by embodytrue | Jan 3, 2011 | Emptiness, Meditation, Yoga
Here is a little insight i had about finding the right amount of effort in your yoga or meditation practice. To be a little more clear its really all about releasing any conceptual basis for what effort is all together and finding that place in the middle.
Now when it comes to yoga and meditation you often come up against a paradox that does not appear logically possible. Although if you let go of what you think you may know and allow your self to just experience you will understand the meaning of the paradox. A frequent teaching is; “find the place in the middle”, “not too tight, not too loose”, “effortless effort”, “Stay active but remain relaxed”, “go to your edge but no farther.” It comes in many different sayings but what do they mean ?
Lets consider the concept of effort. Since everything is relative and a concept only really makes sense in relationship to something, (Yin and Yang , Positive and Negative) the concept of effort has no meaning unless there is something to compare it to. Thus we have effort and non effort, in order to intellectualize this concept we must separate it into opposites. The amount of effort or non effort you may be experiencing is a subjective amount. No one else but you really knows how much you may be or may not be exercising effort. We draw arbitrary lines for ourselves for what we consider too much effort , not enough effort or just enough effort. The idea is not to create the concept for some arbitrary point of “just enough effort” but it is too let go of any concept of effort what so ever, with out grasping and with out aversion.
Imagine a number line -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5. Lets say this is our effort scale. The positive numbers are effort and the negative numbers are non effort. At any point you may be able to rate your self on this arbitrary scale, telling your self how much effort or non effort you are exerting. When you continue to hold on to this dualistic concept, on one side effort on the other side non effort, you are in a constant battle either grasping on to where you think you should be or avoiding where you think you should not be. How do you find the place in the middle ? What is in the middle ? That’s right “Zero”. What does zero mean here ? It is nothing at all or does it have some kind of quality. In math zero is not simply nothingness it has attributes and its own nature. In meditation or yoga zero pertains to the concept of emptiness, a concept not having an intrinsic value with out a relative nature(Non-dual realization).
So in order to find “Zero”, the place in the middle, effortless effort, you must let go of dualistic concepts such as effort or non effort. Experience your current state fully allowing your self to be as you are without intentionally holding back or pushing. It is this thought, that we need to be at a place other than where we already are, that places us on the relative scale. When you can dissolve the concept of effort all together with out falling into the positive or negative range you will experience the solution to this paradox.
by embodytrue | Jun 28, 2010 | Live Music, Meditation, Yoga
This Practice has been inspired by my own yoga and meditation practice as well as many live music experiences over the years. For those of you who have your own yoga practice and love to experience live music there is a great opportunity to extend your practice to your concert experience as well as take something back to yoga. As my own practice grows over time there is no other band that allows me to go deeper than Phish. I recently attended the Phish weekend festivities at SPAC on 6/19 and 6/20 for two amazing shows where i both lost my self to the jam and found my self within it.
What is it about Phish that draws so many fans and also is a great opportunity for deepening your meditation practice ? 1) Tension and Release – the ability to build the energy of a song, slowly release that energy just to come right back and go even higher. It is a full body experience, the band, the intensity, the sound, the crowd, smiling faces, dancing! It is a constant flow of your own energy as it rises and falls with each song throughout the entire show. 2) Extended Jam – The ability for the entire band to improvise together taking any song as a base, turning it into something unexpected and then somehow bringing you back. Jams lasting anywhere from 1 min to 20 min , a complete journey with many ups and downs. (Many other band also utilize these qualities and they are in no way limited to Phish alone)
If your at a Phish show or enjoying any live music experience, here is a practice of live music meditation:
You have two options for posture and i would encourage that you alternate between them spontaneously.
- Mountain Pose – Stand with your feet hip distance apart. Feel your feet root into the ground. Thighs reach back as tailbone scoops engaging Mula Bundha. Reaching out of your hips as your spine grows tall. Side body long, inner body bright. Shoulders reach back and apart then relax.
- Mindful Dancing – This is a dynamic pose that will be unique for every person. How ever you feel moved and what ever the music is asking of your body, Dance ! Begin to flow with the music. Follow its energy and rhythm, when the music is slow and soft move slow and soft, when the music is fast and raging move fast and raging. Allow there to be no judgment or comments on your movement, allow your self to dance as if no one were watching and you could care less even if they were. Be aware of every movement your body makes, staying present with your body not lost in your mind.
Normally while experiencing live music you would send your energy outward; screaming , clapping , throwing your hands in the air, singing, dancing (in a subtly different way than used in this practice), taking in the energy from the music and releasing it into the crowd. You also may come in and out of moments with mindfulness; one moment enjoying the full experience of the music, one moment internally judging if you are having a good time or not, one moment recalling an event from the past or daydreaming about the future. These moments happen very fast jumping from one thing to the next melding together creating your entire perceived experience.
