Monday Morning Meditation

Take a moment to feel your feet on the ground. Notice your breath moving in and out without effort.

Now remember, or imagine, a scene from your weekend: enjoying the beautiful fall weather, the sun shining on the autumn leaves, the big blue sky, the breeze gentle on your skin. Weather warm enough to wear a t-shirt.

As your life changes shape and shifts, remember you can relax into those changes just as you've relaxed into the changing of the seasons from summer to fall, just as you've relaxed into the changing of day into night and back into day. Change is a rhythm.

Remember that change is just one colorful prism of what we call our life experience.

Enjoy your breathing today,

Lucinda

Lifting the Veils of Illusion- A Body Based Narrative for Growth

As we experience personal growth and become more enlightened, what is changing in us?

Many traditions, including Buddhism, the Mayan culture, Native American spiritual traditions, and the spiritual side of yoga, talk about the removing of "the veils of illusion" through personal and spiritual growth. These veils can be seen quite metaphorically as curtains, drapes that obscure our understanding of the world around us and dim the light shining from within us outward. These veils create turbulence and suffering as we try to navigate our lives with some degree of clarity. As a person grows in spiritual understanding and personal power, these traditions reference the veils lightening or lifting.

In Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar says "As a breeze ruffles the surface
of a lake and distorts the images reflected therein, so also the
chitta vrtti (causes for modification of the mind) disturb the peace of the
mind. The still waters of a lake reflect the beauty around it. When
the mind is still, the beauty of the Self is seen reflected in it. The
yogi stills his mind by constant study and by freeing himself from
desires. The eight stages of Yoga teach him the way.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali name 9 distractions and obstacles that hinder a students practice of yoga:

1. Vyadhi- Sickness which disturbs the physical equilibrium

2. Styana- Langour or lack of mental disposition for work

3. Samsaya- Doubt or indecision

4. Pramada- Indifference or insensibility

5. Alasya-Laziness

6. Avirati- Sensuality, the rousing of desire when sensory objects posess the mind

7. Bhranti Darsana- False or invalid knowledge, or illusion

8. Alabdha Bhumikatva- Failure to attain continuity of thought or
concentration so that reality cannot be seen

9. Anavasthitattva- Instability in holding on to concentration which has been attained after long practice

Four more distractions are named:

1. dukha- pain or misery; 2. daurmansya- despair; 3- angamejayatva- unsteadiness of the body; and 4- svasa-prasvasa- unsteady respiration.

Distractions 7, 8, and 9 in this list really speak to the philosophy surrounding the veils of illusion.

Having learned about the veils of illusion when I was young, I am comfortable with the fact that not everything I think, believe, or understand is "reality." I have experienced several transitions in my life where the veils have lifted briefly or completely and I can see clearer, understand better, and attain not just knowledge but a bit of wisdom, however humble.

That phrase, "see clearer," was the genesis for a big A-HA! moment I experienced today. In a somatic session with Thea Lee, I was curious about how my vision changed as my nervous system became activated by different experiences I have had. My explanation below might not make a lot of sense to those of you not familiar with Somatic Experiencing or somatic therapies, but hopefully you'll understand how the resulting conclusion came about.

At several points in the session, I noticed that my vision was becoming floaty and slightly wavy, resulting in a feeling of discombobulation. However, during one specific point as my vision was affected again, I simulataneously saw a thought arising in my mind that wasn't completely accurate. As I made a mental effort to refine the thought, my vision cleared and I could suddenly see quite well.

This resulted in me asking Thea why that change had occurred. Thea's explanation tied together my experience quite nicely, without her trying to do so or even knowing about my understanding of the veils of illusion.

I understood through Thea's explanation that there are literally physical/physiological changes that take place at the same time as the mental and psychological changes that result in the dissolving of illusion. If a person gives attention to this experience, tracking the sensations in the body, they create a greater mind-body connection and a firmer foundation in the body for the mental/emotional/psychological changes to TAKE ROOT.

To put it simply, the lifting of illusion or distorted "vision" begins
with a change in the physiology of the body.

This is true whether that vision is a physiological function (seeing with your eyes), a mental function (visualizing or understanding with your brain) or a spiritual/energetic function (getting it spiritually, energetically transitioning through different levels of understanding).

So this leads to some interesting questions that I believe people in the fields of complementary and integrative medicine (i.e., massage therapy, yoga, yoga therapy, somatics, energy work, etc). could really benefit from exploring (see, this is where there is an intersection between my passion for social justice and my belief that it is deeply and integrally interrelated with the body!):

1. Does my perception of you, and the assumptions that come along with that perception, arise from a disregulated physiology?

2. If my physiology is disregulated, and I am trying to assist you in releasing pain, becoming stronger, deepening your own mind-body connection, is there a distorted outcome or simply very little actual outcome?

3. Using the framework put forth in question #2, does a disregulated physiology cause me to see an outcome and/or assign meaning to an outcome where there is actually none or less than perceived?

4. Yoga teachers and bodyworkers: how does your disregulated physiology affect how you are treating your students, treating your clients, and reaching out to create change in our industry-community?

There are TONS more questions that could be raised within this context. I'd love to know your thoughts- feel free to comment away!

