I’ve been contemplating the art of teaching. I myself have taught various movement arts, including yoga, fitness and dance for over 24 years. I am also a student of these disciplines. I’ve attended countless seminars, workshops, retreats and schools in my disciplines of choice. I’ve read books, magazines, traditional texts, and online snippets in an effort to deepen my knowledge and refine my teaching skills. I’ve noticed that some teachers, authors and dancers resonate strongly and drive their point home with efficiently and authenticity. Others seem to fall flat.
Spotting a Good Teacher:
You can recognize gifted teachers immediately. For one, they seem to choose their words carefully. Their sentences spring forth like arrows that land squarely in the heart of each student. It’s apparent when you have been with a good teacher because you feel inexplicitly changed in some way. Good teachers have a strange way of following you home. Even after you finish the book, place the CD in its case or pass through the exit doors of the seminar they stay in your head and continue to teach. As you practice your art, their words often stream back into your consciousness and help you to refine your understanding of the art form and unravel layers of meaning.
Authentic Teaching:
Second, good teachers have authenticity. They are able to shift their voice inflection and volume and offer gestures and pauses to convey to the student the truth inside their words. They are often able to offer authentic connection with their audience by revealing their own experience with the body of knowledge they are teaching. One of my favorite yoga teachers often said “Everything flows nicely as long as you teach only what you know.” You can detect when a teacher is teaching something they have not experienced for themselves. Their teaching will be unable to directly connect with the student and it will lose its ability to move them. It seems to me that if you have not experienced something directly, it is still theory to you and you have no business teaching it.
Authentic teaching does not only come through words. I teach a style of dance that has no verbal cuing whatsoever. The teacher must be able to convey the seeds of truth nonverbally through their own direct experience of the piece. The student must rely on their inner instincts and cultivate keen observation and listening skills to uncover the silent kernel of truth in the dance. They are required to detect subtle changes in movement and musical cadence. A perceptive student will listen for the entry and exit of instruments and watch the instructor carefully to identify the intention and flavor behind the movements and sound. If the student pays attention and the teacher is authentic, the process will strike a chord within the student and enkindle their inner rhythmic flame. Soon the student will learn to listen inwardly and outwardly. They will allow the music to move them and discover their unique expression of the dance. Once this process takes place the student and teacher roles dissipate and they are truly able to dance together within a single rhythmic flame.
Good Teachers Tell Stories:
Third, good teachers tell good stories. Stories are an excellent way to drive home a point and are excellent transportation vehicles for authentic truth. The ancient disciplines of yoga, Ayurveda and dance abound with good stories. They have been recited, scribed and danced for thousands of years and convey many layers of meaning. A good teacher will have a few of those to offer you.
Some teachers choose to share personal stories from their life experience. This can be extremely effective and allows the teacher to connect to the student on a profound level. It can create honor, respect and reverence between student and teacher. The student may recognize themselves in the teacher’s “humanness”. The process gently lifts the teacher down off the teaching pedestal the student may have placed him on (or the one he hopped on to all by himself!), and raises the student to a level where they can see eye to eye. It creates a doorway for the two in which information can be shared without the pretense of “I know more than you or you know less than me”. Some of the most important information I ever learned came from my students.
Good Teachers Enkindle a Student’s Inner Fire:
So, good teachers teach what they know. Whatever their medium; speech, the written word, soundless movement or music, they ring through as authentic carriers of wisdom. They have reverence for their students and their chosen disciplines. They convey good stories and send them like arrows to stir the heart of the student. They offer themselves to the student selflessly. Good teachers stay in your head and follow you home. Finally, really good teachers enkindle a flame within the student’s innate intelligence; knowledge is illuminated and transformed into wisdom so that the student may shine forth brilliantly.
1.31.2010
1.30.2010
Walking From the Game
I stepped into your world,
and walked back out again.
Took in all the scenery,
then left it on a whim.
I shuffled all the cards,
dealt a hand for you.
I sat down at your table,
and played the game I knew.
Collected all the poker chips,
all shiny, bright and new.
Strategized my gaming plan,
called my move on cue.
I pierced the eyes of those who played,
made them look away.
I crawled beneath the tables,
thought they’d never stay.
I went to all the dances,
primly took the hands that led.
Practiced all the footwork,
layered deep into my head.
I memorized the melodies,
that drifted through my mind.
And washed away residuals,
they always left behind.
