The Act of Stone Balancing

Shane Hart balances stones. He spends hours using gravity and friction to create sculptures that seem impossible. "It's a meditative art that evokes a sense of amazement, focuses our attention in the moment, and challenges us to examine our attachment to the material world", says Shane.

The key to creating these fleeting sculptures is locating the cracks and crevices in the stones. He says, "Sit and work patiently and mindfully; eventually the stones click into place". His sculpture are not meant to last. A breeze or heavy footstep could send the rocks tumbling. But this does not bother Shane. Impermanence is an important lesson and he views his work as a metaphor for life's ephemerality.

Rocks are alive. They breathe. But it is difficult for us to see the vastness of this geologic time scale. In our lifetime we will not see the formation of mountains or rocks slowly being whittled to sand. We tend to fear our impermanence. But beauty, grace and consciousness are all grounded in impermanence. The stones eventually fall. This is part of the act of balance.

Connecting with nature is an important part of balance in our yoga practice. Every pose is temporary. Every pose is a balancing act. Every pose is meant to be about the journey, exploring our breath and finding the mind/body connection. That is why we do not stay at the edge and do not stay at the center. We pulse between these places. We should not have an attachment to the perfect pose. Perfection itself is only temporary.

Find the balance point in your yoga and in your life. Find freedom in impermanence. Be mindful of every moment. As Shane says of his work, "When I am done, I take it down and I am free."

Risk

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."
TS Eliot

Taking risks is almost as necessary as taking a breath of fresh air. It gives our lives meaning and exhilaration. Risks do not guarantee success, but they do guarantee knowledge. We learn from risk-taking. We learn about our strengths and weaknesses. We learn about our limits. We can often surprise ourselves that we are capable of more than we imagined.

By definition, risk includes the possibility of loss or injury or some kind of peril. But it can also result in amazing triumph or gain. Risk involves uncertainty. We can never know the outcome of a risk in advance.

We need to be prepared for a risk we decide to take. For example, if we decide to dive from a high rock into a lake, we need to know that the lake is deep enough to avoid injury. This does not necessarily take away the fear of diving from a high place. Not to test the water first for depth would be a foolish risk. But once we take that dive, the excitement of the free fall and plunge into the watery depths makes us feel fully alive.

Attitude is key for risk-taking. When we reach out to another person we risk rejection. But if we don't take that risk we miss out on the experience of loving and being loved. If we challenge ourselves to reach a goal, we risk failure but we also have the opportunities to grow as a person and achieve our goals. Risk involves taking responsibility and acceptance of the outcome.

When we practice yoga we can play it safe by just taking the form of a pose. We can choose not to test how deep we can go into the pose. We can practice mechanically without putting our feelings into the pose.

Or we can play with the edges. We can feel how far we can go safely within that pose. We can really tune into our bodies and learn something new each time we practice. We can fully engage our minds and hearts in our practice. We can risk changing ourselves. We can take yoga beyond just stretching.

Life is not about certainty. The more we test our limits, the more our limits expand and change. So take the plunge.

Finding the calm within the storm

Life can be overwhelming and chaotic. When your mind is going full blast it is difficult to feel peaceful. How do we find comfort and quiet when we feel exhausted and full of uncertainty?

Just as hurricanes have a calm, quiet center surrounded by raging winds and powerful rains, we too, have tranquility in our deepest core. Inside each of us is a quiet center, a place where we are connected to a higher power. We have to slow down to find this center.

Our breath connects us to this center. We are not really in control of our breath. We are being breathed by something bigger that exists inside of each of us. This power has many different names: God, Spirit, Grace, Higher Power, Divine Nature, etc. But we have all felt it at some moments in our lives. We know its presence.

In yogic philosophy prakriti means all matter, everything that changes and evolves. Purusha means Spirit or that which is constant and unchanging. Our chaotic lives are prakriti. But the deep stillness that lives within us is part of purusha. Purusha exists within prakriti.

