Welcome to Yogawaves- the Open Sky Yoga newsletter! It is a bi-monthly publication that allows you to download our newest class schedule, to inform you of what is going on within the Open Sky community, and to provide you with information and inspiration for your yoga practice. If you experience any difficulty viewing this newsletter, please view it here.
"If you close the door to all mistakes, the truth will stay outside."
- Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
CLASS
SCHEDULE:
Our new session of classes will begin March 8!! Click here
to download this schedule and registration form. We have added a prenatal
class on Wednesday evenings at 5:15 pm with Hilary
Callan. Click here
to download a flyer for this class. And as always, feel free to join anytime
at a prorated fee.
UPCOMING EVENTS/SEMINARS:
Free Introduction to Gentle Yoga for Back Care with Francois Raoult: February 27th from 5:30-7:00 pm at 5 Arnold Park (in Carriage house behind Zen Center) All are welcome! Download the flyer
Free Introduction to Yoga with Francois Raoult: March 4th from 7:45-9:15 pm at 5 Arnold Park (in Carriage house behind Zen Center) All are welcome! Download the flyer
Learning the Ropes with Francois Raoult: March 26th from 5:00-7:30 pm $45.00 at 5 Arnold Park
Opening the Sinuses with Francois Raoult: April 22 from 6:00-8:00 am $40.00 5 Arnold Park (in Carriage house behind Zen Center)
Overtone Chanting with Patrick Torre: Internationally recognized musician and yoga teacher from Paris who has studied the yoga of sound as well as mantras from Hindu, Sufi and Tibetan traditions and Mongolian sound vibration, October 8-10
Workshop with Senior European Iyengar teacher Martine Le Chenic: one of the most influential yoga teachers in Europe, November 19-21
* To register for these events call 585-244-0782 or email yogawave@rochester.rr.com
WORDS FROM FRANCOIS:
Open Sky Yoga started the year with good spirit. To start the new year, I went on a small pilgrimage on the trail of Saint Jacques of Compostelle, a mythical route that originated in the Middle Ages. The experience was sunny, ethereal and grounding in the same time. Then I came back to Rochester. And to my surprise, despite the blizzard-like conditions and Siberian weather, students of all walks of life came to class—even those driving from Canada or Syracuse. I am very impressed with this level of commitment to the practice. To see the dedication and devotion of students to the art, science and philosophy of yoga warms the heart of the teacher!
Teacher training
The 2004 teacher training also got off to a good start. It’s an intense and rewarding experience to guide future teachers, to make them aware of the tremendous responsibility it is to teach yoga. This work touches all layers of human beings. And teaching is such a multifaceted role, part physical instructor, part psychotherapist, part priest or nun, part fitness trainer, part entertainer—and truly not really any one of the above!
Seminar update
Seminars out
of town are an essential part of my mission. I am currently planning 2005-06,
teaching in the Bay Area, Boston, New York, London and the South of France.
My weeklong retreats in France are still open for registration. Last year,
we had five people from the Rochester area. Consider joining us for a transformative
experience and for the pleasure of being in the South of France! I will also
offer a residential retreat in the summer (a long weekend in mid-August) for
local students at the country estate of the Zen Center near Batavia. It is
a little secret paradise with a waterfall, a great pond for swimming and a
great yoga/meditation hall for practice.
Joan White visited Rochester in February. She is one of the most senior Iyengar
teachers in the country; it is an honor and a privilege to receive her teachings.
She meets beautifully the challenge of keeping yoga tradition alive and adaptable
without rigidity.
On a personal note, I arranged a day of private instruction with a legendary
teacher, Dona Holeman, a free spirit deeply influenced by B.K.S. Iyengar and
by Sri Aurobindo in Italy. That will happen early April in Lago de Garda,
where she lives and teaches. Read her book Quantum Yoga if you have a chance!
Thank
you
Many of you have sent friends from inner and outer circles to experience yoga
at Open Sky, either at the small introduction workshops or to weekly classes.
I appreciate your support, especially at a time when yoga is becoming so popular
and tending to lose its essence. We have to stay vigilant and connected to
the source.
Looking ahead
Several creative
projects are in gestation: a series of lectures; guest teachers from Europe;
maybe a classical Indian musician. Keep your eyes and your mind open for more
information.
I will see you in class. Keep your personal practice alive. If you need to,
schedule a private session to design a personal practice. There is almost
no bottom line for practice!
Namaste,
Francois Raoult
MUSIC CD REVIEW:
Ghazal in the
Urdu language refers to a form of lyrical poem. It is also the name of a small
group of musicians from India and Persia, improvising together. It has the
feel of an Indian raga, but with a different architecture. A raga develops
very gradually toward a climax, where in the ghazal music we see endless variations
on a verse, more like a song or a poem.
