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yoga sutras

Enquiries Into Yogic Philosophy

How to Manage Your Fears and Face Them Head On

November 2, 2017

When I needed a wall behind me for the Sirsasana.

Halloween got me thinking about fear.  As a society we value fearlessness.  As people we take pride in saying, “I’m fearless.”

But I’ve never met anyone who is fearless.  Some fear pain, some fear solitude, some fear poverty, some fear for the safety of their near and dear ones, aging.  Over the years I’ve heard of the fear of pigeons, fear of sprouts, fear of going bald.

A strategy that used to work for me was to avoid the cause of my fear.  But, it turns out, there are some fears you can’t avoid.

When I was ill I wasn’t able to practice for what felt like a very long time.  My teacher once told us that if you don’t practice for a day, it’s equivalent to putting your practice back by seven whole days.  As each day passed, I thought of all I learned in Pune.  With so much time on my hands I became increasingly anxious, nervous and fearful.

In the path of Yoga there are inevitable roadblocks and problems.  But Yoga is a holistic practice so the solution also lies in the practice.  The first limb of the Ashtanga (8 Limb) yoga practice is Yama.  The Yamas are  set of 5 ethical principles that practitioners must adhere to.  One of the Yamas is aparigraha or ‘non-attachment’.  As yogis we become too attached to the practice.  Some of us feel guilty if we are unable to practice.  Others push themselves too hard.  Some pride themselves on the asanas that they can do.  We stop enjoying the journey, we focus only on the destination.  And in the process become attached to the destination.

I am very attached to my asana practice. I spend a lot of time trying variations, reading, watching and experimenting.  When I can finally do an asana I feel a sense of accomplishment.  There is nothing wrong with feeling good about finally attaining something that you’ve worked hard for.  But if you beat yourself for not attaining the final asana despite a rigorous practice; or start to lose faith in the path because your goal seems far, far away; then you need to take a fresh look at your attitude and approach.

I was fearful of discovering the state of my yoga practice post illness. If you’ve read this blog, then you know that I was significantly weakened by the illness.  Waking up every day to practice felt like an exercise in futility.  It was scary to try asanas and not know if I would be able to do them.  Asanas which I ‘owned’ before.  But I guess by force of habit I kept on returning every morning…to fail.  Until one day I started improving.

And that’s when I realized that fear can’t be ignored.  You can’t not think about the object of your fears.  It doesn’t help to face fear head on.  Fear can only be managed, one day at a time.  You don’t have to look at the entire marathon, you need to look at the Majaa run first.  You don’t have to dwell on whether you’re going to get the job, you only need to work on giving the best interview ever.  You don’t have to worry about the Sirsasana (Headstand), you just have to work on doing a very good Adhomukha Svanasana (Downward Dog).

BKS Iyengar once told Patricia Walden (who was struggling with a heavy case of depression) to ‘Take one step no matter how small.’  I realize this is what I have been doing ever since I’ve gotten back on the mat.

Do you have a strategy to deal with fear?

 

 

 

Enquiries Into Yogic Philosophy

3 Lessons Acro Yoga Taught Me About Life

February 21, 2015

Every Thursday this month I would catch a bus to a rather far away part of town to meet a group of about 10 people for a session of Acro Yoga.  The group consists of former yogis, graphic designers, sound artists, an acrobat…all coming together…for different reasons.  I would say its for our shared love of yoga, but there are many in the group who don’t practice yoga in the conventional sense.  But I digress.   You see, I wanted to use this vacation to explore and expand my personal practice.  So I decided to explore the yoga scene in Den Haag.  You can watch what I feel about Bikram Yoga here.

I’m actually enjoying the Acro Yoga meetings.  The first thing I noticed was that everyone was at different stages of flexibility and physical fitness.  We were all different as people as well.  Some were students, some were senior citizens etc.  However, all of us had to learn to adapt with each other and work together.  We did not choose our partners on the basis of skill or ability or weight.  In fact, we didn’t choose partners, we randomly divided ourselves into teams and made the most of it.  Lesson #1:  In life you don’t get to choose the cards you’re dealt.  But you can choose to make the most of the cards.

Next I noticed that regardless of how much you could balance or how strong you yourself are, you would only be able to do the poses only if the other person would also cooperate.  So me having strong legs doesn’t necessarily mean that the person I would push up would stay up.  Staying up would require the other person to understand the mechanics of the posture and trust you enough to relax into the pose.  Lesson #2:  In life you need to do your best and hope that your teammates also do their best.  That’s the winning formula.

And perhaps the most important lesson I learned is about balance.  Sthiram sukham asanam is the first Yoga Sutra I learned but I’ve finally understood it.  Patanjali basically says that a posture is a yogasana only when you find stability and peace in it.  In Acro Yoga, the final posture is difficult to hold if you are tense.  Being tense makes it difficult for your partner as well.  There is a perceptible ease in a posture the moment both partners relax, and that’s when the posture becomes easy, stable and peaceful.  Lesson #3:  Relax in the present moment and circumstances.  Only then you will find balance.

I’m off for a while next week so I will miss my Acro Yoga classes.  But I will get back to them as soon as I can.

And yes, I highly recommend Acro Yoga!  Below are a few snapshots from our last class.

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It’s all about working together. John has many many years as an acrobat and without his cooperation I won’t be able to hold him up.

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One of the first moves we learned. I’m getting more and more comfortable in this pose, yet I still need to be prompted to try and get my body in a straight line.

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We always had ‘safeties’. Like Lex here, there should always be people around to catch you in case you fall.

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John could actually feel my comfort level in this pose. When I was comfortable, he would have an easier time doing his bit.

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I would wobble whenever I lost focus or became tense. And the safety was always there.

We became more adventurous:

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John and Lex showing us how its done.

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We cooled down with Iyengar moves!

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