I begged for pomp and circumstance,
then gave it back to you.
I walked into a lonely room,
if only for the view.
Can’t give you all you’ll ever want,
have nothing left to give.
So leave me here so I can find,
a life that I can live.
1.29.2010
Whoe Will Carry the Lines?
Who will carry on,
the lines that weave
their threads
in and out
of the ages?
Who will utter
the sounds that encase
hidden wisdom
beneath their wings?
Who will draw the threads
of yesterday
into tomorrow?
So that throngs of
faces line the streets
to applaud the passing
parade?
the lines that weave
their threads
in and out
of the ages?
Who will utter
the sounds that encase
hidden wisdom
beneath their wings?
Who will draw the threads
of yesterday
into tomorrow?
So that throngs of
faces line the streets
to applaud the passing
parade?
1.28.2010
A Slow Dawn Creeps into the Morning
I wept today
under the stars,
in between the rules.
My tears fell through the cracks,
I saw people that I knew
beneath the stairs.
I used to know how to reach them
under there.
I would thread familiar heart strings,
they would recognize.
We became human together.
Now aliens rein.
A slow dawn creeps its awkward rise,
into the morning.
I miss the simple summer sunrise,
when everything was bright.
And faces lit in instant recognition
of themselves,
in mirrors that I drew.
What happened to authentic sentiments
of the unique artist
in conversation?
under the stars,
in between the rules.
My tears fell through the cracks,
I saw people that I knew
beneath the stairs.
I used to know how to reach them
under there.
I would thread familiar heart strings,
they would recognize.
We became human together.
Now aliens rein.
A slow dawn creeps its awkward rise,
into the morning.
I miss the simple summer sunrise,
when everything was bright.
And faces lit in instant recognition
of themselves,
in mirrors that I drew.
What happened to authentic sentiments
of the unique artist
in conversation?
1.26.2010
Small Soldiers, Big War
Your strategies are steely strong
thrusting you forward with conviction.
You look so bold and beautiful
on your high perch of sound bites.
You rise in elegance of
melodious words and clever punctuation.
Your round mind celebrates
its eloquence and pomp
Every soldier knows his war
like a best friend.
Grace is sitting along your side
leaning into your battle.
She wonders if there is space
for Her to seep into your heart today
And beckons soldiers to lay their bodies down
For rest.
I crawled through a hole today
and listened to her song
She weeps for marching armies
trailing their projectory
as if only she could catch up.
She asks not for courage of Kings
Or the joke of a jester.
She pays no mind to the brilliance of scientists
and the might of a showgirl.
She is little and large
and singing her sweet songs everywhere
She dances with small children
in fields of daffodils
And plays under the setting sun
in layers if orange and gold.
She leaps in the edges of stars
careful not to burn her fingers on their sharp edges.
She is under the earth sniffing the moist soil
cajoling the plants to take their places.
She’ out with the puppies and in with the trees
and never takes no for an answer.
She wonders if your small war
has left spaces for her to seep through.
She sits waiting patiently
leaning up against your edges.
To see if they yield
to her everlasting song.
thrusting you forward with conviction.
You look so bold and beautiful
on your high perch of sound bites.
You rise in elegance of
melodious words and clever punctuation.
Your round mind celebrates
its eloquence and pomp
Every soldier knows his war
like a best friend.
Grace is sitting along your side
leaning into your battle.
She wonders if there is space
for Her to seep into your heart today
And beckons soldiers to lay their bodies down
For rest.
I crawled through a hole today
and listened to her song
She weeps for marching armies
trailing their projectory
as if only she could catch up.
She asks not for courage of Kings
Or the joke of a jester.
She pays no mind to the brilliance of scientists
and the might of a showgirl.
She is little and large
and singing her sweet songs everywhere
She dances with small children
in fields of daffodils
And plays under the setting sun
in layers if orange and gold.
She leaps in the edges of stars
careful not to burn her fingers on their sharp edges.
She is under the earth sniffing the moist soil
cajoling the plants to take their places.
She’ out with the puppies and in with the trees
and never takes no for an answer.
She wonders if your small war
has left spaces for her to seep through.
She sits waiting patiently
leaning up against your edges.
To see if they yield
to her everlasting song.
"Martial Artists' in a Kidney"
I dreamed you were Israel
shaped like a kidney.
Two misshapen ovals,
striving to become into one.
I roamed backwards,
remembered our dance.
