April PUSHTI 2024

Power of Touch

SahanA vAvatu Saha Nau Bhunaktu Saha Viryam KaravAvahai
Tejasvi Nav-Adhitam-Astu MA VidvishAvahai
Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shantih.
Accept us both together. Protect us both together. May our knowledge and strength increase. May we not resent one another.

1996 I walked into Jivamukti Yoga School for the first time, 2nd Ave, East Village, NYC on Saturday at 2pm for David Life’s class. Hungover and ears ringing from my band’s gig the night before, I took off my armor of 501s, engineer boots and leather MC jacket and put on a pair of checkered Umbro short shorts from 1986 and entered - late, to a sold out class with my fire engine red hair and set down in the center row of a dark room with harmonium and a collective Ommmmm swirling in the ether. WTF. Later, I was assisted in bound extended side angle (Utthita Parsva Konasana), whereas my wrists were grabbed and pulled together one arm behind my back and the other underneath my front thigh so I could bind my hands together. I had no clue I was able to do such a thing. Long story short, it was a shock, unexpected. It was a declaration - it was a revelation. His move felt courageous, gutsy, and strangely knowing and compassionate. Laying on my back in final relaxation (shavasana), I received a neck and skull massage and a voice arouse in my awareness, ‘you will do this someday’ and I cried.

Over time came the insight that my life (and many others) was largely impoverished of a healthy intentioned touch - a basic human need, and receiving it was revolutionary. Having been trained by Jivamukti co-founders Sharon Gannon & David Life and later teaching at the NYC schools and leading the teacher trainings, I have come know the potency of touch and a skilled yoga assist is one of the foremost incredible and powerful experiences for student and teacher. Besides daily meditation, it is unparalleled to bringing a great loving kindness and acceptance of one’s self. Love is the teacher.

Touch heals. That’s a fact. A non-verbal language of deep communication. To develop the necessary trust, as teachers, we invoke the above Vedic teacher/student prayer, (a Shantih Mantra), so that we align with the highest intention of serving another’s deepest desire for truth, freedom, and happiness - so that the best, most ethical environment is created before we place our hands on a student to assist an asana. As students, we can allow a receptivity to take part in this symbiotic dance. Without elevating our intention, ego gets involved making way for confusion and ulterior motives.

A culture of peace is not possible without touch. A peacefully intended touch dissolves our armor and cultivates trust. Allowing touch in yoga class may invite controversy in our time. But staying away altogether because of the potential issues and triggers is never a solution. Besides, you can always opt out with a gentle saying so. Yoga is still for you. Ultimately, we have an opportunity to elevate one another.
In Yoga we dwell, Om Shantih,
Jeffrey

March PUSHTI 2024

Blue Zone Yoga

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.
-Tao Te Ching Ch 76

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the light surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young.
-Forever Young, Bob Dylan

According to wikipedia, “Blue Zones are regions in the world where people are claimed to live longer than average”. It’s not just longevity, but more importantly, longevity with its roots in quality of living. Some of these regions are recognized in areas of Japan, Italy, Costa Rica, & Greece. And perhaps, Satsang Yoga Charleston.

Decide how you want to age
The soft overcomes the hard;
the gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true,
but few can put it into practice. - Tao Te Ching, Ch. 78

A typical ‘All Levels’ class at the Shala (what we call the ‘studio’, Sanskrit for house) can have an average age as high as 65, with an average age span between 25 and 80. We have people practicing asana that include arm balances, forearm stands, backbends and headstands - in a rigorous paced flow - with an increased strength and flexibility that is not only far beyond people their own age, but well beyond most people who are decades younger. Not uncommon is a class that can include three generations of a single family. If there is a metric that could measure the value of yoga, one would be hard pressed to find one as powerful as that. We have students practicing daily since we first offered classes in 2005, that strike awe and inspiration in newcomers. We are a community that is literally rewriting the rules on how to age in our modern society. Our baseline is increased mobility, happiness, & quality of life, with a decrease in weight, medication, and physical and psychological trauma. Simply, our normal is what the Sages and Masters have been teaching us about for centuries through source texts such as Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita, Tao Te Ching, and Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

Are these people different from you? Never, in our experience, but they may differ in one distinct way. That’s the good news because that is the easiest thing to change. They have continuity. No matter what condition, if you keep returning, a shift is inevitable - and it is always better than imagined.

Simplicity
Yoga is a simple practice for complicated people. All one need do to receive these benefits is show up. Every class we remind each other to breathe, be aware, be still, be present - more being, less doing. Soften around your difficulty. If there are tears, let there be tears. If there is sickness, let there be sickness. Love is the teacher. And we are held unconditionally. Knowledge is so overrated, but let’s be reverent and practice intelligently. Make your self available to the mystery. Listen to the music. Let yourself fall apart. Don’t miss the miracle. And repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. This is referred to as mastery.