The mind and body are deeply connected. When we practice yoga we focus on the breath. We open up to something bigger that supports us - purusha. When we become proficient in our yoga practice we are working from that quiet center. That center is our place of strength and power. The balance necessary for yoga comes from this place of power. That is why we feel relaxed and energized after a yoga practice.

Connecting with the rhythm of our breath and with the pulse of nature helps bring us to this quiet place. When we realize that we are not alone, the chaos loses its power over us. Dance with your breath, connect with the rhythm of life and find the calm within the storm.

Three Cups of Tea

Some stories can truly inspire us to realize that we can make a positive impact in our lives and in the lives of others. Greg Mortenson's story of building schools for the children in rural Pakistan touches the heart of all who learn of his dedication to this cause.

After spending 2 months weathering terrible storms at high altitude and a failed attempt to reach the summit of K2 in northern Pakistan, Greg was descending back to civilization when he became disorientated and separated from his friends. Suffering from dehydration, altitude sickness and overall weakness, he stumbled into an impoverished remote village where he was taken in by a local family and slowly nursed back to health.

While living in the village he was shown the local "school" which consisted of the children sitting on an patch of land scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The people were too poor to afford anything better and Greg was determined to help build a real school for the children.

Returning to the United States Greg sent out hundreds of letters to celebrities and other potential donors but received only a one-hundred dollar donation. Greg persevered by giving talks with slide shows until he finally found one donor who gave him enough money to build one school.

When he went back with the money to build the school, the villagers told Greg they needed a bridge first because the only access to the village was across a rickety, unsafe bridge high above a swift river. So Greg had to restructure his plans and work on the bridge first.

After many setbacks Greg was able to complete the bridge and eventually the school. He has documented his journey in his book "Three Cups of Tea". The villagers had a saying, "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything, even die."

If you practice yoga with dedication, your practice will nourish your mind, body and spirit in ways that will keep growing and expanding beyond what you would first imagine. Greg's one school has grown to 80 schools over the past 15 years as Greg remained dedicated to his cause. As you become more centered and focused in your yoga practice, you become stronger and your body becomes wiser. Greg's goal was to give the children of Pakistan more options than just being recruited by the local militia. Education gave them more opportunities. Greg's mission was to promote peace with books.

Yoga helps to educate our bodies and minds to breathe more fully, to feel and develop proper alignment and to build and tone our muscles evenly. It brings us more into balance. With balance we are able to move more efficiently and conserve energy for the things that are important and meaningful in our lives. Yoga gives us the opportunity to connect more fully with our inner wisdom. Connecting with our inner wisdom leads to inner peace. Inner peace communicated through our words and actions contributes to a peaceful energy that takes on a life of its own. Each of us in this way can have a positive impact, big or small, that will grow and touch the lives of others.

Kindness: the ultimate renewable resource

Kindness feels good. It is contagious and totally renewable. There are scientific studies done about the health benefits of kindness. Endorphins are released and stress-related health problems improve after you perform an act of kindness.

There is a true story about a man that held a sign on a busy street corner saying, "Free Hugs". At first people passed him by pretending not to notice. But then one tiny woman stopped to tell him how her dog had just died that morning. How that morning had been the one year anniversary of her only daughter dying in a car accident. How what she needed now, when she felt most alone in the world, was a hug. So they hugged and she smiled.

That first hug turned into an outpouring of people hugging. The feeling seemed to grow after that first hug. At one point the police stopped the hugging, tried to fine the man holding the "Free Hug" sign and ban the public act of free hugging. But after 10,000 signatures were collected on a petition, free hugs were reinstated. People want to hug and connect with each other.

Being kind includes being kind to yourself even when no one else is involved. Kindness comes from love. If we can support ourselves with kindness and self-love, we will have the willingness and openness to practice kindness as a habit that comes almost without thinking. Just a generous smile to a stranger could brighten their day.