Smelled the smoke drifting off our skin.
A s it rose in alms through the whole in the top of the dome
and spread into the heavens.
Razor steadiness in our eyes,
like we had practiced forever.
There was such beauty in our strokes.
Tendrils of spaciousness trailing the path of our limbs.
Bodies moving outside the perimeter of time.
The second hand paused on its way by.
I remembered our reverence
of old art and ancestors.
Unwavering gaze
kept us rooted.
Was there something bigger
Holding us?
Do circles really have edges?
Or was it just a dream?
I remembered you like you were Israel.
Two misshapen ovals
Blending into one.
When Everything was Whole
A lifetime fills itself
with cleaning supplies.
Cracked, dry hands,
glue broken pieces back together.
Heaving grunts puff from lips,
staccato in a row.
An Earthsong calls the flesh of the face towards it,
Hanging over bones and beckoning rest.
A weary glance captures broken things
lying in the corner.
Ears weep for the silence of the beginning
when everything was whole.
with cleaning supplies.
Cracked, dry hands,
glue broken pieces back together.
Heaving grunts puff from lips,
staccato in a row.
An Earthsong calls the flesh of the face towards it,
Hanging over bones and beckoning rest.
A weary glance captures broken things
lying in the corner.
Ears weep for the silence of the beginning
when everything was whole.
1.23.2010
The Small Soldier
Oh! The arrogance of those
who take the burning embers for their own.
The soldiers on the streets
who choose the wars from narrow lists.
Destiny will ring her bell
to shake them off fragile ladders
born of small minds
and clumsy kindling.
the righteous always chart
the clearest of paths,
to find shadows creeping in the hallways.
Conviction seals the doors
of the bravest of men
as they burn themselves up
in Glory.
1.09.2010
Suzanne's Biography
Suzanne Wells is an author, certified instructor of Yoga, Pilates, Zumba, and an Ayurveda Consultant. She offers workshops and publications through her company Harmonic Earth, LLC. Her teachings aim to seat the seeds of wisdom deep in the heart of students, so they may shine forth brilliantly.
She can be found at dawn ushering the sun over the horizon in song. Her book lies floating in pieces in the internet clouds and can be read on her blog: RoundEarthSquarePeople.
She is featured in the book: Zumba®: Ditch the Workout, Join the Party! The Zumba Weight Loss Program (Hardcover): Beto Perez (Author), Maggie Greenwood-Robinson (Author) and featured with "Expert Author Status" for eZine and writes for numerous online publications. She has extensive experience writing marketing content for the holistic health, yoga and fitness industries.
Suzanne has over 24 years experience teaching movement arts. She began teaching in 1984 while completing a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Marketing at Northeastern University in Boston. In 1985 she traveled extensively through Western Europe which set the ground for her interest in indigenous culture. She has studied the wisdom of Native American and shamanic cultures, yoga in the Kripalu, Astanga and Shadow schools and invested 11 years in a highly successful sales career with Xerox Corporation. In 1995 she embarked on a 6 month pilgrimage to Egypt, Israel and Europe to study the female expression of the Divine in ancient culture. In 1996, she decided to teach yoga and dance full time. After birthing 3 children and 10 years teaching, she was sought deeper meaning in her practice and a way to live yoga "off the mat". Her search for the expression of divinity within everyday life brought her to the study of Ayurveda (the medical branch and sister science of yoga). She graduated from the Kriplau School of Ayurveda in 2009.
She has served students in several states over the last 25 years in the cities of Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Cleveland and New York where she lives with her 3 children, a dog, a cat, 3 hermit crabs and 3 parakeets. She continues to deepen her study of pranic reverence and the sacred feminine and remains humbled at the feet of those who have had the courage and grace to walk this path before her. Special gratitude goes to the many, many unseen teachers who touch our hearts and teach our souls to sing.
She can be found at dawn ushering the sun over the horizon in song. Her book lies floating in pieces in the internet clouds and can be read on her blog: RoundEarthSquarePeople.
She is featured in the book: Zumba®: Ditch the Workout, Join the Party! The Zumba Weight Loss Program (Hardcover): Beto Perez (Author), Maggie Greenwood-Robinson (Author) and featured with "Expert Author Status" for eZine and writes for numerous online publications. She has extensive experience writing marketing content for the holistic health, yoga and fitness industries.
