Yoga Center of Los Gatos ~ Inspirations

The Moral Virtues Inherent in Yoga	Discover the benefits of yoga to the body and the mind.
Are You Breathing?	The many deep benefits of proper breathing...
Transformational Spaces	A transformational space is an environment made up of webs of special kinds of relationships, safety, freedom and challenge; a training environment.
Self Actualized Beings	See the journey as the reward...
Zen	A personal journey to enlightenment...
A Psalm of Life	Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal...
"If" a poem by Rudyard Kipling	If you can keep your head when all about you, Are losing theirs and blaming it on you...
Yoga has lasted thousands of years because it works	Hatha Yoga involves moving the body into different and novel positions…
Willing	Willing to experience aloneness, I discover connection everywhere;
The Way Of Transformation	The one who, being really on the Way, falls upon hard times in the world…
Yoga cultivates cardiovascular health	Yoga cultivates cardiovascular health, and musculoskeletal strength and flexibility…

The Moral Virtues Inherent in Yoga

The practice of Yoga induces a primary sense of measure and proportion. Reduced to our own body, our first instrument, we learn to play it, drawing from it maximum resonance and harmony. With unflagging patience we refine and animate every cell as we return daily to the attack, unlocking and liberating capacities otherwise condemned to frustration and death…

Each unfulfilled area of tissue and nerve, of brain or lung, is a challenge to our will and integrity, or otherwise a source of frustration and death…

Most of our fundamental attitudes have their counterparts in the body. Thus comparison and criticism must begin with the alignment of our own left and right sides… or strength of will stretching in defiance of gravity. Impetus and ambition might begin with the sense of weight and speed that comes with free swinging limbs, instead of with the control of prolonged balance on foot, feet or hands, which gives poise.

Tenacity is gained by stretching in various yoga postures for minutes at a time, while calmness comes with quiet, consistent breathing and the expansion of the lungs. Continuity and a sense of the universal come with the knowledge of the inevitable alternation of tension and relaxation in eternal rhythms of which each inhalation and exhalation constitutes one cycle, wave or vibration amount the countless myriads, which are the universe.

It (Yoga) is a technique ideally suited to prevent physical and mental illness and to protect the body generally, developing an inevitable sense of self-reliance and assurance. By its very nature its is inextricably associated with universal laws; for respect for life, truth, and patience are all indispensable factors in the drawing of a quiet breath, in calmness of mind and firmness of will…

By its very nature it is each time and every moment a living act.

Yehudi Menhuin
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Are You Breathing?

Throughout time the process of breathing was always considered inseparable from our health, consciousness, and spirit, and it is only recently that we have reduced breathing to a mere respiratory exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. In Greek, psyche pneuma meant breath/soul/air/spirit. In Latin, anima spiritus, breath/soul. In Japanese, ki, air/spirit; and in Sanskrit, prana connotes a resonant life force that is at no time more apparent to us than when that force is extinguished at the moment of death. In Chinese the character for "breath" (hsi) is made up of three characters that mean "of the conscious self or heart." The breath was seen as a force that ran through mind, body, and spirit like a river running through a dry valley giving sustenance to everything in its course.

Today our intuition about the potential power of the breath is firmly embedded in the very structure of our language. We speak about the breath in common, everyday expressions but it rarely occurs to us to associate this with our immediate bodily experience. We say that we need "a breath of fresh air," "You take my breath away," "I couldn't catch my breath," or "I waited with baited breath." Or exclaim that something was "simply breathtaking!" We complain of someone "breathing down our neck" and needing "room to breathe," "breathing a sigh of relief," or "taking a breather." We tell our friends "not to breathe a word," and we complain about being "out of breath." And yet few of us, when faced with fatigue, illness, or anxiety, look to our breath as a possible source for regeneration. Because it is right under our noses, the significance of this ever-renewable source of energy has escaped our attention.

