Noticing and the squeaky wheel

Tags

breathing, Christchurch, earthquake, heels, noticing, rajas, sattva, squeaky wheel, Yoga, yoga nidra, yoga teaching

I’m kind of big on asking my yoga students to get into the “noticing” aspect of yoga: move-breathe-move-breathe-move-breathe – sit still – notice the sensations in your body, notice the activity of your mind, breathe into any tightness etc etc; it’s not what you notice so much as it is the act of noticing something, anything; you’re training your mind and body to be sensitive to what you are feeling and experiencing.

And so on.

But I noticed something myself tonight – how easy it is for me to notice the squeaky wheel instead of noticing everything/everyone equally. Huh.

By this I mean that if someone is having a hard time with the practice or their alignment or something else is glaringly in need of support, that’s what I see. It’s not that I don’t see all of my students, but I do notice that I’m paying way more attention to those who need more attention.

Which kind of makes sense in some ways, right? But not really for those students who are going along pretty well and not getting as much attention as others. Natch.

So, experienced yoga teachers out there… have you noticed this in your own teaching? And if so, how do you manage to spread your attention more evenly amongst your students?

Also, tonight I taught with a tweaky back. Went to a wedding on Sunday night and had one of my very-super-extremely-rare-evenings of wearing heels. Heels are pretty to look at – especially this dark plum coloured pair with a peep toe and a bow – but an absolute killer to wear (just ask any woman who’s willing to be honest). So most of the time I don’t wear heels at all, especially after that whole broken toe/bone graft thing (massive OUCHIES).

But for a wedding sure, I’ll get all dressed up and throw on some heels. Dang, I’ll even dance in them! Being a Greek wedding, there was even some belly-dance music playing for a while and I COULD NOT walk away while that was playing!

My back was fine yesterday but when I woke up this morning – WOW – super-tweaky! Spent as much of today as I could doing forward bends and did a mini practice before I taught my class but it’s still a little bent out of shape. A hot shower, some tiger balm (and no, it doesn’t have tiger parts in it!) and a little more stretching… I’m working on it.

The other thing I noticed in tonight’s class was my first super-duper-really-and-truly-UBER rajasic student. Someone who had trouble with the static poses, and couldn’t even lie down quietly on his back for five minutes. He also told me after the class that the music was “too quiet”  for him, and that he used to practice Yoga Nidra six years ago “to Baroque music”. Riiiight… never mind that Yoga Nidra is considered to be “psychic sleep” and is meant to be done in silence. You can NOT meditate properly to Baroque or any other kind of music, not really…

So I’m hoping that the brief chat we had registered, where I suggested that a quieter practice might be a good balance for his endurance walking and high energy music. Don’t know if it got through or not, but here’s hoping.

Because too much rajas leads to instability. Just ask Christchurch in New Zealand! Rajas is the energy of movement, and hey, look… sadly they were hit with another earthquake.

Please hold the New Zealand people in your hearts and prayers. If you can donate, please give to the NZ Red Cross appeal.

And let’s all try to breathe a little more calming sattva into the world, shall we? We all really, really need it right now.

~ Svasti

P.S. Only three more days to go! 😉

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The 3 Gunas

Tags

Brahma, Brahman, duality, gunas, Hindu, non-dual consciousness, philosophy, Prakriti, Purusha, rajas, sattva, Shiva, tamas, Tantric, Trimurti, Vishnu, Yogic

**This is a cut down version of an assignment I submitted for the Yogic Physiology subject in my yoga teacher studies. I’ve posted it here mostly because I also created some digital art to go with it that I wanted to share.

Also, I’m hoping I’ve explained the gunas in a relatively simple way and that you enjoy learning a little more about other aspects of yoga**

My digital art depicting the gunas (click to view larger image)

Within Hindu and Tantric/Yogic philosophy, the way the universe manifests is described with numerous intersecting concepts, explaining how Brahman (non-dual consciousness) becomes duality – bringing the manifest universe into being.

The impulse for Brahman to know itself as ‘other than self’ is considered to be the reason the universe exists, as Brahman is characterised as having the ultimate freedom to do or become anything because it contains all things.