Suzanne has over 24 years experience teaching movement arts. She began teaching in 1984 while completing a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Marketing at Northeastern University in Boston. In 1985 she traveled extensively through Western Europe which set the ground for her interest in indigenous culture. She has studied the wisdom of Native American and shamanic cultures, yoga in the Kripalu, Astanga and Shadow schools and invested 11 years in a highly successful sales career with Xerox Corporation. In 1995 she embarked on a 6 month pilgrimage to Egypt, Israel and Europe to study the female expression of the Divine in ancient culture. In 1996, she decided to teach yoga and dance full time. After birthing 3 children and 10 years teaching, she was sought deeper meaning in her practice and a way to live yoga "off the mat". Her search for the expression of divinity within everyday life brought her to the study of Ayurveda (the medical branch and sister science of yoga). She graduated from the Kriplau School of Ayurveda in 2009.She has served students in several states over the last 25 years in the cities of Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Cleveland and New York where she lives with her 3 children, a dog, a cat, 3 hermit crabs and 3 parakeets. She continues to deepen her study of pranic reverence and the sacred feminine and remains humbled at the feet of those who have had the courage and grace to walk this path before her. Special gratitude goes to the many, many unseen teachers who touch our hearts and teach our souls to sing.
1.08.2010
Suzanne's Writing Resume and Credits
PRINT ARTICLES:
• “Chores Music and Mothers” - Creations Magazine, April/May 2010. First person, inspirational piece on mothering, music and spirituality. Creations Magazine has served the holistic minded, health conscious, spiritually centered, creative communities for over 24 years in New York City and Long Island, with a circulation of 42,000 and total readership of 150,000 including web.
BOOKS:
•Interviewed and quoted in Zumba®: Ditch the Workout, Join the Party! The Zumba Weight Loss Program (Hardcover)~ by Beto Perez (Author), Maggie Greenwood-Robinson (Author), p.66
BLOGS:
•http://www.RoundEarthSquarePeople.blogspot.com- a self published blog for the Holistic Health community and practitioners of Yoga and Ayurveda. Includes original articles, links, educational material, poetry and pieces of a book in progress.
ONLINE WRITING –For Others
BLOGS:
- www.Whatsittake.com, articles posted
ONLINE CONTENT SITES:
• EzineArticles.com: Expert Author’s Status
• CopyPasteArticles.com
• ArticleContentDirectory.com
• ArticleCoop.com
• ArticleOnlineDirectory.com
• ArticleBase.com
• WhatsItTake.com
• Article Pro.com
PUBLISHED ARTICLES:
“Financial Contentment through the Practice of Yoga”
"Creating Warmth in winter through Yoga and Ayurveda”
“New Year's Eve - In Just a Minute”
“Digital Angst in a Technological World”
“A Mothers First Christmas Alone”
“The Art of Teaching”
“Warriors and Angels, Mothers and Sons"
ONLINE WRITING –For Self
• www.HarmonicEarth.org: since 2005. Self published business website which includes marketing pieces, educational publications, biography and links.
MARKETING / BUSINESS WRITING
• Harmonic Earth, LLC: BS in Marketing and Finance from Northeastern University, writer, 24 years + of a wide variety marketing material for Harmonic Earth, LLC including , complete business plan, product development, marketing content, newsletters, marketing letters, internet marketing concepts, product marketing concepts, direct mail pieces and workshop marketing content.
REFERENCES
•Excellent references on request.
• EzineArticles.com: Expert Author’s Status
• CopyPasteArticles.com
• ArticleContentDirectory.com
• ArticleCoop.com
• ArticleOnlineDirectory.com
• ArticleBase.com
• WhatsItTake.com
• Article Pro.com
PUBLISHED ARTICLES:
“Financial Contentment through the Practice of Yoga”
"Creating Warmth in winter through Yoga and Ayurveda”
“New Year's Eve - In Just a Minute”
“Digital Angst in a Technological World”
“A Mothers First Christmas Alone”
“The Art of Teaching”
“Warriors and Angels, Mothers and Sons"
ONLINE WRITING –For Self
• www.HarmonicEarth.org: since 2005. Self published business website which includes marketing pieces, educational publications, biography and links.
MARKETING / BUSINESS WRITING
• Harmonic Earth, LLC: BS in Marketing and Finance from Northeastern University, writer, 24 years + of a wide variety marketing material for Harmonic Earth, LLC including , complete business plan, product development, marketing content, newsletters, marketing letters, internet marketing concepts, product marketing concepts, direct mail pieces and workshop marketing content.