The classical music of Ghazal has the color of the early pre-Islamic shamanism
of Central Asia: Hypnotic and wide-open loops bring you from the steppes and
deserts of Central Asia all the way to the Tibetan kingdoms of Ladakh and
Zanskar. You hear endless chiseled variations on a theme. If you were walking
on the Silk Road, this would be the music accompanying your journey. (Also,
there is a great set from the BBC at the Rochester library called the Silk
Road; the music is from Kitaro, not quite the same but fascinating as well!
There is also the musical journey of Yoyo Ma’s Silk Road, collecting
various recording on his own pilgrimage. Listening to these recordings will
ease the blues of a long cold winter and warm your heart!)
As in early Middle Age music in Europe, in folk music and then in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, the song has a form of alternating verses and refrain. Various instruments imitate one another or have a meaningful conversation. For example, if you like Baroque music, listen to all the variation written by various classical composers on the theme La folia (Corelli, Marin Marais, Geminiani, etc.). Musicians speak with their instruments, by asking questions and adding sophisticated, brilliant ornamentation at times or at other times remaining close to silence with a minimal, almost naked theme. These are love songs, devotional songs with deep lyrical overtones. The intensity and sweetness of love is omnipresent. Air, water and food are great but love is always first. When you do that inquiry within of finding what is essential to you, if you have only ten years to live, then one year, one month, one day, a few minutes, etc. (there are plenty of books and seminars on this topic), at the very end love will be the final answer. And if you were asked the question in that popular TV show, “Is love your final answer?”—the universal answer will be a resounding yes! No need to survey the audience or call a friend! So listen to these love songs with an open heart, a deeply relaxed body and a pacified mind, in savasana or sitting with the spine on a vertical axis. Become one with the sound. Let the rich harmonics of the sitar or the vina percolate through your skin, the vibration of the tabla penetrate your bones. And let the bowed string instrument make you dive toward the center, into the cave of your heart. The human voice, also a string instrument, resonates through space. You may feel connected on the vertical axis or feel the prana, the life force, awakened and irrigating, flooding your whole being. Prana is moved in yoga by asanas and pranayamas but is also moved by emotional release when you are deeply touched or moved by a powerful sound, a compassionate action or person and by the sweetness of love. So again prepare yourself for a long journey of deep listening. Let go. Let be. Be transformed and nourished by these beautiful songs.
Two different CDs are available, imported directly from Teheran. Buying them helps the small record company stay alive, not an easy thing in Iran. The CDS are available at the Open Sky Yoga store.
ARTICLE OF THE MONTH:
© Francois Raoult 2004
How should I sit for sitting meditation?
The spirit of sitting: guidelines and reflections on the yogic posture of meditation and pranayama (breathing practice).
We are the only
species on earth to have so many options for standing, sitting and eating,
etc. Maybe it is a poisoned gift, since we also have the possibility for the
intellect or the mental layers of ourselves to interfere with, if not overrule,
primal instinct, reflexes and animal nature. Sometimes it is a good thing
to be civilized; sometimes it is oppressive. That is why we have to be educated
or reeducated, a noble task. We also have to reclaim our instincts, our sense
of the natural buried under layers of belief systems (education, religion
and politics).
Originally, yoga was about focusing, being conscious or just being. Being
in touch with the source of life. Sitting was probably the first and only
asana (yogic posture) present in the early history of yoga. The first trace
of this is in a seal representing a deity or a person in a seated position
similar to Baddhakonasana, found in Mohenjo-Daro, in the brilliant cradle
of the Indus Valley civilization. The joined inscription unfortunately is
still not decrypted, so everybody is still speculating. But what we can say
is that sitting meditation, or a ritual practice involving sitting on the
vertical axis, was present back then, and that all other asanas came much
later in history. So when a magazine or an advertisement tells you that yoga
is a 5,000-year-old proven method for health or weight loss or whatever, that
is really stretching it! Losing calories or matching the color of your yoga
mat to your tights were not much of a concern!
Now on the practical side, we pass a lot of our lives sitting at desks, driving,
flying, playing music, writing, emailing, eating, etc. Our lives are lived
mostly in unconscious patterns of flexion—forward bending in the sagittal
plane—and then when we die, we shift to the ultimate deep relaxation,
savasana.