In this practice you will take this energy and send it inward stabilizing it with mindfulness.
Begin in Mountain Pose. Bring your awareness to your physical body feeling a sense of relaxation comfort and ease. Let you body and breath settle in its natural state. Now bring your awareness to the sound of the music, let your eyes close and be completely engulfed in the sound. Open your eyes adapt to your surroundings , there may be hundreds of other people around you, stay calm and focused. Allow the external sound to merge with your physical body becoming aware of the music and the sensations that the music produces in your body. Naturally feel the music build on your inhale and fall on your exhale. Allow your breath to ride on the rhythm of the song. This experience will be the object of your meditation, the combination of the external sound and the internal physical sensations. Apply mindfulness to this object, as your mind begins to wander and comment or judge your experience notice that this is happening and bring your attention back. Allowing your thoughts to be in the background without grasping or aversion deepen your concentration on sound and sensation. As the energy begins to rise and fall notice what this does to your body with out actively “doing” anything. In the music let there just be the music. Where you normally would send your energy outward with a yell or motion notice this urge and contain the energy inward as you subtly begin to build inside. While the band is jamming follow the jam note by note staying mindful of every sound and every sensation that sound produces in your body. As the tension builds around you feel the stillness within as your energy also rises. When you reach a point where you spontaneously need to move break out of stillness into mindful dance.
As you finally begin to release some of your energy make sure that you stay mindful of your actions. Notice how easy it is to allow your body to dance but allow your mind to be bouncing from thought to thought. Once you are comfortable dancing and have your “home moves” which require no effort from your body to remember how to do, it is easy to be lost in thought. Notice when you are no longer mindful of your movement and bring your attention back to your physical body. Be aware of the position of your hands and feet in space. Break out of your pre-programmed “home moves” and allow your body to have a unique movement with every note that is played. Pick a instrument that is improvising in the jam, Guitar, Bass, Piano, Drums, etc …. Focus your attention on that one instrument and allow your body to follow its every movement. Begin to improvise the dance its self as if you were just another instrument adding to the jam. Let the intensity of your movements flow with the intensity of the song. When you feel your energy reaching a low mindfully transition back to mountain pose recharging for the next jam. When the song is over as every one is clapping and screaming stand strong in mountain pose and soak in the experience and energy of the crowd.
Experiment with the flow from mountain to dance and back. Notice what it is like to fully experience the music with out losing focus, no judgment no comments. Bare sound and sensation facilitated by the band and the crowd. This is not so different from a yoga practice. Allowing your body to move and flow staying mindful of your actions and the quality of your thoughts. As with the dance practice, it is very easy to learn a yoga pose so well your body requires very little effort to maintain it. This is where your mind can begin to wander even though you are fully in the pose. When this happens become mindful, bring your attention back to the physical sensations of your body. Be aware of the position of your hands and feet in space. Send you energy inward, go deeper, one pointed awareness.
To learn more please join me at Liberate Music and Yoga Festival Aug 20 & 21 Live Music Meditation at Liberate
Feel the groove flow inwards and outwards and truly be free,
Danny
by embodytrue | Jun 14, 2010 | Self/NoSelf
I have recently found out that currently Celiac is present for my body. Relieved to understand some of the strange things that have been happening the last few months i am excited to give my body what it needs to keep me healthy. When it comes down to it, all this really means is that i can no longer eat Gluten. A little tough, as is any dietary restriction, although completely manageable and easier to do as more and more things are now labeled “Gluten Free.” As the first few days passed i found myself reading labels, asking questions at restaurants and sorting out for my self what is now allowed and not allowed in my diet. A great opportunity to say goodbye and release attachments to certain foods that have been a large part of my diet. You never know the power that food has over you until you can no longer eat it.
Reflecting on my “Self” i began to realize that from this moment on my “Self” would no longer be the same. One moment I was someone who could eat Gluten and the next moment i was not. Adding on yet another attribute to the story that makes the self. Along with all of the other things i already had going for me, Male, 25 years old, Engineer, Enjoys live music, etc … Another label has been added to the list “Gluten Free.” So what here has really changed ? How do these small events and conditions change who we are ? In this case there has been a shift in my biology and a new thought and belief about that shift. Does this somehow change who I am ? Or does it just change the current causes and conditions that manifest my impermanent sense of Self.