Most people are not aware that they breathe poorly. Fewer still are aware of the consequences of restricting this central life process. From headaches to heart disease and a vast array of common maladies in between, breathing badly takes its secret toll. Most significantly, very few people understand the ways in which they restrict and distort their breathing. Habitually breathing high into the chest, breathing too fast, and breathing shallowly are epidemic today.

Breath therapy, sometimes combined with other healing practices such as biofeedback or yoga, has been found to alleviate (and sometimes cure) migraine headaches, chronic pain conditions, hypertension (high blood pressure), epilepsy, asthma, panic attacks…as well as coronary heart disease. In a pilot study, progressive muscle relaxation exercises and slow, deep breathing reduced the incidence of hot flashes by an impressive 50 percent.

We experience the benefits of these chemical, cellular, and neurological changes on a more subjective level in the way we feel and think. People who practice open breathing through healing arts such as tai chi, yoga, or mindful meditation, are rewarded not only with optimal health; they also seem to have a different relationship to life's stresses. The are able to remain calm and centered in the midst of seeming chaos. We speak about such people as being grounded and centered, having presence of mind…they have learned to open to each moment as new and different, and as a result, they are finding new solutions to tenacious problems. As their minds become clearer and their emotions become more balanced through calm and regular breathing, they are creating a life that is conducive to health, well being, and a sense of inner peace. And not so surprisingly, people who do breathing practices act and appear much younger than their chronological age.

Donna Farhi, The Breathing Book
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TRANSFORMATIONAL SPACE

from "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self" by Steven Cope

A transformational space is an environment made up of webs of special kinds of relationships, safety, freedom and challenge; a training environment.

Qualities of effective transformational spaces:

1. They create a quality of refuge.

A place away from the ordinary demands and identities, a place where it`s understood that "The beginning of wisdom is the acknowledgement of our own ignorance."(Socrates) We are encouraged to empty ourselves of our posturing, being the one who `knows`. We must not be full if we want to be filled, teacher or student. There is a deep kind of safety in knowing that we are going to be accepted as we are. Letting go of pretense is frightening, so there is a ritual of entry that creates a zone of safety carefully set apart from other aspects of our lives. REGULARLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT A PROCESS OF REBIRTH IS HAPPENING AND IN NEED OF PROTECTION.

2. They create safety through constancy in relationship.

A special relationship is created in which THE MENTOR IS CONSTANT, RELIABLE, NONABANDONING, AND NONREACTIVE TO THE STUDENT. This allows the student to experience not only the parts of herself that are already owned and acknowledged but also parts of herself that are currently hidden and disowned. In this safety the student can experience her magnificence as well as her limitations. Sharing these discoveries with a reliable and constant home base promotes maturity. THINK LOVE, ADMIRATION, TRUST.

3. They encourage creativity and experimentation.

Out of the box thinking...new ways of being... The daily activities of life are seen as a stage on which to act out the drama of human development and maturation. Selecting the processes for life's activities is more important than outcomes.

4. They are organized around "transitional objects" that are constant and reliable.

During transformation certain objects, people, places can become charged with meaning and for a time even become symbols of transformation itself. A baby's blanket or a special symbol or a piece of jewelry; Buddha often used the image of a boat to describe the role of meditation as the boat that carries us across the river of delusion, the river of suffering. After it takes us across, we can discard it. The boat is not the opposite shore, only a vehicle. Yet, while in midstream we must cling to it for dear life.

5. They do not deify these transitional objects, or themselves.

THE BEST SPACES RECOGNIZE THAT THE PRACTICES AND SYMBOLS OF TRANSFORMATION ONLY SERVE TO SET INTO MOTION AND SUPPORT THE NORMAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN BEING. The glory, as it were, is given to human nature, or to God, or to the soul, and not to the transformational environment itself or any of the leaders. It is our inherent human potential that is sacred. Teachers are not perfect or all knowing. TEACHERS SHOULD REPRESENT OUR OWN HIGHEST NATURE AND SHOW US HOW TO EVOKE OUR ESSENTIAL HUMANNESS. Even the most powerful guides are understood to be transitional. They must, finally, set the student free to be herself.