So first let’s say that there is a lot of casual, informal sitting in
daily life. If I am hanging out with friends, listening to Bob Dylan or Keith
Jarrett, I don’t care so much about form or alignment. It is casual
sitting. I cannot police myself all day long. That would be compulsive—and
even mindfulness can be compulsive! I am hoping that my formal practice in
yoga will allow my body to have healthier patterns on its own. Being relaxed
and receptive is most important.
But as soon as mindful breathing is involved—when you are doing formal
meditation practice in any tradition, or when you need internal focus to dwell
in the present moment—then the vertical axis and the alignment of the
spine are essential. Energy (prana, chi, life force) can flow more harmoniously
and breath can reclaim its full territory. Freedom of the diaphragm and the
pelvis are crucial in yoga, since those are places where physical and emotional
tensions are stored (along with the hamstrings, the hip flexors the trapezius,
scalenes, jaws, etc.). Everything, the story of your life, is printed in the
body.
Sitting on the floor is challenging for non-squatting cultures. And because
our level of awareness is sometimes low we don’t realize the negative
side effects of sitting patterns until full-blown sciatica pain is shooting
down the leg or a disc becomes paper-thin or trapezius muscles become like
steel! Some of us are also too idealistic and think that living at the floor
level is going to be healthy and so much better than chairs for our backs,
where even in India they like to sit on something and in Zen monasteries they
use a Zafu. So let’s look at some guidelines for sitting effortlessly
and with maximum structural integrity.
I believe that you can re-pattern the whole body, erase or erode old dysfunctional
habits, by being supported and by mindfully adjusting various components of
the body in relationship to gravity. Sitting is a balancing act, like any
pose on earth. So you have to balance weights and counterweights of the body.
It’s a bit like a mobile or even more like a stabile of Alexander Calder,
one of the greatest sculptors of all times.
This article will become too technical if I begin to describe all the variations
and options for sitting, such as sukhasana, ardha padmasana, padmasana and
virasana. However, here are some guidelines for sitting in a simple crossed-legged
posture or in the beginning stage of half-lotus:
1. Make sure your knees are lower than your hip joints. Sit on the front of the sitting bones but not excessively (center front of the ischial tuberosities). Don’t sit too close to the front edge of the seat, or you will have too much weight bearing on your knees.
2. Maintain a healthy lordosis. Lordosis (concave lower back) is not a problem, but a lack or an excess of it is. And that is quite subjective according to your belief system or even culture. Ballet, aerobics, tai chi, African dance and various yoga schools all have different takes about “tucking” the tailbone or not, contracting the abdominal wall or not, mulabandha or not, etc. In my experience, releasing the belly is good, as is accepting a forward tilt of the pelvis to create or maintain our humanness through the lumbar curve.
3. Let the upper body, chest and shoulders act as a natural counterweight to the pelvis and the belly. If you were against a wall, your shoulder blades would touch the wall. That will prevent hunching the upper back. It will open the heart center and release the solar plexus. In more marketable terms, it will prevent aging—or as some wellness gurus say, “promote youthfulness.”
4. Center your head at the top of your spine. This will happen spontaneously (you can consider the skull a giant vertebrae with a mutation) unless the spine has been distorted by a genetic pattern such as a deep kyphosis or hunchback.
5. The
vertical axis is present and the spine will ascend like a sunflower searching
for the light. Alignment is not compulsive (though it can be if you
are a fundamentalist). Alignment saves energy. By adjusting the structure,
the inner architecture of the pose, you allow the whole body to release and
find a harmonious balance between agonist and antagonist muscles. That creates
a healthy relationship.
There is no such thing as a straight back or a straight spine. The spine is
more like a river or life or a snake, more like the sacred Ganga than the
Erie Canal. By letting go of unnecessary tensions, you allow yourself to be
moved by the breath, and be vulnerable like leaves and branches of a tree
are moved by the wind.
Again as you sit, observe, feel, touch. Keep the back and front muscles soft.
Don’t become a statue. Touch the paraspinal muscles in the lower back;
they should not be hard but have the texture of a perfectly ripe avocado.
Abdominal muscles are released because they have to allow the diaphragm to
move with the in-breath. Abdominal muscles are overrated as stabilizers of
the lower back; deep layers like iliopsoas and piriformis and intrinseques
muscles of the spine are the true supporters. Abdominal muscles can fluctuate
with the breath. What we call abdominal breath is actually more diaphragmatic
breath in a relaxed, meditative state. And finally, abdominal muscles should
be available for laughing!
Make sure that spinal processes of the lumbar vertebrae are in, creating a
nice little groove. That ensures a healthy lordosis. Bones are in, muscles
are out.