REFERENCES
•Excellent references on request.
1.05.2010
Contentment in a Material World through the Practice of Yoga
The recent financial climate in the country has brought a need to conserve in many families, mine included. As a long time yoga practitioner, I have been applying the practice of Aparigraha (non-greed). This is one of the Yamas or personal practices recommended in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a foundational text of Yoga. The Five Yamas are considered external disciplines as they relate to how we ‘yoke’ to the world. Aparigraha can also be translated as “not taking more than you need”. It is it a good practice and well worth modeling for our children, families and loved ones.
I’d like to say that I had a profound spiritual compulsion to start practicing Aparigraha in order to become a better teacher, yogi and world citizen; but that would violate ‘Satya’ - another Yama that translates as truthfulness. It was my profound inability to practice Aparigraha in the first place that most certainly got me into my current financial crisis. The yoga tradition has a magical way of giving the practitioner exactly what she needs.
Faced with financial hardship, it is easy to become afraid and start contracting. When we are afraid, nagging thoughts of “there is not enough” seep into our consciousness, then into our actions. We start protecting what we have and look for ways to get more. We may envy other people’s abundance and secretly wish it was ours. Fear brings contraction and contraction instantly stagnates flow.
Non-Greed and Contentment:
A better approach is to practice Aparigraha (non greed) in combination with another of Pantajali's recommended practices called Santosa. Santosa belongs to the group of 5 Niyamas or internal practices and can be translated as contentment. The Niyamas are said to guide our actions so they benefit all of life. This practice is one of expansion and helps make us feel full. It is a good for balancing Aparigraha (non-greed).Now the usual practices of gratitude and giving thanks for what you do have are fine examples of the practice of Santosa.
However, I have to tell you, this can be a stretch when you have lost everything, including your home, all its contents, a husband, a job, most of your community, your credit and pretty much everything else. This is where I’m coming from this year. You get tired of telling the kids we have no money for shoes or Christmas presents and they can’t play soccer or have a birthday party. You grow weary of standing on welfare and food stamp lines and visiting the labor department and divorce courts. Oh sure, you become grateful you have food to eat and for the churches who run “Adopt-a-Family” at Christmas. You feel blessed to have schools that secretly slip food baskets through the back door to the playground so as not to embarrass you and for kind neighbors who buy your kids shoes. And you’re eternally grateful that you live in a country that provides Health Care, job programs and basic civil rights unknown to so many world citizens. Yet fear kept clouding my perception and I didn’t exactly feel full or expansive. I’ve been on those welfare lines recently and have looked deeply into the eyes of the others standing there with me. Some seemed depleted and empty and definitely not content. I think they many of them are afraid too.
Four Aims of Life:
In Hinduism, the Purusarthas are the four main aims of life for a householder. They include mundane and spiritual aspects and represent a comprehensive approach to the satisfaction of a man's physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. From lowest to highest they are listed as 1. Dharma-righteousness or duty; 2. Artha-wealth; 3. Kama-sensual pleasure (in many forms) and 4. Moksha – liberation. I have been working really hard on refining my understanding Artha, the wealth aspect.
Abundance is Made to Flow:
It seems to me that in order to coax abundance into one’s life, a certain amount of trust is necessary. I once heard a saying that “fear is the lack of faith”. I have found it to be true. Faith doesn’t have to take on religious connotations; it can be a basic trust in some benevolent force out there that cares for even the tiniest of ants under the biggest of rocks. Or simple trust in the basic principles of energy will work. Wealth is an energy whose nature is to flow. If you contract around it in fear; it will stop flowing. If you move towards it with trust, it will be allowed to flow. It is good to have some wealth and spread it around too. Let it flow to and from you. Allow it to circulate so you can participate in the magnificent cosmic dance of it. Wish for others abundance and happily receive it when it flows your way.
Life Force in Everything:
The word Prana is often defined as Life Force or Chi. It animates the body and brings life to the world around us.It is a dancing, brilliant cosmic intelligence that allows things to shine brilliantly forth. It pulls us out of ourselves and insists on our bigness. The flow of Prana sings within you and asks you to shine your very brightest. You can recognize it everywhere. You can see it in the eyes of Veterans when they remove their caps for the playing of “God Bless America”. You can find it in good art that calls to you and in music that stirs you. It’s easy to see in puppies and babies and in children’s faces when they laugh. It can fill yoga poses and thread itself into musical notes. It is weaved into sunsets and apples and even in the tears that fall upon your chest in deep embrace.
