This month join Sean Feit for a unique new series that combines Asana with Text Study for maximum embodiment – Sweat & Scholarship: Yoga and the Bhagavad Gita. Sean artfully draws on insights born from his years of meditation practice to help his students connect with the profound gifts of Yoga practice. Here are some words of wisdom from Sean On Difficulty:

One of the signposts of successful yoga practice, whether in postures, meditation, ritual, or the actions of daily life is that it becomes difficult to stay with. We really like comfort, and in itself that’s not a problem. Our primal instinct for self-preservation needs to be respected, especially when we’re in life- or well-being-threatening situations.

But like an allergy, which is rooted in a useful response to foreign matter entering our body but has run wild, tripping the immune system into emergency even when there’s no threat, we go way further than necessary. Our hearts tend to recoil when brought into contact with unpleasant sensations and emotions. That recoil manifests as the less-comfortable aspects of ourselves: fear, anger, judgment, shame, boredom, numbness. And the heat of sustained practice tends to bring these out.

So a huge part of our task becomes noticing unskillful reactions and learning to let them go. This is not a denial of some part of our self. It is simply the abandoning of actions that cause harm and suffering (mostly to ourselves). When we pick up a hot utensil on the stove, we don’t have to think about who we are before we drop it, or who we might become if we dropped it, or become afraid that we would not be authentic to ourselves if we drop it—it’s painful and we drop it! Most of us only make such a mistake once. It’s the same in the heart, except that the hot utensil has been in our hand so long, maybe most of our life, that we’ve forgotten what not-burning feels like, or don’t know who we would be without the burning, and are afraid to put it down. This may sound absurd, but when we think about how hard it is to stop being defensive in the face of criticism, or to let go of self-judgment, it makes sense. But that doesn’t mean easy.

Yoga at its best offers a setting—including place, discipline, community, and guidance—in which to challenge our habitual reactions and begin to let go. Difficulty in practice often means that we’ve come to sufficient depth in ourselves that we can see these ancient patterns clearly as they arise, and the containers of regular practice, good community and teachers are the supporting factors for working wisely with them. Not for nothing was early yoga called tapas, referring to the intense heat generated by sincere practice and inquiry. In that heat we begin to burn, and like the phoenix, may find a whole new self-arising amid the ashes of the old.

Sweat and Scholarship: Yoga and the Bhagavad Gita
w/ Sean Feit
Saturdays, July 9, 16, and 23, 10am – 1pm
$60/series or $25/session (complete attendance strongly encouraged)

Hrimati (Susan) Fauman

I was given my name, Hrimati (HREE ma tee) almost 5 years ago, and I have had lots of opportunities to reflect on its meaning. My name is composed of two parts: Hri, which is the bija or seed syllable signifying modesty and mati, which means mother or mother goddess. When people ask what my name means and I answer “goddess of modesty,” I often get a surprised look. “How is a goddess modest?” people ask. To answer I have to  point to the deeper meaning of modesty. Modesty is the root of compassion. When we can get out of our own way and allow the human expression of the heart center (which is expressed by the bija “Hrim”), compassion is the natural result. Hrimati is also a name for the mother goddess Durga.

So what was it like for a yoga student who is not a sailor to practice aboard a vessel? Hilary Hayes, a Yoga Mandala regular, wrote afterwards: “Often times spiritual endeavors such as yoga and meditation are practiced in sterile studios or in a still, quiet corner of our own home. However, these practices were developed to help people deal with life on a daily basis, to integrate the sounds of the mind with the movements of the body and practice on a unsteady platform will simply provide an alternative set of challenges to your practice.”

“Being on the Pegasus brought me into a deeper awareness of my body, which was first a bit unsettling but proved to be and experience both exhilarating and powerful. “

Concludes Hillary, “Yoga practice in the outdoors is considered a more advanced type of practice, because there are more sensory experiences to integrate into the practice, but for this same reason, it becomes a fuller practice, and the practitioner is that much more transformed.”