And While You're In New York...

Check it out! A yoga documentary has been made...it's called Enlighten Up! The focus is on following a skeptic as he immerses himself in 6 months of intense yoga. What does it do for him?


If you're in New York, check out the film. It debuts in Manhattan today, and looks like it will be coming to Minnesota in June. I'll keep you posted on the release dates for here! Looks like a fun film.

Going Hungry

I am running the 3rd Annual Food Drive to benefit the Midway Community Food Shelf in St. Paul. This foodshelf is run through Keystone Community Services. Some people might wonder why I have chosen to conduct food drives, rather than some other activity to benefit the local community. My answer is deeply personal...I have known hunger and faced empty cupboards.

To read the details of the food drive and how you can contribute, visit my website: www.embodied-health.com/Food_Drive.aspx. Read on for my personal story of hunger...


When I was a young girl growing up in St. Paul, my dad (a machinist) and my mom (a gardener) were very poor. They held it together well, and despite our poverty we enjoyed life and were generally healthy. Food was expensive even back then (the late 70s and early 80s), so my mom gardened and we got beef from my grandfather (a farmer) and we made do.

I remember participating in a program that back then was called Fare Share (now Fare for All), where we would as a family volunteer a certain number of hours of labor in a warehouse, packaging up onions, apples, and other produce in bags that would then be distributed at very low cost or for free to families like ours.

We didn't volunteer out of social conscience; we did it because we needed the groceries.

When I was 9, my parents split up. The court system back then (I believe it often still does) favored my mom to raise us three children on her very meager wages. That is when the downward spiral of living in poverty got really bad.

My mom worked very hard but on her gardener wages couldn't make ends meet. She switched jobs and became a trades-woman, with a business partner she did tile, laminate flooring, wallpaper and paint contracting. That work was terribly hard on her body (that's another story), wasn't steady, and didn't pay well. Because my mom did not have a financially stable history and no reserves, our family suffered greatly.

I remember receiving government food packages that included powdered milk, powdered eggs, and 5 pound blocks of american cheese! Certainly not nutritious but when the cupboards were basically bare, it was good to have reconstituted eggs. We received food stamps after that, so at least we could purchase our own food. The government's beauracracy back then was pretty harsh; though my mom wasn't making much money she made just enough so that our food stamp dollars were limited and we ate a lot of packaged junk that was cheap, like Rice-A-Roni. We also went to food shelves sometimes where we depended on the generosity of others and ate what was available (even if that meant red licorice for lunch, or cereal 3 meals a day).

I have learned to pull myself up by my bootstraps, so to speak, and to always do for myself. I am still grateful for powdered eggs and gently used apples, because they meant the difference between health and illness.

There are a lot of reasons why a person or family needs to depend on food shelves. Most of those reasons are not the "fault" of the person, not due to laziness or addiction. Most of those reasons have to do with the economic disparity in our culture and the very unequal way resources (money, food, education, healthcare) are distributed.

As an adult I have always made my own way, and I enjoy full cupboards. Having known hunger I am grateful for food each time I eat.

When a person makes a decision to give back to their community, they generally choose a "cause" that means a lot to them personally. I felt that it was time to share my reasoning behind offering these yearly food drives to benefit the people in our very communities that are going hungry. I hope that you can help me raise more food for the Midway Community Food Shelf this year! Last year we raised 257 pounds of food and $80, and I hope we can raise more in 2009.

A few facts about the Midway Community Food Shelf:
-They are distributing food to people who have jobs (as well as those who don't) but who can't afford to buy food after paying their bills
-They are distributing over 90,000 pounds of food per month at their three local food shelves (Midway, Roseville, and Rice Street).
-They serve many different cultures and have a need for culturally appropriate foods to serve the Latino, Hmong, Somali, and other immigrant communities.

Beyond donating food you can volunteer to staff one of the three food shelves. Learn more about Keystone Community Services food shelves at www.KeystoneCommunityServices.org/foodshelves.html

Open Heartedness

I'm taking a class on Love from Joen Snyder O'Neal of the Compassionate Ocean Dharma Center in Minneapolis. Last night was the first class. The following statements stand out to me today:

-Buddha's lap is a hammock of vastness, and it is where to go when you are afraid.

-Turn towards contraction with fearlessness; face it with agreement that you are letting go of holding back.

-Right Action is abandoning unwholesome seeds of action and nurturing wholesome seeds of action.

-Loving Kindness transforms the energy of attraction into opening.

-Equanimity means you sit upright in the middle of your life, your mandala, and you have a clear view from that position of uprightness.


And to end, here's a lovely quote I read recently, I think on one of the teabag tags from my most recent cup of Calming Tea (by Yogi Tea):

"A closed mind is a barrier to a grace-filled life."

Contradictions: Forward Folding for a Strong Lower Back

Photo C. Vandeveer, (C) 2009 Embodied Health, LLC (formerly bright hands : light body, LLC)

This post is about a beautiful muscle in your back called the multifidus. Recent research is showing that this muscle is the strongest muscle in your spine and it is a major stabilizer of your lower back. It was formerly thought to be unimportant due to it's relatively small size. It is one of what I call the "shoelace muscles" that attach to the spinal vertebrae (bones) and assist in the bending of the spine in different directions. The multifidus is a major stabilizing muscle in your low back, helping to prevent injury.