I learned from Ram Dass
that in Eastern wisdom traditions to be called “old” is one of the highest compliments one can receive. It is because not only do you have experience, but you have wisdom - which is of the greatest value for a society to evolve. With glee, I often refer to our wise, elder practitioners as “old”. Some have even come to expect it, and have embraced it as the compliment for which it was intended. We joke, we laugh, we play - and we don’t take it personally. I guess it is that kind of paradigm shift that occurs in blue zones.
In Yoga we dwell, Om Shantih,
Jeffrey

February PUSHTI 2024

My Heart Goin’ BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

YS1.23 īśhwara praņidhānād vā
By giving your life and identity to the heart, you attain the identity of the heart, which is the highest.

I have taken the liberty to offer a more poetic translation for this sutra from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra (Book One, Sutra 23), whereas Ishwara is usually referred to as God (or original teacher), and we know the truth of ourselves as That from being the result of holding Ishwara as the recipient of our unwavering attention and affection. In other words, Ishwara lives in the spiritual heart. It’s an inside job. If we were to simplify yoga practice into one singular practice, it would be, listen to your heart.

Sadhana (spiritual practice) is to remember to listen to the heart.
A Satsang (uncommon company) is where people are doing it.
A Sadhaka is the love warrior (spiritual aspirant) who walks the path.
Suffering reminds us we are disconnected to it.

After you Start Again, (ad infinitum January’s Pushti) - the path becomes one with heart. That makes my heart beat, as I write this.

Excerpt from A Path with Heart, Jack Kornfield,
“It is possible to speak with our heart directly. Most ancient cultures know this. We can actually converse with our heart as if it was a good friend. In modern life we have become so busy with our daily affairs and thoughts that we have forgotten this essential art of taking time to converse with our heart. When we ask it about our current path, we must look at the values we have chosen to live by. Where do we put our time, our strength, our creativity, our love? We must look at our life without sentimentality, exaggeration, or idealism. Does what we are choosing reflect what we most deeply value?”

Heart, what should I do here? What am I missing? Can you help me? Where is your rhythm? Can you help me find it?

“Wind was blowing time stood still. Eagle flew out of the night.
He was something to observe. Came in close, I heard a voice.
Standing, stretching every nerve. Had to listen, had no choice.
I did not believe the information. Just had to trust imagination.
My heart going boom, boom, boom,
"Son", he said, "grab your things, I've come to take you home” -from Solsbury Hill, Peter Gabriel

Vishnu Granthi is the energetic wall between our ego center, (manipura chakra) - where the predominating reality is disconnection & attachment to and preservation of our individual self - and our heart center (anahata chakra) - where we merge with compassion, “the quivering of a pure heart” (Jack Kornfield). Sadhana is the tearing down of this wall and subsequent joy.

Just a few heart practices this month to listen to our heart, increase our compassion:
Uddiyana Bandha - “flying up” lock to pierce the wall between ego and heart.
Loving Kindness - a plant-based diet that reflects a deep desire for happiness & freedom for all beings.
Forgiveness - a fearless inventory of our blame & resentment, and willingness to let it go.
Back Bending - creating warrior strength and flexibility, literally opening our hearts through spinal extension.

January PUSHTI 2024

START AGAIN.

Yoga Sutra 1.1 atha yogAnushAsanam
Yoga is now. Now is Yoga. Allow into Now. That is the only instruction.

“The birds they sang at the break of day.
Start again, I heard them say.
Don't dwell on what has passed away.
Or what is yet to be…
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”
-Leonard Cohen

The waves of our life will forever crest and fall.

We will suffer and we learn. And we will never stop the waves.

And we don’t want to, because we love an adventure.

And we love a good drama.
And we can be heroes.

Beneath the surface is THAT which is unmoved. Allowing means we are always and forever beginning where we are. The allowing starts Now - in the present moment. In presence, we see things are never as bad as they seem. We do not fear the drama. We gamble, and go into the danger - the crack. We have the realization that we are ever-evolving to know ourselves as the Truth - that deep unmoving, still place within:
the Self (atman)
the Source (ishwara)
the Free (moksha)
the Creative (prakriti)
the Genuine Joy (ananda)
the Reality - (brahman)

These names are just pointers. Pick one that suits your fancy, or make up your own. It’s beyond words. Words don’t teach. But you feel it. Practice (sadhana) is when your feelings guide you, and always Start Again.
Now. where you are.
It’s in the Breath.
It’s in the Vision.
It’s at the Root.
It’s the Vibration.
It’s the Rhythm.
It’s the sadhana.
It’s the gathering.

By definition, this is Satsang, the uncommon company that reminds us and offers refuge to Start Again.
So, go ahead Dear Soul, get as lost as you want or can,
knowing you can always come back to the satsang and Start Again.