As a yogi, I look for the Pranic expression in everything. Sometimes it’s hard to see and requires the careful awareness of a keen eye and sensitive ears. But if practice you will see it dancing in the corners and glittering off oceans and within rocks and food and even in the eyes of those you are angry with. The thing about Prana is that is connects as all in some way. You can feel it during a yoga session or during the 4th of July parade. You can see it at museums when people take in a really good piece of art or in the face of someone listening to precisely the right piece of music at the right time. Prana itself orchestrates a divine dance in which all dancers are asked to allow the very best of them to radiate forth. Sharpening your discrimination in order to experience prana inspires your fellow dancers to do the same. There is no reason for the dance, no need to earn it or be good at it or be anything different than what you already are. You are simply invited to join the dance for the sheer joy of dancing within Prana herself.
Liking Nice Things:
The thing with my financial dilemma is I like nice things; handmade things, good pieces of art and carefully crafted clothing. I like good organic food and 100% cotton sheets. To my eye, they have more Prana in them, as if the artist, musician or farmer added some of his light into the thing and made it bigger, more full somehow. Having these things in my life, being with them, gazing at them, tasting them, touching them, listening to them, seems to call me to shine forth a little bit brighter. They stir the Prana in me so my humanity feels fuller, shinier, and expansive. Witnessing their pranic expression helps me to feel connected and in union with something bigger than me. The word yoga itself means union and as a practicing yogi it gives me a way to live my yoga.
A life full of particle board furniture and plastic dishes can get to you after a while, deplete you, make you feel small and lonely. This isn’t to say I’m irresponsible. I have hard-won from failing to practice Aparigraha and Santosa. Practicing yoga has allowed me the ability to understand that I don’t really own anything. It’s all part of one big, fluid pranic pie .I don’t need these things to define myself or provide sense gratification anymore. I have begun to cultivate deep gratitude for their fullness. I have a deep appreciation for the way they make me smile inside and fill me with admiration and reverence for the effulgent force of Prana. I feel instantly grateful to the artist, handcrafter or farmer who made the brave effort to bring the thing to creation. I can feel the artists light in his carefully crafted words and within the notes of a beautiful song. I notice in the love a carpenter offers the wood or in the reverence a seamstress gives her materail. I relate with their art and feel a sense of connection to all who have experienced them. I become full, overflowing and spilling from my edges. Living life in this way helps me to move beyond myself and inspires a generous spirit within me. The experience brings effortless practice of Aparigraha and Santosa in a way that fear and contraction could never achieve.
Promise Yourself Flow:
I made a promise to myself and my children this year: when we are able, I am going to find some of those people that were on the welfare lines with us with fear in their eyes. I’m not going to get them something practical like canned goods or new shoes. I’m not even going to get those 100% Egyptian cotton sheets or a finely crafted piece of furniture because that but that would be my dream. No, I’m going to ask them to pick one thing they would really love to have, something beautiful and full. Something that they would never buy themselves because they feel it’s too much, they can’t afford or they don’t deserve it. I’m going to ask them to pick something that stirs them inside, something that makes them feel full and alive and brings life back into their eyes. I’ll ask them to think of something that calls them forth to shine brilliantly whenever their ears, eyes, hands, nose or tongue lights upon it. I’m going to insist on their bigness for one day and then I’m taking them shopping.
I’d like to say that I had a profound spiritual compulsion to start practicing Aparigraha in order to become a better teacher, yogi and world citizen; but that would violate ‘Satya’ - another Yama that translates as truthfulness. It was my profound inability to practice Aparigraha in the first place that most certainly got me into my current financial crisis. The yoga tradition has a magical way of giving the practitioner exactly what she needs.
Faced with financial hardship, it is easy to become afraid and start contracting. When we are afraid, nagging thoughts of “there is not enough” seep into our consciousness, then into our actions. We start protecting what we have and look for ways to get more. We may envy other people’s abundance and secretly wish it was ours. Fear brings contraction and contraction instantly stagnates flow.Non-Greed and Contentment:
A better approach is to practice Aparigraha (non greed) in combination with another of Pantajali's recommended practices called Santosa. Santosa belongs to the group of 5 Niyamas or internal practices and can be translated as contentment. The Niyamas are said to guide our actions so they benefit all of life. This practice is one of expansion and helps make us feel full. It is a good for balancing Aparigraha (non-greed).Now the usual practices of gratitude and giving thanks for what you do have are fine examples of the practice of Santosa.