6. They provide us with a way of finding out who we are.

The best environments avoid telling us who we are. They support us in finding out who we are by providing techniques and practices that give us full, direct, and immediate experiences of ourselves. THE BEST TRANSFORMATIONAL SPACES ARE CONCERNED WITH TRUTH AND CLEAR SEEING, AND PROMULGATE NOT DOCTRINES OR BELIEFS, BUT WAYS OF EXPLORING REALITY DIRECTLY.

7. They do not have to be perfect.

'Good-enough' will do. The intoxicating idealism of thinking there is a 'perfect way' only promotes delusion and a kind of grandiosity that is counterproductive to the maturing personality. It ignores the limitations, vulnerabilities or the dark side in us all. The very moments we're closest to change are often times we're vulnerable to giving ourselves away to a promise of perfection, the family we never had.

8. They are open to, and support other paths to development.

"Every mature human being must have more than one church". The best spaces help support any other learning or self-expressive processes in which the student was previously engaged, helping musicians become better musicians, deepening one's faith in one's own religion, adding proficiency at many levels. Be wary of any space that claims exclusive rights to our time, energy or money.

Self-Actualized Beings

Have purpose, vision, and written goals

See current reality as an ally, not an enemy

Are constantly and deeply inquisitive

Are connected to life and others but remain unique

Realize they are a part of a larger creative process they influence but don't control

Remain in a continual learning mode, never arriving

Understand life is a process, a lifelong discipline

Find a way to be acutely aware of their ignorance and incompetence while maintaining a strong sense of self-esteem

See the journey as the reward

Hold deep values and commit to larger goals than the self

Continually strive for an accurate picture of reality

Develop a capacity for delayed gratification

Tell the truth

Allow the subconscious to do its job.

ZEN...

Zen is beyond words, a direct experience of the way things are, a personal journey to enlightenment at the end of which the seeker finds he is not a person and there was no journey.

Zen is knowing the mind, without using thought, living one's life by letting it live itself, choosing to have no preferences, becoming extraordinary by being nothing special at all. To understand Zen is to embrace paradox- to find the oneness that contains all opposites. Zen masters are sacrilegious and outrageous. They ridicule Zen teachings and each other because enlightenment is not something that can be taught, but only directly experienced for oneself. Zen cannot be understood by the mind, because it is about becoming aware of the mind itself.

These thoughts from the great Zen masters are not clever theories or philosophies, they are medicine. We suffer from the illness of the illusion of separateness. We believe that the world is full of discrete things, when in fact it is all one interconnected whole. We experience ourselves as conscious skin-bags living a transitory mortal life, when in fact we are the eternal mind of the universe.

Separateness is the sickness, and Zen is the cure. The entire world is a doorway to freedom, but people don't want to pass through. Zen is piling fresh fruit in a basket without a bottom. Zen is enjoying the ever-changing richness of existence. It is wonderment in the face of the miracle of life. It is witnessing things as they are. The holy man questioned for enjoying sex and money says he did it because, "So few are truly grateful for them."

A Psalm of Life

Tell me not in mournful numbers, life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers, and things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou are, to dust returnest, was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each tomorrow find us farther than today.

Art is long, and time is fleeting, and our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle, in the bivouac of life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead past bury its dead!

Act, - act in the living present! Heart within and God o'erhead!

Lives of great ones all remind us we can make our life sublime,

And departing, leave behind us footprints on the sand of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another, sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked other, seeing shall take heart again.

Let us then be up and doing, with a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labor and to wait.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, not deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -

Yours is the earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a self-realized [sic] one!

Rudyard Kipling

Yoga has lasted thousands of years because it works

Hatha Yoga involves moving the body into different and novel positions and relationships. These changes in the use of the body bring about changes in the mind. Rather that trying to effect the mind directly, which is far more difficult, Hatha Yoga allows us to work from the tangible, familiar arena of the physical body.

