Polar opposites

When two groups of people don't agree with each other and get the opportunity to tell everyone about it, we call it politics. When  two parts of our bodies fight, we have pain, and then we might pop vitamin I (Ibuprofin), but there is another way Y-O-G-A! Good biomechanics will get your body back into allignment, and your committment to your practice can keep it there. This way everyone wins, the tight spots loosen, while the weak parts strengthen.

This duality begins at a mental level,"where the mind goes the body follows". In yoga studies, you might come across the Malas. These ancient concepts are relevant and help us to understand whats going on today. Mayiya Mala is like a dust that covers a mirror of the self.  It is a partcularly nasty dust because it polarizes. Something is either good or bad, love or hate, left or right,  too hot or too cold, too spicy or too bland- always polar opposites. Yet when we see this tendancy of the mind, we can use the windex of our yoga practice to remove this dust. When Mayiya mala is dissolved, we can experience Unity, Love Compassion and we see the other side is not so far off from us. Do you think Politicians should be required to study yoga? The world would be a much different place because...life is better with yoga.

Fall Transition

A tree's strength lies in its ability to bend. This statement is a little counter intuitive. Isn't ridgidity better? Physics and trees tell us not necessarily. To be able to bend with the wind instead of snapping at the first change of the wind's direction is more successful.

Bernding, changing, transitions are the ever changing spiral pattern of our lives. Each transition in the year involves a mental and physiological change. Our bodies remember how to increase our metabolism to keep us warm in the cooling coming months. The decreasing day length means trees are getting the stimulation to draw down vital nutrients and store them away in their roots for next year leaving colorful leaves behind. Squirrels gather nuts and stash them away with renewed ferver. And we get to decide how we will react to this change, with dread for the ice possible in our path in a few months or with delight that we are able to experience the first fall furry of leaves and ripening apples and pumpkins. Each colorful leaf, spiky seed pod or ripe fruit, nut and pumpkin is nature's celebration of the bounty of summer.

In class this week we will remain balanced even through change, using shoulder loop and pelvic loop to bend safely. The results will help rev up your internal fires to prime your fall metabolism and keep your spirits bright!

Adversity yields unity

Our strongest asset as a community is our ability to come together during (or after) times of adversity. Take for instance, when the Mississippi is jumping its banks, hundreds of Iowans come together to fill sand bags.  If you have ever experienced a barn raising as I have, you have felt the productive unity of a community coming together for a common goal. Everyone has something to share, something to offer. We all offer different attributes when we come together, but each one of us is needed.

We are drawn together at such times of adversity because each of us desires wholeness. In our bodies if we experience a diminishment of one sense, the others make up for it. If one of our limbs is not functioning properly, the others will often work harder to keep us in balance. Let's see how we can explore unity through adversity on the yoga mat during one of our next classes. Meeting Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00 am and Monday evenings at 5:30 at the Bettendorf Community Center.

Spanda

Spanda is an attribute of the spirit and translates to pulsation. In truth all matter is vibrating, or pulsing even things that appear relatively stable and solid.  Each cell in our bodies pulsates as does spirit.

We acknowledge how our spirit pulsates with a divine luster in the Anusara invocation, but how could it sparkle if it didn't dim just a little.  Spanda translates in our movements as a drawing in so that we can expand out in a dance of compressing in towards the source and then expanding outward in all directions delighting in the freedom of doing so.

Spiritually we will have times when we sit at the oasis in good company and drink from the deep well. Other times it feels like we are crossing the desert in isolation. The trick is to know that when we are traveling through the desert, it is on our way to another oasis where the water will be sweet and refreshing and the fruits of experience will be deeply nourishing.

There is nothing wrong in feeling a little diminished every now and then, because we build up a thirst for self discovery. One of my favorite teachers, Douglas Brooks describes it as the divine's game of peek-a-boo. We forget so that we can delight in the revelation of discovery. The uncomfortable realization  that we are not realizing our potential, is powerful catalyst for growth. Come join the good company of fellow travelers at the oasis that a regular yoga practice creates.
Namaste,
Michelle Campbell
River City Yoga

Summer's succulent fullness

For a gardener, their is no better time than late summer. Spring weeds have stopped their assault, the vines have slowed their wandering, and everything is in the process of ripening, producing as much juicy fruit and vegetable as possible. Sunshine, rain, wind and rich earth are transformed into red ripe tomatoes, fiery hot chilis, architecturally impressive squash, and jade green beans. 

This mind blowing alchemy is also going on in our own lives. Our life grows with the seeds we dreamt of in Winter then planted in Spring. Do you remember what your intentions were back then? How are your dreams growing? Maybe you are harvesting the fruits of your labor today on this Labor Day. If not, I have good news. There is still time to do a corrective pruning, or replant into a sunnier place or richer soil. Recommitting yourself to your yoga practice maybe just the experience you need to get your mind clear, your heart open and grow deeper roots that will nourish you through winter. Namaste!

Michelle Campbell
Anusaara Inspired Yoga Teacher