Four Aims of Life:
In Hinduism, the Purusarthas are the four main aims of life for a householder. They include mundane and spiritual aspects and represent a comprehensive approach to the satisfaction of a man's physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. From lowest to highest they are listed as 1. Dharma-righteousness or duty; 2. Artha-wealth; 3. Kama-sensual pleasure (in many forms) and 4. Moksha – liberation. I have been working really hard on refining my understanding Artha, the wealth aspect.
Abundance is Made to Flow:
It seems to me that in order to coax abundance into one’s life, a certain amount of trust is necessary. I once heard a saying that “fear is the lack of faith”. I have found it to be true. Faith doesn’t have to take on religious connotations; it can be a basic trust in some benevolent force out there that cares for even the tiniest of ants under the biggest of rocks. Or simple trust in the basic principles of energy will work. Wealth is an energy whose nature is to flow. If you contract around it in fear; it will stop flowing. If you move towards it with trust, it will be allowed to flow. It is good to have some wealth and spread it around too. Let it flow to and from you. Allow it to circulate so you can participate in the magnificent cosmic dance of it. Wish for others abundance and happily receive it when it flows your way.
The word Prana is often defined as Life Force or Chi. It animates the body and brings life to the world around us.It is a dancing, brilliant cosmic intelligence that allows things to shine brilliantly forth. It pulls us out of ourselves and insists on our bigness. The flow of Prana sings within you and asks you to shine your very brightest. You can recognize it everywhere. You can see it in the eyes of Veterans when they remove their caps for the playing of “God Bless America”. You can find it in good art that calls to you and in music that stirs you. It’s easy to see in puppies and babies and in children’s faces when they laugh. It can fill yoga poses and thread itself into musical notes. It is weaved into sunsets and apples and even in the tears that fall upon your chest in deep embrace.
As a yogi, I look for the Pranic expression in everything. Sometimes it’s hard to see and requires the careful awareness of a keen eye and sensitive ears. But if practice you will see it dancing in the corners and glittering off oceans and within rocks and food and even in the eyes of those you are angry with. The thing about Prana is that is connects as all in some way. You can feel it during a yoga session or during the 4th of July parade. You can see it at museums when people take in a really good piece of art or in the face of someone listening to precisely the right piece of music at the right time. Prana itself orchestrates a divine dance in which all dancers are asked to allow the very best of them to radiate forth. Sharpening your discrimination in order to experience prana inspires your fellow dancers to do the same. There is no reason for the dance, no need to earn it or be good at it or be anything different than what you already are. You are simply invited to join the dance for the sheer joy of dancing within Prana herself.
Liking Nice Things:
The thing with my financial dilemma is I like nice things; handmade things, good pieces of art and carefully crafted clothing. I like good organic food and 100% cotton sheets. To my eye, they have more Prana in them, as if the artist, musician or farmer added some of his light into the thing and made it bigger, more full somehow. Having these things in my life, being with them, gazing at them, tasting them, touching them, listening to them, seems to call me to shine forth a little bit brighter. They stir the Prana in me so my humanity feels fuller, shinier, and expansive. Witnessing their pranic expression helps me to feel connected and in union with something bigger than me. The word yoga itself means union and as a practicing yogi it gives me a way to live my yoga.
Promise Yourself Flow:
I made a promise to myself and my children this year: when we are able, I am going to find some of those people that were on the welfare lines with us with fear in their eyes. I’m not going to get them something practical like canned goods or new shoes. I’m not even going to get those 100% Egyptian cotton sheets or a finely crafted piece of furniture because that but that would be my dream. No, I’m going to ask them to pick one thing they would really love to have, something beautiful and full. Something that they would never buy themselves because they feel it’s too much, they can’t afford or they don’t deserve it. I’m going to ask them to pick something that stirs them inside, something that makes them feel full and alive and brings life back into their eyes. I’ll ask them to think of something that calls them forth to shine brilliantly whenever their ears, eyes, hands, nose or tongue lights upon it. I’m going to insist on their bigness for one day and then I’m taking them shopping.
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