the source of chronic pain and
1st quote from the Fascia documentary, 2nd is my take on what Yoga actually is.
healing for the body, the difference is made by how you treat them”
Yoga: more than a philosophy, sport, therapy, religion or scientific inquiry,
not psychology, nor merely art; it cannot be contained by the narrow
confines of any word or number bound system, for
it is the path to transcending all limits, and
unifying oneself with divinity, by
consciously eliminating the
boundaries separating
the two and becoming
One being again.
Sooner or later,
it becomes the
pathless path
of intuition
itself.
This week at our training, each day had a theme,
structuring things this way helped us remember more easily.
The students & Teachers all got to know one another better, it was quite an intense week all-in-all.
There is & was so much information to absorb, embody & employ in the classes we will soon be teaching ourselves, as well as long homework assignments to work on and understand properly.
I went over my limits a bit with training at the gym, running with a friend in the forest on the weekend, and practicing Asanas at home (challenging postures), but, as they say, if you never go over your limits, you don’t know what they are
I hit a more natural & relaxed groove with breathing the right way… I have transitioned from doing the Wim Hof breathing Method daily, which is effective, but quite artificial and necessarily avoided in dangerous places like traffic (i spend a fair bit of time on my bike, so i can’t use it there)/ near water/ in the shower… So I am now testing different breathing patterns, like Ujjay (Champion’s Breath), and Breath of Fire during daily life, as well as alternate nostril breathing, although that one is only possible in calm moments, due to needing a hand to close the nostrils with… My main focus is on awareness and absorption of life force energy itself (prana), as well as becoming aware of my blind spots (& having the emotional maturity to admit & work on them).
I am persisting with my mission of learning deep truths and becoming wiser, although it feels slow, (judging by my actual habits and results in life) it is definitely rewarding to progress gradually, challenging on many levels at the same time. I asked for this when I was a child; “please god, make me intelligent”. It seems I have been brought back to a path which gives me a greater chance to become so.
Sometimes this process is quite uncomfortable, but as Gandhi said “Even if you are a minority of 1 in the world, the truth is the truth“! (although it is critical to self investigate to really be certain one actually believes this is the “truth”, and not to be needlessly contrarian).
The main work of literature I am studying (outside of the required reading, which is about anatomy & a fusion of Taoism, Buddhism and Yoga Practice) is the Yogasutra by Patanjali, the “bible” of Yoga, it is a very compressed book, which could easily be 10 times as long as it is, only 196 verses, it describes the path of awakening and Enlightenment in detail, and systematically lists all the necessary components that must be in place & counterbalanced, such as truthfulness, non-violence, earnest practice, self knowledge, breathing techniques, yoga poses, withdrawing one’s senses and so on. Reading it both in German and English, one version with commentary the other without, is proving fruitful, because there are significant differences in interpretation.
Here are two good graphics which summarize the 8 core concepts, although more internal (mental & emotional) work is needed to fully grasp the depth and range and then apply them in life.
This “Flower of Yoga”, encourages me to make my own graphics (due to the yellow one being hard to read) and indeed to make my own life an ever more developed work of art.
It starts simply and becomes intensely subtle and mystical towards the end of the book, to the point that it probably defies belief of most western, especially atheist/ purely scientifically oriented individuals, but, in the immortal words of Henry Ford, “I’ve never met anyone wise enough who could tell me what definitely is and isn’t possible”.
The mere fact that this over 2200 year old book (hailing from an over 5000 year old culture) describes such deep and intense processes and that many humans devote themselves to progressing along this path, is a meaningful sign.