Release facial muscles and sensory organs. Pacify the brain, then descend
into the cave of the heart. Settle down, literally, further into the diaphragm,
into the belly, into the bowl of the pelvis at the bottom of the well. Feel
the breath expand and release. Identify with the diaphragm. You are the diaphragm;
it is not a foreign object! It is like sailing on the internal sea.
Everything has a sitting quality in sitting meditation. It is like a holotropic
pattern or fractals. Sitting is everywhere. The brain sits inside the head,
the lungs and the heart rest on the thoracic diaphragm. The abdominal organs
sit on the pelvic floor and the legs on the earth. (The only troubling thing
is that the earth itself is suspended in space!) It is normal to feel lightness,
effortlessness, suspension, levitation, spaciousness at times, and other times
groundedness, being rooted, anchored in mother earth. Sometimes I experience
both simultaneously. Experiment with those sensations after 10 or 15 minutes
of sitting, when the mind begins to settle into silence .
Because of illusions or distortions of perception, it is helpful to get feedback
from a teacher or a friend. I have seen people with very rounded backs or
flat lumbar spines thinking they were too arched. It is always relative. For
example, lying down on your back in savasana can feel like a backbend for
a person with a collapsed spine, because relatively speaking lying down will
unfold and open the front of the body and extend the spine more than sitting
or standing.
Of course, the way you stand affects the way you sit and vice versa. And they
both affect the way you breathe, and to a certain extent your emotional state.
It is too simplistic and naive to think you can change your mind state only
by changing your posture, but it definitely has an impact. An open chest with
a radiant solar plexus and a wide diaphragm is a plus to face the challenges
and intensity of life. Similarly any form of trauma will tend to increase
density of muscles tissues, freeze the connective tissues, disturb the nervous
system and increase flexion of the spine.
So readjusting the sitting body—fine tuning the release and comfort
level of the pose—make the pose less physical. Feeling the energy of
the subtle body can be the focus of the meditation itself—being in the
moment, observing, witnessing. The seated asana (asana comes from the same
root as seat) can be seen as a mandala to enter. It becomes an archetype,
a symbol of a centered human being deeply connected to the spirit of the breath.
I would like to end this article with two quotes, one from a visionary Rolfer, also a meditator, and one from my teacher, one of the greatest yogis of the century, who has explored so deeply the subtle aspect of breath and posture that separation between hatha yoga and raja yoga no longer exists.
“The posture of meditation itself may appear as a kind of somatic koan. Alignment and relaxation would initially seem to be contradictory impulses. We can easily imagine a soldier standing at attention, erect and straight. We can also easily imagine someone lying on the beach, completely relaxed. The synthesizing of these two impulses into one compatible gesture, however, is much more difficult to visualize, and yet this what the posture of meditation challenges us to accomplish. The effect of combining alignment with relaxation goes far beyond a mere functional improvement of the body. Just as with the traditional koan, a wonderfully wholesome dimension of experience that is ordinary elusive and difficult to access may spontaneously present it self. The koan may be simply stated: In a sitting or standing position surrender the entire weight of the body to gravity, and yet remain as tall as you possibly can be.
Will Johnson, “The Posture of Meditation”
The spine in man can be compared to an Indian lute or vina. The gourd is the head from which sound is produced. The nose is the bridge which controls the sound vibrations caused by inhalation and exhalation. The resonance depends upon the tautness of the strings. If they are too loose no sound is produced; if they are too tight there is no vibration and they may even snap. String tension is adjusted to produce the required resonance, intensity and pitch. In the same way, the nadis and nerves in the spinal column have to be positioned so that the breath can move with rhythm and harmony.
B.K.S. Iyengar, “Light on Pranayama”
MY EXPERIENCE -Giving a voice to Open Sky students:
by David Goldfarb
When done well, hand stand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana) is an exceptionally beautiful pose that is difficult for me because of what I refer to as “tight shoulders”. I can raise both arms above my head, sort of, and a casual observer probably would not notice a problem. But the effort is achieved through a Rube-Goldberg-type compensation apparatus that involves thrusting ribs, lower back bending, and the recruitment of numerous innocent-bystander muscles. In this regard, Francois has always advised diligence and patience. Once he shook me up a bit by suggesting I let it go (I believe his term was “surrender”) and learn to deal gracefully with physical limitations. So I spend time at home with shoulder-openers and mild chest-opening backbends. Hero pose (Supta Virasana) is beneficial. And there has been movement. I can sleep with my arms resting comfortably bent above my head. That was not an option two years ago.
