NOW EVERY FRIDAY IN BURBANK:
Kundalini Yoga, 10 to 11:30 a.m.
EVERY SUNDAY IN NOHO*:
Kundalini Yoga, 10 to 11:30 a.m.
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Yoga Bits
Morsels of yogic wisdom and information
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Apr. 2 - 8, 2012
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BEGINNING APRIL 6
KUNDALINI YOGA
Fridays at the Burbank YMCA
10 to 11:30 a.m.
BEGINNING APRIL 15
KUNDALINI YOGA
Sundays in NoHo*
10 to 11:30 a.m.
Once a month this class is held at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena. All other Sunday classes are held in North Hollywood.
For complete information on class days, times and locations, please visit
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YOGA BITS EXTRA!
Read all about it!
I stuck my yoga foot into my yoga mouth. Find out how on the Yoga Bits blog:
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I Want, Therefore I Am
My one wish is to have more wishes
"There is no such thing as 'no desire' because to be desireless is also a desire."
-- Yogi Bhajan
There was a time when I had only one wish: that I would die.
Friends, family, mental health professionals and yogis protected me from harm and gave me tools that made it possible for me to bear the unbearable circumstances that had made me so wretched. As I emerged from the deepest part of my darkness, my yearning for death subsided.
That hardly solved the problem of how to go on with my devastated life. For years it was impossible to imagine any future at all, much less one I could want. I wasn't dead, but I wasn't exactly alive either.
 Nothing inside me was inspired beyond mere existence. Ironically, without the desire to die, I had no desire at all. Suffice to say, it has taken a tremendous amount of effort and commitment to evolve beyond that point. Today I envision a fulfilling and happy life, which means lately I find myself wanting all kinds of things.
Now it's a question of management. Navigating desire is turning out to be bewildering and frustrating. I feel persistent anxiety, and my discomfort seems rooted in the perception that I'm not getting what I want, or not getting enough of it, or that I'm not enough.
I guess the good news is: I'm not alone in my struggle. Yoga -- along with many other traditions and philosophies -- concerns itself a great deal with desire: its nature, its right use, its power. Some non-yogic philosophies, such as hedonism, believe devotion to pleasure is the highest form of good. On the other hand, traditions like puritanism oppose indulgence and enjoyment in all forms. The varied schools of yoga exhibit an equally diverse range of approaches.
No matter where a system of belief falls along the spectrum, all of them are attempting to address the same issue: how to reconcile human desire with spiritual consciousness.
It's a challenge, to be sure. I realize things won't go my way all the time. I can live with that and, mercifully, I have learned not to take this personally. But if I'm completely honest (and, hey, why not), all this wanting is cause for a good deal of commotion.
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After all, wanting something and not getting it is disappointing. Pretending to want nothing is inauthentic. And then there's the waiting. Even if I end up with what I want, the suspense of it all is pretty uncomfortable. Arrrrrgh! It's enough to make a person seek to abolish desire altogether.
But if, as Yogi Bhajan says, it's natural to have desire (and impossible to be rid of it), then perhaps trying to purge the want is not a battle worth waging. I wouldn't really choose to give mine up anyway. Whatever anxiety and conflict they bring, my yearning is proof that I no longer dwell in a shadowy gray area. I'm here to stay and so is my desire. I'm hoping to make peace with it, which is possible (although not easy) through yoga. Mantra meditation especially helps me clear my subconscious impulses so that they are not controlling my life. My practice gives me hope that what I long for can be aligned with what the universe wants for me.
That would be a wish come true.
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Why Reserve Online?
Because the online reservation system...
...is free and easy to use ...generates an email reminder before every reserved class
...gives you control over your own class scheduling ...allows you to make and cancel reservations anytime ...adds your name to a waiting list if class is full and notifies you if someone cancels
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The techniques and suggestions presented in Yoga Bits are not intended as medical claims or to substitute for proper medical advice. Consult your physician before beginning any new exercise program. If you are elderly or have any chronic or recurring conditions such as high blood pressure, neck or back pain, arthritis, heart disease, and so on, seek your physician's advice before practicing.
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