A stabilizer muscle is different from other muscles. Rather than initiating and carrying out the movement, it actually keeps your bones in the right place and keeps everything (discs, ligaments, etc) from moving around too much while your more powerful muscles (such as the quadratus lumborum, erector spinae, and latissimus dorsii) move you through a range of motion.

Behold the Multifidus:

image from Doc Back Blog

Now, what's unusual about this muscle is that as it LENGTHENS, it GETS STRONGER. It is not like other muscles in your body. In general the rule of muscle movement is that your muscle is at its strongest, working its hardest, when it contracts, or GETS SHORTER. So this muscle would fit well on Sesame Street when Big Bird starts singing "which of these things is not like the other..."

What this means for your yoga practice is that when you do a forward fold, your multifidus muscles are strengthened and become stronger stabilizers of your low back. This action may also change the structure of your multifidus muscle tissue so that your multifidus becomes a secondary MOVER muscle as well as a STABILIZER muscle.

That means that you have more power behind any movement, and when that movement is done with healthy body mechanics as taught in yoga, you will have less chance of injury.

With well-done (i.e., good body mechanics) repetition of forward folds it is likely you can create highly responsive multifidus muscles that are healthy, respond to stress well and help to prevent low back strain.

If you already have a herniation in your low back (L1 through L5, L5-S1) you should first and foremost follow the advice of your doctor while practicing forward folds. Second, you should not fold very deeply, rather keeping yourself at a half-forward fold or above. Thirdly, you should not lift or hold any weights or weighted objects while you fold forward as this can significantly strain your herniated discs. This advice is not intended to replace your doctor's medical advice, so be smart and check with your doctor before proceeding with forward folds.

Forward folding also calms the mind, decreases stress hormones, stretches the hamstrings, and helps to regulate blood pressure. Fold away!

Tree

Imagine your arms are branches, swaying in the breeze of your breath. Your foot anchors its roots into the earth and your body rises as a tall, strong trunk and reaches for the sky.

I love to teach Tree Pose (Vrksasana) and see the various trees formed by students' bodies as they find balance and breath within the pose. It's not easy to balance on one leg, keep your hips level, and find steadiness and ease within the pose (Yoga Sutra 4.26, Sthiram Sukham Asanam).

I often encourage students to smile in Tree Pose because it is a fun, light-hearted pose and it reflects a playfulness that we often don't allow ourselves to feel as adults. If you smile, your pelvis and hips will loosen and your balance will come easier. When your face is tight and you grip your jaw, grit your teeth, you end up gripping in your hips and trying to hang on to balance that will definitely elude you.

Sharon Gannon and David Life, in their book The Art of Yoga, say that true balance can only be found by reaching for it, not grasping it. Simply profound.

Ever since Bartleby (Bart), our chocolate lab/Chesapeake Bay retriever puppy, joined our family back in August I've been exploring the local dog parks. The Battle Creek off-leash area is by far my favorite in terms of nature.

I walk with Bart through gorgeous stands of twirly sumac, their leaves were brilliant red in the middle of October and now that their leaves have fallen they are quirky silhouettes against the sky. From there we cross into thick pine forest, where the roots of the pines provide steps on the dirt trail and the needles lie golden and dense on the cold ground. A little further and we walk past several duck ponds surrounded by reeds and lower deciduous trees such as dogwood and maple and gingko.

One of my favorite parts of the Battle Creek park is the oak savanna, where the old and solid oak trees rise so sturdily from the earth it just silences any excess noise in my mind and brings me immediately into my breath. The oaks just surround me, and since they are growing on the top of one of the tallest rises in the park they have no competition from other trees...through their branches with their dried copper and bronze leaves I can see a vista of the sky and just the tops of the pines, the dogwoods, the maples.

Walking into an oak grove has always felt sacred to me, and when I practice Tree Pose sometimes I feel sacred like an oak. I remember all that I've learned about oaks through the years; how they don't drop their leaves until it's really winter, long after the other trees have stood bare to the sky. How they can grow so slowly that a four-year old oak is barely three feet tall and will have maybe 15 leaves. I remember when we scattered my Granny's ashes in the pasture at her farm that I leaned against a hundred-plus year old oak and felt my Granny hugging me.

Sometimes when I practice Tree Pose I am a wily locust or a stately elm; sometimes a curly sumac or a holy fig tree. No Tree Pose is ever the same, even if it looks similar to the one before.

During this time of year, the trees seem intensely alive; their bark is still radiating the summer's heat and their branches seem to still grow and reach up to the clouds. They clearly are not dormant. The November winds sway their limbs and their branches creak; as I walk through the forest they "talk" to me of the summer, the winter, and wisdom of trees.

What kind of a role have trees played in your life? When you practice Tree Pose, can you feel yourself taking on the characteristics of a special tree or a certain kind of tree?

For instructions to practice Tree Pose, click the weblink to the Articles page of my website.

Namaste and happy November Tree Pose to you!