I once confronted the dance impresario Garth Fagan in a florist shop and asked him to take a look. Standing near the cut flowers I encouraged him, “You must have seen all kinds of bodies.” It says a lot about the man that he undertook an examination in earnest. After feeling around a bit he opined that it was “constitutional”. To a degree he is probably correct---no acrobats in my family--- but I wasn’t ready to give up. In hindsight I probably shouldn’t have asked Mr. Fagan for a snap judgment out in the town.
Up until July’s France retreat, my personal protocol for hand stand always began with a search for a wall with a wide perimeter, far from prying eyes. Once at a Judith Lassater workshop a helpful gentleman leaned over and whispered to me that an empty closet was a good place to do hand stand. I tried it and it was swell. I could walk my feet up and down the opposite wall. But empty closets are not portable props. I returned to the wall. After squaring myself and stopping to adjust my clothing, I meticulously arrange my fingers on the floor. I steel myself. I stall. Then, like a sprinter jumping out of the blocks, I make a series of bucking bronco kicks in the direction of the wall. I throw myself at the wall like a soldier on a grenade.
What I really needed was a dose of yoga psychology. Francois’ Yoga Workshop in the south of France provided the venue. During the opening circle Francois proposed an awareness exercise. We might, he implored, focus our attention during the practice on the early and subtle arising of emotions, feelings, and sensations. Note their properties and effects. These temporary mind states can encourage or hinder progress, or remain neutral. An uplifting feeling can be productively employed. Lethargy, if nipped in the bud, can be replaced with vibrancy.
Then on the fourth day, my having completely forgotten about the awareness exercise, Francois announced, “Okay, hand stand!” I robotically initiated standard protocol. Before long I was soaked in perspiration (bucking takes lots of energy and it was hot). Francois came over to observe the train wreck and, almost before arriving, offered the time-honored and oft-ignored suggestion that I should exhale when initiating an action. Part of my routine was to tense up and hold my breath, as if I were preparing for punch in the belly. There was fear! Francois asked me to try and exhale right through the emotion. Take a leap of faith. I began a conscious exhalation and leapt. Somehow Francois had evoked a steady exhalation from me, and I found the means to mount a hand stand. I remained upside down for several glorious seconds. It was the first time in my life. I felt like one of those apes that discovered tools in 2001 Space Odyssey. I shared a happy moment with Burt, who had assisted in the breakthrough. Francois had moved on.
Most everyone understands that temporary mind states have powerful effects on our lives. Although I should have known better, I had not appreciated just how beguiling the subconscious can be in its efforts to avoid unpleasantness. I had convinced myself, and many around me, that my trouble with hand stand was due to a specific physical limitation. I now know that tightness makes hand stand challenging, but not impossible. Would I have ever come to this realization without my teacher? One thing is certain. Today I am free of that hindrance.
We are currently accepting short essays on practice and transformative power of yoga at Open Sky from all students to be published in the newsletter section "My Experience". Email submissions to yogawave@rochester.rr.com
STORY OF THE MONTH:
"Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart - Parables of the Spiritual Path from Around the World" edited by Jack Kornfield
A brother asked Abba Matoes: What shall I do? My tongue causes me trouble and whenever I am among people, I cannot control it and I condemn them in all their good deeds and contradict them. What, therefore, shall I do? The old man answered him: If you cannot control yourself, go away from people and live alone. For this is a weakness- Those who live together with others ought not to be square, but round, in order to turn toward all. Further, the old man said: I live alone not because of my virtue, but rather because of my weakness. You see, those who live among people are the strong ones.
- From the early Christian Mystics, the Desert fathers
POEM OF THE MONTH:
Buddha in Glory
Center
of all centers, core of cores,
almond self-enclosed and growing sweet -
all this universe, to the furthest stars
and beyond them, is your flesh, your fruit.
Now you feel how nothing clings to you;
your vast shell reaches into endless space,
and there the rich, thick fluids rise and flow.
Illuminated in your infinite peace,
a billion stars go spinning through the night,
blazing high above your head.
But in you is the presence that
will be, when all the stars are dead.
- Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
OPEN SKY NEWS:
* Visit the Open Sky Yoga store at 5 Arnold Park featuring paintings by nationally recognized artist Gretchen Summer, hand made ayurvedic products from Blue Crescent, props and cds that are great for relaxation. We also sell essential books for practice.
* We now have bookmarks with a free class coupon for you to give to friends and co-workers, to leave at your favorite coffee shop, or to give to your chiropractor. The coupons are for new students only.
CONTACT US:
Open Sky Yoga
19 Birch Crescent
Rochester, NY 14607
585-244-0782
http://www.openskyyoga.com
erinos@rochester.rr.com
yogawave@rochester.rr.com
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