Practicing yoga is an act of kindness to our bodies, minds and spirit if we practice in a mindful way. We need to embrace ourselves lovingly. Being unkind to our bodies even in yoga can lead to injury. So let kindness guide your actions. We want to practice in a way that feels good and not forceful. Kindness involves sensitivity and compassion. So we practice yoga by hugging our muscles to the bone as a gentle embrace. The hugging action is contractive but the feeling created is expansive. There is power in softness. There is power in kindness. And it is a resource we can never run out of.

Simplicity

"From naive simplicity we arrive at more profound simplicity."
Albert Schweitzer

Simplicity isn't always simple. At first something may appear to be simple. But as we learn more, it becomes more complex. When we simplify something that is complex, it becomes profound.

Some might say that simplicity is inferior to complexity. Simplicity implies that something is easy to understand. If a person is thought of as simple. one might consider them to be unintelligent or even stupid. But is this true?

We pulse between simplicity and complexity. This pulsation is how we deepen our understanding of life. Simplicity is about the essence of an idea, person, theory, thought, etc. Complexity involves many layers, and details and can get confusing. Simplicity is very clear. We often get glimpses of simplicity that become clouded with complexities. "Less is more." This oxymoron lies at the heart of the meaning of simplicity.

In yoga we pulse with the breath. The inhalation and exhalation are opposites: one brings the breath in and the other sends the breath out. But together they make up breathing. They are necessary for the other. At first a pose like down dog may seem simple. But the longer you stay in down dog, the more complex or difficult it may become. As you practice and understand the complexities of down dog, it comes back to feeling easier to hold and simple in the sense that we do not feel overwhelmed in down dog.

When practicing yoga or when things seem overwhelming, stop and focus on your breath. Fully appreciate the energy and vibrancy of the inhalations and exhalations. When we simplify our focus, life become easier. Simplicity leads to understanding. It is the luminous treasure that we all seek in this journey of life.

Contentment

"Contentment is natural wealth. Luxury is artificial poverty."
Socrates

Recognizing our innate goodness, our divine nature and how we are all connected and supported by a higher power is the root of contentment. Contentment is like the bed of a river. The water flows, rises and falls, shifts happen but the bed of the river gives shape, support and constancy to the river. Contentment is part of who we are. If we are always looking for something more outside of ourselves to be happy, we will never be truly content.

Contentment does not mean sitting around and doing nothing. Although sometimes if we do sit around and do nothing, we can still be content. Challenging oneself and having goals can either lead to contentment or frustration. If our motivation is trying to be better than someone else or we feel we need to be better to be happy, we will only achieve a false contentment that will not last.

Is the glass half full or half empty? Contentment is not about seeing the glass as half full. The glass is both half empty and half full. Recognizing this and feeling good even though the glass is not completely full, is being content. Contentment is being OK with what we do have now.

In yoga when we are aware of our breath and move from our core our poses will have a feeling of steadiness and freedom. We want to express our poses from the inside. Inner contentment leads to a practice that is non-competitive and will protect us from injury. When we practice a twisting pose, if we try to force our twist to be deeper by using more muscular energy, we can hurt our backs. But if we allow our bodies to expand into the twist from within with our exhalation, we can go just as deep safely and without force. When our strength comes from contentment we do not overextend ourselves. We know when we need to rest and rejuvenate.

Practicing yoga involves testing the edges and coming back to the middle. Exploring our choices, our limitations, and our strengths helps us to find balance. Contentment comes from connecting with the bigger pulse, from energy that ebbs and flows. It is this constant pulsation that connects us to the essence of yoga.

Socrates had great wisdom and always believed that he knew nothing because the world is full of mystery. He was content with this belief. Contentment is like wisdom. It cannot be taught. It comes from how we live our life. Clinging to material wealth will lead to spiritual poverty. Be appreciative of the natural wealth you have with the gift of life. Simplicity leads to the greatest wealth of all.