What is the “Self” anyway and does it even exist ? Many spiritual traditions have made claims that the “Self” is in fact illusory and that realizing “No Self” can bring us closer to understand who we really are. When the self is investigated through the practice of meditation a common insight is that the self is empty of inherent existence. It is not something solid and unchanging that you can expect to be the same forever. One of the causes of suffering in our lives is the clinging to this delusional concept, that the self is permanent and real unto itself. When you concentrate your awareness on the various components that may be your self; thoughts, images, feelings and sensations you recognize that none of these things can be who you are because it is the “who you are that is aware of them in the first place.” As your awareness deepens to include subtler and subtler aspects of your experience your sense of self begins to dissolve as you become aware of more things that are not you. Noticing even a thought not as “my thought” but just “a thought”, something that is present in the field of awareness. Eventually as you become aware of everything you realize that you are nothing. All that is left is that which is aware, the substrate consciousness, the who you are that is continuous throughout this lifetime.
Coming back to a more mainstream scientific view of reality does not offer any better evidence for a intrinsic “Self.” If you ask any Neuroscientist to show you where the self is in the brain, there is nothing for them to point to. There is not a specific region or function in our brains that accounts for our sense of self. In fact many areas of our brain responsible for various functions work together to create different aspects of what we call our “Self.” You can remove anyone of these functions and the sense of self still exists, although it might be impaired by normal standards. It is believed that the self is an emergent property of these differentiated regions of the brain linked together through neural integration. So rather than the self being a real thing it is better described as a ever changing and evolving process of integrating the different parts of your life (and brain) into a coherent whole. Recognizing this allows you to see the “Self” for what it truly is. Yes the self does exist and it is a major component of your moment to moment experience but it is not who you are. It is yet another process available for you to be aware of at any given time. Just as you can be aware of a thought as “a thought” and not “my thought” you can be aware of the self as “a self” not “my self.” By letting go of the grasping to the parts of the self that we like and the aversion to the parts of the self that we dislike, we can rest in the simplicity of being aware of the self with out judgment. This allows us to use the self in order to act instead of being used by the self to react.
As I understand and accept the conditions that are now present for me, I am aware of this shift in my sense of self. Although my story may have changed, the awareness inside of me is still the same. No matter the causes and conditions that influence your impermanent process of self, know them for what they truly are. Just another experience present to what you truly are, pure awareness, witnessing the flow of mental events moment by moment.
by embodytrue | Jun 10, 2010 | Meditation, Savasana
Here is an exercise that i thought of, that may be useful to do during savasana along with some theory as to why it may be useful.
Each of these steps should build upon each other, they involve bringing your awareness to something and then adding the next piece while continuing each step prior. If at any point you loose your focus on any of the parts. Start over from the beginning and build it up again. Do not be discouraged if your attention drops, quickly just start over with no additional thought of how good you are doing.
1) Start by bringing awareness to your breath and feel the rise and fall of your belly and chest.
2) Next Center your visual focus on your third eye or the spot right in between your eye brows. Make sure internally you are not drifting to one side or the other. Stay steady in the center and begin to notice any patterns of light and color that may arise. If there are patterns intersecting with each other see if you can center this intersection at the third eye point where you are focusing your attention.
3) Next bring your awareness to your heart beat. Follow it for a few breaths and feel its rhythm. Try to sync up your breath with your heart beat. Inhaling for certain number of beats and then exhaling for the same number of beats. Depending on your rhythm of breath and the speed at which your heart is beating the number of beats per inhale and exhale will vary from person to person and time to time. Just listen to your body let it tell you how many beats its is comfortable with and then just follow instead of trying to fix your self to a set number. Make sure the inhales and exhales begin exactly on the rising edge of your heart beat. As you inhale for how ever many heart beats feels right try to keep the amount of air you are taking in the same for each beat. Over time adjust this amount so that you hit the maximum point of air you can take in right before its time to start exhaling. Do the same thing when letting the air go during exhale, letting the same amount of air out of your body per heart beat, reaching a completely empty chest when its time to start inhaling again. Again, time everything so that every action is in sync with both the breath and heart beat.
4) Next you have two options, either begin to count each heart beat or chant the sound of OHM for each heart beat ( do this in your mind not out loud). If you choose to count , instead of progressing in numbers 1 , 2 ,3 ,4….. count each beat as 1, 1 ,1 ,1 …. This will keep you focused in the present moment by realizing that each beat is happening now and therefore should be designated as the first beat of now.
5) Next begin to listen so sounds around you that may fall within the same rhythm as your breath and heart beat. Find sounds that begin on your inhale and end on you exhale. Or sounds that occur every time your heart beats.
6) If you have manged to bring full awareness to every one of these items, with out giving any one more attention than the other. Then you can begin to bring awareness to other sensations that fall with in this same rhythm. Or just see how long you can maintain with out getting out of sync.