Once this impulse occurs, Brahman separates into Prakriti (unmanifest matter) and Purusha (pure consciousness), the root cause all creative processes.

The term Prakriti comes from the root words ‘Pra’ (before) and ‘Kri’ (to make) – and so can be interpreted as before anything is made.

Prakriti is in turn comprised of the three gunas – sattva, rajas and tamas.

The gunas measure qualities of the world, and combine in various forms as the mind, the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) and the elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space).

And so in this way, Prakriti is the source of the world and everything in it.

The gunas are associated with various qualities and can be used to describe any object. Some of the qualities of each guna are as follows:

• Sattva – positive energy, harmony, balanced, uniting, happiness, light, spirituality, being-ness – the higher or spiritual potential.
• Rajas – energy, action, change, movement, creativity – the intermediate or life potential.
• Tamas – laziness, heaviness, impurity, darkness, sleepy, dullness, inertia, inactivity, materiality – the lower or material potential.

All three gunas co-exist in all objects, people and things in varying amounts.

One guna is usually more prominent than the others, and so certain tendencies (e.g. heavy, light, dark, warm, hot, dry etc) become associated with objects, and this forms a part of how we understand and relate to the perceivable world. The predominant guna can also change over time.

The importance of the gunas for human beings is how they manifest in our: health, food, thoughts, actions, the seasons and weather and so on.

Generally speaking, it’s preferable to work towards a more sattvic lifestyle. Some rajas is required, but minimising tamas should be the goal for good health.

An increase in sattva naturally reduces rajas and tamas. This can be achieved by maintaining sattvic thoughts, diet, lifestyle and home environment etc. The more sattvic your life becomes, the more peace and joy you’ll experience.

If there’s no rajas in your life, you won’t have the necessary desire to keep living, working and doing things. However, too much rajas can bring aggressiveness, cruelty, carelessness. Rajas can be reduced by not eating too much rajasic food, and avoiding excessive or extreme behaviours (working/partying/exercising too much).

Tamas is not ‘bad’ as such, but the amount of tamas in your life does need to be managed, as too much can bring depression, fear, obesity and negativity. Tamas is reduced by avoiding tamasic foods, over-sleeping/eating or being inactive.

Gunas & Food

For good health, its important to pay attention to the food we eat as it impacts both our physical and mental wellbeing.

The gunas of food are not only to do with the food itself, but also its current state – fresh, stale, rotting etc. Also the way food is treated, stored and cooked can also change the state of the food, and thus the gunas.

Sattvic food: cereals; wholemeal bread; fresh fruit & vegetables; pure fruit juices; milk, butter & cheese; legumes, nuts, seeds; raw honey; herb teas.

Rajasic food: all hot substances & stimulants; fried food; coffee & tea; spices; fish; eggs; salt & pepper; chocolate/sweet foods. Eating in a hurry is considered rajasic and bad for your digestion.

Tamasic food: meat; alcohol; tobacco; onions; garlic; fermented foods; stale/overripe food; processed food; leftovers. Overeating is also regarded as tamasic.

Sattvic food is also said to be the most ideal diet for those interested in yoga. If what you eat supports a peaceful state of body and mind, meditation comes more easily and is less disturbed.

Too much rajas can destroy one’s equilibrium, overstimulating the body and making the mind restless, active, energetic, tense and wilful.

An overly tamasic diet destroys the body’s immunity and fills the mind with emotions like anger and greed.

For spiritual evolution the gunas must be purified and sattva must predominant moment to moment in one’s mind and body.

Trimurti

The three gunas can also be related to the Trimurti (meaning ‘having three forms’) which describes the three faces of god, being:

• Brahma (the creator/sattva)
• Vishnu (the preserver/rajas)
• Shiva (the destroyer/tamas)

The symbolism here suggests that all three gods (and by extension, everything in this universe) are really all part of the one supreme consciousness.

Creation of life can not occur in a vacuum – it exists in time and space – so along with creation (sattva), there must also be change (rajas) and dissolution/death (tamas).

**Update** For another slant on the gunas, read Linda Sama’s post: Srivatsa Ramaswami: The Three Gunas**

~Svasti