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Yoga Bits
July 4 - 10, 2011 |
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Classes for the Week of July 4
North Hollywood
Wed 7:30 p.m. Thu 7:30 p.m.
Fourth Sunday of the Month
Pasadena
Sunday, July 24
10 a.m. Community Class
Armory Center for the Arts
Details below!
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Free Your Mind
The Rest Will Follow
Rather than abandoning the person who pushes your buttons, abandon the buttons they are pushing. -- Guru Singh
Oh, I like that. I really do. Talk about freedom. Where do I sign up?
Fortunately for me, I just came from such a place. I'm back from the high desert near Santa Fe, New Mexico, after participating in a 10-day yoga and meditation festival called the Summer Solstice Sadhana Celebration. For about two weeks each summer I take a break from the daily grind and head up to sacred native land in a mountain campsite established by Yogi Bhajan, the master who brought Kundalini yoga to the West in 1969. I immerse myself in activities such as yoga, meditation and camping, things I wouldn't have dreamed of attempting (much less enjoying) in my 20s. It's an extraordinary experience for all 2,000 people involved -- so much so that one of the last classes of the festival is all about how to cope with re-entering the "Fake World" after leaving the mountain.
 | | Yogis on a break between 62-minute meditations for White Tantric Yoga |
One of the most powerful, challenging components of this celebration is a three-day meditation event called White Tantric Yoga (this is not the same as the semi-famous Red Tantric yoga practiced by Sting). Hundreds of people dressed entirely in white assemble in pairs and perform this practice together, which clears the subconscious mind, allowing prosperity, success, and happiness to flow freely. Sounds great -- and it is.
So what's the catch?
One day of White Tantric yoga typically lasts about 8 hours (sometimes more, sometimes less) with a series of meditations of various lengths. My first experience a few years ago included a string of 11-minute meditations throughout the day, which was a cake walk relative to this most recent event. In the course of three days in June, we completed 15 meditations lasting 62 minutes each -- that's almost 1,000 minutes total. Some of those meditations included holding and/or moving the arms overhead the entire time. At times it was exhilarating, but often it was irritating, even excruciating. I often thought I would have to stop -- and sometimes did, dropping my arms, fidgeting, breaking my concentration. I was far from perfect in my execution, but I stuck with it and I'm very glad I did because the result is freedom from...I don't even know what. After all, that is how the subconscious operates. It's power is murky and mysterious and what is stored there is not known to us. We seem only to "see" it when it's wreaking havoc in our relationships or interfering with our goals (such as someone "pushing your buttons").
My meditation cultivates joy and expansion to overcome those blocks, but I am not exempt from experiences of anger, overreaction, despair and fear. Feeling is part of being alive. I'm not actually trying to meditate my way "out" of the fact that I'm a human being -- as if that were possible anyway. But if I can do something that will clear out those cobwebs, something that could reduce the impact of the reaction and commotion of my subconscious, frankly, that's worth my time.
If you don't have an extra 1,000 minutes (or a closet full of white yoga clothes), fear not.
You don't have to meditate for 62 minutes to experience relief and release. You don't have to chant a mantra (although that can be helpful). A single breath drawn with a pure intention can be as meaningful as a lengthy seated meditation. There is not one right way or right practice to follow. "Doing yoga" does not only mean going to a class and folding yourself into a pretzel. Yoga encompasses so much more than asanas (postures), which means there are as many paths to liberation as there are people seeking it.
What matters is that you find your path and take a step on it toward genuine independence. Despite what you may have been told, you are not here to be miserable, unhappy or trapped in the regret of the past or fantasy of the future. You are not here to please others or to abuse them. You are here to be who you are. Who is that? Yogi Bhajan always said, "You be you." No one else can do it so get started!
It will be worth your time.
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ANNOUNCING
Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena
10 a.m. Community Class
All Levels
$15 suggested fee*
Armory Center for the Arts
Community Room
145 N. Raymond Ave.
Pasadena CA 91103
Parking & Directions
*Why "suggest" a fee? Aren't you sure the class is worth $15?
Well, in my humble opinion, it's certainly worth it. However, not everyone who wants or needs yoga is in a position to pay the full class fee. In those cases, a "suggested" fee or donation leaves room for students to pay what they can afford, if the standard $15 is not possible.
Please bring your own mat and yoga blanket. None are provided.
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