This year, Sumanasa Daren (who grew up sailing a schooner in Canada) is donating her time to teach yoga aboard Pegasus in a 2010 voyage. Places on the voyage (limited to six) are being auctioned individually to help raise funds for Pegasus which takes school students and youth-at-risk on the Bay throughout the year (www.pegasusproject.org). In addition to yoga, students will get to go on a voyage from Berkeley across the Bay and back, itself a spiritual experience.

If you would like to bid on a place, please visit their on-line auction at http://www.pegasusproject.org/celebration.html which will take you to the www.biddingforgood.com website where the auction is being held. If the voyage is over-subscribed, Pegasus will schedule a 2nd voyage with instructor Katie Culver. Students are also welcome to attend the Pegasus Celebration Dinner on November 21.

Dr. Peter Hayes, Director, The Nautilus Institute for Security & Sustainability, Center for the Pacific Rim

What three adjectives would you use to describe your work?
Sensitive, Intuitive, Effective.

What is the biggest lesson (or lessons) you have learned through your therapy practice?
Trust my hands, they know where to go. Remain neutral. The client’s body will let me know what it needs – I’m just helping to facilitate the process. Listen, listen, listen! With heart, hands, eyes and ears.

What do you look forward to doing most on your day off?
Cooking, Biking, Hangin’ with the Hubby – preferably outdoors – and Napping with the Dog.

Lalita literally means “she who plays”. This name is related to Tripura Sundari, one of the ten wisdom goddesses of Hindu thought. Lalita is also a term for the very center of the Sri Yantra. Sri is a word that invokes auspiciousness and cutting through.

When Dharmanidhi-ji gave the name Sri Lalita, he said it referred to all-encompassing, unmanifest shakti, the ultimate, auspicious creative potential. It also relates to Sodasi, a goddess who is ever and always the potent age of 16. As such, she hovers at the powerful moment of fully-formed ripening. The enthusiasm of youth remains, yet she is womanly power through and through. She is full, creative, powerful.

Every year at Navaratri, we celebrate this power on the last, the tenth night of the festival, called Vijayadashami. This is the day on which the goddess Sri Lalita defeated the terrible demon Mahishasura. In this case, Sri Lalita is recognized as possessing the cumulative energies of Kali, Lakshmi and Sarasvati. She is ultimate detachment (Kali), ultimate generosity (Lakshmi) and ultimate wisdom (Sarasvati) all in one. This combined feminine force, born of pure desire and manifested by true compassion, is that which defeats the demon.

May we all be graced to connect to this power to defeat whatever demons seem to lurk in our dark corners, no matter what our name may be!

What do you enjoy the most about working at Yoga Mandala?
I feel so honored to be part of the Yoga Mandala community. I love the dedication of the studio and the students to yogic practices and the sense of community that that brings.

When you’re not practicing yoga, what are you most likely found doing?
These days, adoring my new son, Jai, who was born on January 28th. I love to spend time with my husband, and i love to cook and enjoy delicious food.

One of the most precious prayers we enjoy on the yogic path is the teacher-student prayer. This is a very ancient invocation that comes to us from the Vedas. Hardly a yoga class transpires in a yoga studio where this chant is not invoked to harmonize energies between student and teacher. As westerners, we enjoy the “feeling” it invokes, but this chant is more than that – it is a prayer, and if we do not know the meaning of it, its potency is somewhat diminished. The more multi-dimensionally we relate to it, the greater fruit it bears for our growth.

Why do we chant this prayer? Because in every learning session there is great potential for insult, hurt, and anger. Because a lot of ego comes into the student-teacher dynamic. Students may become irritated with each other. The student may become irritated with the teacher, the teacher with the student. The teacher-student prayer conveys – let us never hurt each other.

We make a commitment to study together, to put up with each other. When we get on each other’s nerves we let it go because we say that the dharma is the most important, to realize our nature is the most important. It is a contract that we make in a call and response form, back and forth to each other. May we shine brightly together in this study for the benefit of all beings.