The theory around this exercise stems from harmonic energy balancing. As postulated by quantum physics and elements of string theory elementary particles (the stuff that every thing is made out of) can be represented as a wave of energy vibrating with a certain frequency and phase. On a larger scale our bodies also produce forms of energy that vibrate with a certain frequency and phase. When multiple forms of energy interact with one another they have the option to be synchronized (in phase) or unsynchronized (out of phase). When they are in phase the energy adds to from a greater overall energy. When they are out of phase some of the energy is canceled out producing lesser overall energy. If we can synchronize various forms of energy in our bodies ( Prana-Breath, Mental Consciousness, Heart beat-Blood flow) the result will be harmony in the interactions and an overall greater life force. You are not only synchronizing the energy flowing through your body, but also allowing both sides of the brain to work together equally producing brain wave frequency’s that are also in sync with the energy of your body. As you move through each step, you bring your concentration to what you are trying to do, then as if you were writing a computer program to focus on a specific aspect of your awareness you train your brain to lock in on an action. Once the program is written, you can then run the program, while you begin to write the next one. Running each program on top of each other to bring awareness to each piece. As you lie there, just feel the power and life energy that flows through your body and how it builds as the various components become synchronized creating harmony in your body and mind.
by embodytrue | Jun 10, 2010 | Yoga
As much as you practice, as much as you study, as much as you learn from your teachers and life, try as hard as you might you never really find Yoga.
It is not out there to be found, it is not a concept to one day grasp, it is not an experience to one day have.
It is right now, in each moment, what ever is, exactly as it is.
All of the information out there, is just a hint on what Yoga may or may not be like for you.
Every one of us are unique expressions of the same whole.
Although at its source Yoga is the same we each have our own unique perception and experience of what it is to us.
So stop looking for Yoga you cant find it. It will never meet some kind of theoretical, conceptual expectation you may put on it.
Let Yoga find you, be completely open to this experience right now. That’s all there is …
by embodytrue | Jun 10, 2010 | Emptiness
After Listening to a retreat by Allan Wallace on Lucid Dreaming and Dream Yoga which you can find here in 13 parts (http://www.upaya.org/dharma/) I feel as if i have a glimpse of what the middle way is saying about the nature of reality. Although i have thought of it and even talked about it in the past, i don’t think i really understood it until now. Even now I’m sure i have much to learn and experience. So ill share a brief description, feel free to listen to the entire retreat if you have some time to kill, A lot of great stuff in there!
So taking a strictly materialist scientific point of view one might come to the conclusion that all that really “exists” is physical matter. Things have independent proprieties and are there if we are looking at them or not. Why not believe this ? It seems to fit with our experience of reality. If i look at something and turn around its still there when i look again. There is mutual agreement between many people on the proprieties of an object or the description of an experience. So there must be something fundamental about “reality” that has nothing to do with me and i just come in contact with it.
Not so fast! From the stand point of a radical empiricist what do we really experience, what do we really perceive ? Is it the object its self or is it our mental relationships to the object. Do we perceive water ? or are we aware of the sense perceptions that our interaction with the water creates. If reality is made up of matter independent of our perceptions, who has even seen this matter ? Atoms, Molecules are theory’s, concepts based on our scientific framework and modes of inquiry. All we know of them is what we can write down or say in relation to our sense perceptions, information that we can extract from them. So what are we left with ? That physical reality is empty of inherent existence and all there really is , is mind and our perceptions.
Not so fast ! How do we account for the changing of the seasons, the growing of a plant, the decay of organic matter. That happens on its own with out our mind needing to perceive it. If all there is, is mind who has ever seen this mind ? When you practice meditation you look deeply into the nature of mind it self. When you can attend to it with awareness and concentration you can ask, where is this mind independent of concepts and independent of what it is perceiving. Is the mind something solid that you can hold on to. When you apply the same consideration to mind as you do the physical world you come to the same conclusion. Mind is also empty of inherent existence independent of causes and conditions. So what are we left with, no matter, no mind ? Is reality nothing at all ?
This is where the wisdom of the middle way comes in. Let us not ask questions that are unknowable in principal. We will never be able to know of matter and mind independent of our own conceptual framework of them, because that is all that is available to our experience. What emptiness is telling us, is that things are dependently originated. Meaning matter and mind both exists and doesn’t exist. That they arise together, interconnected, and can not be thought of as something independent of our interpretation of them. Our very perception makes mind and matter what it is and at the same time what it is creates our perception. The two can not be separated.
Chew on that for a little while see how you feel.
Sat Chit Ananda!