My ability to focus has increased, my patience like wise, and my irritability has gone down considerably as well. The main thing I am learning from this book for now, is the continuing lesson about the 8 fold path, the value of structure; when we have structure in our lives, it creates space, this space can then be filled with all kinds of great things, but it is necessary to maintain the discipline which creates this space, so change and new things can happen. We flew over the 8 petals of yoga flower in the first week’s summary, but I’m focusing on really absorbing its wisdom and applying it to my own life. I keep seeing an 8 fold lotus in my mind’s eye, unfolding, and all of the different parts of the path needing to be lived & respected, simultaneously. A bit like this octagon/ Octagram, having to be complete at each layer, in order for the next layer to emerge… i created years ago, for some reason I feel naturally attracted to this geometry of 8. Perhaps someone will tell me it’s due to a past life 😉
It reminds me of the lotus, a symbol for life that rises up, which needs to rise up precisely IN >>>difficulties<<<; a swamp, adversity, cold weather, and so on, to grow into such a resilient form of life; a blossoming flower, a butterfly, a human. Bruce Lee once said “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a tough one”. That is one of the many gifts Yoga blesses one with; inner strength to endure unexpected circumstances… They say that if a butterfly is artificially freed from its cocoon, it doesn’t develop the strength it needs to fly during its life time, so even though there is a risk of it dying, it must free itself with its own power.
“The ability to stay [or become once more] pure in the dirt of the world”.
This purity emerges from inner strength, as opposed to the much quoted saying “power corrupts”.
The practical themes this week were:
Fascia: somewhat unknown and undervalued parts of the body; considered mere muscle coverings, now Recognized as far more; they connect throughout the whole body, have their own pain sensors, are effected by emotions can move autonomously of the central nervous system and play a big role in movement, strength and flexibility as a whole. Here is a link to the documentary we watched, perhaps you will find something similar in English or understand German: https://www.yotube.com/watch?v=_46O0dZdnjw
These were the other themes for this week:
Forward Bend Day: We spent an entire day focused on all the Yoga poses which utilize Forward bends, discussing the benefits and risks of these poses and how to execute them in the best possible way, i noticed my flexibility go up (over these 2 weeks, but also especially after this day) and learned a few valuable tips on which joints to adjust and bend differently.
Feet & Stability Day: We spent another day working on understanding Feet in depth, the joints themselves and how to use one’s own feet for maximum stability in one legged poses as well as really twist into the ground. Every day we do at least 2 hours of total physical practice, but this day was especially physical, which helped me to remember things.
History & Origins of Yoga: This was one of my favourite days, our teacher (Maria) explained the ancient and somewhat mysterious origins of Yoga to the class, we watched part of the film about the life of Paramahansa Yogananda & “Awake” ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdnrP1fMn7I )
and learned about the different time periods of Indian history. What made the day so interesting to me was that we discussed secular vs. religious vs. spiritual systems of Yoga as well as mythology. We briefly went over figures such as Krishna, Shiva, Brahman and The battle of Kurukshetra (The Bhagavad Gita describes this battle and prepares Arjuna for it), i offered the fact that there’s still radioactivity measurable at this site, apparently during the battle over 5 Millenia ago, they used “Chakra Weapons” which are subtle energy and “non physical”, equivalent to or greater than modern day atomic bombs… another fascinating thing along those lines are the tales of flying ships “Vimanas”. We think we are “modern” in the west, yet perhaps time is cyclical and can be accessed through the present. That’s what i believe anyway.
Body awareness day… Yin Yoga, a slower and more passive/ relaxed form, this was a welcome change of pace, and much of the day was focused on meditation, mindfulness, theory and practice of Asanas executed in the Moon/ Yin style (without activating much muscular tension; relaxing into poses).
(more examples of Fascia; they all connect, and the largest one runs up and down the spine; one of the reasons foot and hand reflexology work is because of the existence of Fascia).
I wish I’d learned more of this in school, and that others also learned these practical and deeply meaningful skills, especially in order to prevent injuries and have more energy to live with.
I love the concept that Yogananda came up with “School for the art of living”, teaching one essential skills instead of mere theoretical knowledge to be forgotten to disuse. If i had a vote to cast on global education, i would definitely vote for developing more in this direction!
I’m remembering how much time I’ve already spent studying Yoga at various classes, through sheer force of will, books and films, and the first teacher training course I did 8 years ago, which lasted 60 hours. The above drawing is one i made a few years ago of the so called Sri Yantra, the great mandala which one can meditate on with open eyes; Mantra Yantras and Tantra are, as far as I know, variations of the same thing in the dimensions of Sound, Visual Art, and Intellectual wisdom; vehicles (methods) to spiritual Liberation