…In using the body to transform the mind, the body is also transformed. It is recalibrated, revitalized, harmonized; brought to a functional peak, both anatomically and physiologically… It is these physical benefits that make it so popular. But, because these incidental physical benefits are connected to the intended psychological benefits, Hatha Yoga has a remarkable capacity to deliver far more than one might originally intend. Looking for a lithe, slim body, we also find a calm, clear mind. Hoping for strength and stamina, we also find increased determination and concentration. Wanting to be free of back pain, we find also freedom from compulsive anxiety. Seeking relief from asthma, we find also unlimited reserves of physical and mental energy. Trying to release tight shoulders and a stiff neck, we find also a new find of enthusiasm and joy.

Our ability to engage directly, fully and freely with the dynamic of life is hindered by deep layers of tension. Rigidity and inflexibility in body and mind restricts us to a limited range of responses to life. Hatha Yoga is designed to free us from all limitations.

Hatha Yoga is a remarkably fruitful process. Its practical aim is deep self-acceptance… it acts as a mirror to reveal to us exactly what we are on every level of our being. We can then use this revelation to harmonize these different aspects of ourselves, and live our lives from the rich, integrated wholeness of our being.

Dynamic Yoga, Godfrey Devereux

Willing to experience aloneness,

I discover connection everywhere;

Turning to face my fear,

I meet the warrior who lives within;

Opening to my loss,

I am given unimaginable gifts;

Surrendering into emptiness,

I find fullness without end.

Each condition I flee from pursues me.

Each condition I welcome transforms me

And becomes in itself transformed

Into its radiant jewel-like essence.

I bow to the one who has made it so,

Who has crafted this Master Game;

To play it is pure delight,

To honor it is true devotion.

By Jennifer Welwood

The Way Of Transformation

The one who, being really on the Way, falls upon hard times in the world will not, as a consequence, turn to that friend who offers him refuge and comfort and encourages his old self to survive. Rather he will seek out someone who will faithfully and inexorably help him to risk himself, so that he may endure the suffering and pass courageously through it, thus making of it a "raft that leads to the far shore". Only to the extent that a man exposes himself over and over again to annihilation, can that which is indestructible arise within him. In this lies the dignity of daring.

Thus, the aim of practice is not to develop an attitude, which allows a man to acquire a state of harmony and peace wherein nothing can ever trouble him. On the contrary, practice should teach him to let himself be assaulted, perturbed, moved, insulted, broken and battered - that is to say, it should enable him to let go his futile hankering after harmony, surcease from pain, and a comfortable life in order that he may discover, in doing battle with the forces that oppose him, that which awaits him beyond the world of opposites.

The first necessity is that we should have the courage to face life, and to encounter all that is perilous in the world. When this is possible, meditation itself becomes the means by which we accept and welcome the demons, which arise from the unconscious – a process very different from the practice of concentration on some object as a protection against such forces. Only if we venture repeatedly through zones of annihilation can our contact with Divine Being, which is beyond annihilation, become firm and stable. The more we learn whole-heartedly to confront the world that threatens us with isolation, the more are the depths of the Ground of Being revealed and the possibilities of new life and Becoming opened.

Karlfried Graf von Durkheim

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“Yoga cultivates cardiovascular health, and musculoskeletal strength and flexibility. Yoga tunes up every organ system – respiratory, digestive, reproductive, lymphatic, and nervous. It cultivates the body’s capacity to heal and dramatically reduces the negative effects of stress. With regular practice, we breathe better. We sleep. We digest our food better. We feel better.

Many experience moments of sharply increased mental focus and clarity…energy and stamina, emotional evenness and equanimity…a profound sense of well-being…and there are the not infrequent stories of truly miraculous healings – physical, emotional, spiritual.”

Stephen Cope, Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

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