One way to experience this prayer is as an ordering of the five elements in our microcosm. Indeed, this prayer evokes the five elements. Lets go through it.

OM SAHA NAVAVATU

Earth element in the form of protection.

May that Truth that we are pursuing protect us both. Artha, security, is the prime mandate human beings pursue, and fulfillment of that allows us to yield to higher goals.

SAHA NAU BHUNAKTU

Water element in the form of nourishment.

May that Truth nourish us together. And may we not get emotionally attached to the results of our study.

SAHA VIRIYAM KARAVAVAHAI

Fire element enables understanding to illuminate what we study.

May we work with energy to pursue that objective Truth together. May we gain ability to understand what we study. May we receive the illumination of knowledge.

TEJASVINAVADHITAM ASTU

Wind element enables communication of Essence (that which we have understood via the fire element).

May we have great energy in our mutual study. May our study be brilliant.

May we overcome the inertia of our density. May our knowledge expand like the wind and be brilliant for the benefit of others.

MAA VIDVISHAVAHAI

Space element as harmonious hosting capacity of all.

May there be no enmity or hostility between us. May we agree with one another.

Disagreement is symptomatic of space violation. When space is out of sync, relative positions are out of sync and people disagree.

SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI

Peace, peace, peace.

Only when the five elements are aligned can there be peace.

And this luminosity pours out and helps everybody.

This prayer repeated at the onset of study/practice placates the five elements and all that emanates from them. At a fundamental level it realigns us with the building blocks of manifestation. If we experience the depth of this one chant and practice, we are able to organize the five elements and senses successfully. From that alignment arises a more coherent and sane experience of that which is both within ourselves and beyond.

Contributed by Sri Acalayogini, May 2009

Above all else, Skanda is a warrior – young, brave and ready to lead his army when and as needed. Skanda’s power is in his ability to lead and in his divine focus – both of which are also represented by his Vel, or spear, the instrument of choice when it comes to cutting to the core of a matter and of getting to the point.

Skanda is also most often depicted with his mode of transportation, the Peacock, which is said to represent transformation itself for its ability to effectively eat and digest poisonous snakes. The Peacock is also associated with the ego, which metaphorically Skanda is able to effectively manage and control, instead of having it manage and control him.

Needless to say, I have a lot to work with when it comes to the iconography and substance of my namesake and I am so grateful for having been given the opportunity to do so by my teacher, Dharmanidhi!

What three adjectives would you use to describe your work?
I would describe my work as inclusive, supportive, and transformational.

What is the biggest lesson (or lessons) you have learned through your therapy practice?
I have learned that you can’t really force anybody to heal, they have to want it, and they have to be receptive. This is what I think of when I hear the phrase, “Meet the client where they’re at”. One of the biggest lessons of Ayurveda is that we can only assist nature, we ultimately are not responsible for a person’s state of healing, and really can’t take credit for it.

What do you look forward to doing most on your day off?
Lately, all I want to do is garden. I am infatuated with permaculture and Biodynamics, and try to incorporate their concepts whenever I can. I look forward to spending the day on my small plot of land with my wife, remediating the soil, planting food, and preparing for a life that is more self-sustainable.

What do you enjoy the most about working at Yoga Mandala?
This question is a little funny for me because Yoga Mandala is so much more than a workplace for me. This is my dream job. I have the privilege of instructing classes and managing the studio. I am also a co-owner. And of course, I am always a student here too. One of my favorite aspects of my work as an instructor is teaching the Foundation Course and other workshops – I really love having the opportunity to work with students at a more in-depth level. One of my favorite aspects of managing the studio is working with such a dedicated group of practitioners everyday – both on our staff and in our student body.

When you’re not practicing yoga, what are you most likely found doing?
I’ve recently taken up the habit of actually leaving Yoga Mandala a couple of days a week! If I’m not at the studio I’m most likely found working in my garden growing food, in the kitchen preparing food, out at the farmer’s market buying food, or sitting with friends and enjoying food. Whenever possible, I enjoy a walk with my husband and our little dog.