July Re-cap

Kyle Dondero wrote this nice little summary of the July Yoga Collective.

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What a wonderful Collective yesterday! Thank you Sarah for setting up and Erica for helping break it all down :)

We talked about Satya, or Truth, and were led down a path of Non-violent Communication with our bodies to practice being truthful. Pairing up with other participants, we individually practiced an asana and then talked with our partner about it using the NVC model: an observation, stating the feeling, identifying needs, and making a request. i.e "I did a forward fold and felt sharp pressure in my lower back. I need feel release without that tension. I will bend less next time and see if that helps."

Erica led us through a nice pranayama/ kundalini exercise and then surprised us with an activity. She handed out an object for us to explore with our eyes closed and to be truthful in our discovery of that object, using all our senses, ending with us opening our eyes to see what it was we were interacting with. Fun to be a kid again!

We wrapped up the Collective with a nice potluck of rice, chips, hummus/babaganesh ;) mixture, cherries, deserts and a light refreshing tea.

Thanks to all that came and we look forward to seeing you, and everyone else next month!

Namaste y'all!

Meditation Practice: New Yoga Insights And Direct Experiences

Since we've decided to hold this month's gathering one week late, due to the holiday, I have a special treat to tide you over--Another guest post from Adam Dudley! Adam is a former AYC member, now living in Florida. If you enjoy Adam's writing, check out his other AYC post here, or follow him on twitter @adamdudley. Thanks for contributing, Adam!

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It's been maybe five, six years since I began my Astanga yoga asana and pranayama practice. But I feel like I only began to practice some of the other six limbs during the past one or two years. I had never practiced seated meditation -- seemingly the original asana and form of yoga -- more than a few times in my life and those few times were without purpose and vigor.

So it was recently -- literally several weeks ago -- after making a breakthrough on some inner work I had been doing that I decided I am ready to learn how to teach yoga. Thus I began to immerse myself in the various translations of the yoga sutras along with beginning a once-a-day early morning seated meditation practice using the pranayama method. I started with just twenty minutes and now am up to forty minutes sitting still on a cushion with crossed legs, with my thumbs and forefingers together, using the breath and then the third eye as my objects of concentration, putting effort towards mastering the incessant vacillations of my mind. It is often very hard work and it was immediately obvious that a high degree of devotion is required to make consistent progress.

I'm quite surprised and pleased, two attachments I aim to let go of :-) , at how quickly I began to receive the benefits of this new practice. I feel a new sense of tranquility in life and a new lightness of body and mind that I haven't felt for a long, long time. Maybe never. Following are six insights and direct experiences I've gained in these several weeks. If you practice as I have, maybe you will gain similar insights or much different ones.

image shared under CC license from horizontal.integration's flickr site.

1. Yoga is compatible with any religion because the end-goal of meditation is to become so still and so aligned with Spirit, or the Source of All, that your Self becomes absorbed into it as you transcend all suffering and achieve perfection. You can choose to focus on any manifestation of that Spirit you wish: God, Jesus Christ, the life force that resides within each of us, Mohammed, the Buddha. Yoga doesn't much care which deity we choose. The practice will not discriminate and everyone has access to all the benefits.

2. The conscious mind, it's persistent vacillations and perceptions is not the Self. It is an object that the Self is witnessing as is everything in nature including thought, emotion, pain, pleasure and attachment to any of these. Cementing this discrimination is one of the goals of yoga.

3. The conscious mind is a labeling machine and, in most, predominantly an avoider of what it perceives as pain and a seeker of sensual pleasure, indulgence and sensory stimulation. In addition to reacting to the objects of its perception, it draws on a store of latent impressions (or what I think of as the contents of the subconscious mind) to make meaning out of everything it perceives. These latent impressions (some of which are said to come from previous births) are the source of all our judgements, likes, dislikes, prejudices, stereotypes, sense of self, and all the attributes we've unconsciously applied to everything our minds know about.

4. The mastery and eventual dissipation of our atavistic desires, urges or instincts to avoid pain and gain pleasure and becoming attached to these is one of the higher goals of yoga. Those desires and instincts includes some stuff we like to think of as "hardwired" like sex/procreation, fight/flight, etc.

5. When you begin to cultivate awareness and conscious observation of how your mind does what it does, you begin to realize that all worldly experience is the same, follows the same path and thus becomes less attachment-worthy. That path is presented to the sense organs of the body (an object can be thoughts, emotions and all the things we perceive as being external to us) > sense organs send signals to the nervous system > nervous system carries the signals to the mind > the mind makes meaning of the signals by tapping its store of impressions or associations > then a perception occurs > which often (if you're not attending to your Self) results in an unconscious reaction in the form of a thought, emotion, action. This last part usually leads to a whole chain of reactions that result in the creation of additional latent impressions. Karma.

6. The dissipation of the mind's incessant patterns of thought and labeling through consistent yoga practice result in longer and longer gaps in the thoughts, a new awareness of the individual moments of time flowing from one to the next and an accompanying sense of tranquility, and a newfound ability to accept what is and to see things as they really are.

The sutras seem to say that what I've talked about in this post is only the beginning of the stilling process because the beginning stages are "…accompanied by four kind of cognition: analytical thinking, insight, bliss, and feeling like a self" (Chip Hartranft's translation). Sometimes I get glimpses of bliss in my seated meditation. What I've written are insights and seem very analytical to me, which is consistent with my self-image. So I guess at some point I might see all of that fall away. Where are you in your yoga meditation practice if you have one? Let us know in the comments below.

Waging Peace at the June Collection

Please enjoy this poetic re-cap of the June Gathering by AYC Member, Tess Wilson. Tess recently completed her yoga teacher training with Bill Cottrell at one of Athens' newest yoga studios, Yogaful Day. She is also a massage therapist, offering massage at Urban Sanctuary and for female clients, out of her home studio.

The June gathering of the Athens Yoga Collective nestled itself in a pocket of sunshine on an otherwise stormy summer afternoon. It was as if the heavens paused to absorb the message of ahimsa (non-violence) being delivered in various forms inside the beautifully renovated New Earth Music Hall. Claire Coenen set the tone for the gathering by sharing her perspective on the first yama (yoga's ethical restraints). With this theme of non-harming in mind, the group of about 12 began our asana practice, led by the undeniably talented RYT Nicole Ponzer. The creative practice was characterized by a simultaneous sense of effort and ease (sthira sukham). It exemplified ahimsa by providing ample opportunity for modifications. With open hearts and linked hands, Katelyn Ten Eyck encouraged us to access a connection to our own deep heart centers, and each other's. The meeting culminated in the enjoyment of stellar vegetarian fare, potluck style. Some days, such as this, nature practices ahimsa by pummeling the earth with life-sustaining rain, despite the wishes of she who had hoped to feel the sun kiss her face. So we went out into the world to practice our duty of ahimsa in the face of avidya, inspired and emboldened by the support of this incredible group of yogis. Namaste. 

Guest Post: Accepting What Is

I am delighted to announce our first guest post is here! It was written by one of the original Athens Yoga Collective members, Adam Dudley, who is no longer Athens-based but offered to write a blog post in order to stay active in the Collective from afar. He is currently residing in Orlando and practicing at the studio where he began practicing Ashtanga many years ago, College Park Yoga. Adam has seventeen years of martial arts experience and is co-founder of Location Liberated. We miss Adam (and Heather!) but are so glad we're staying connected. Enjoy!

When we practice yoga consistently for a certain number of years, we sometimes begin to experience subtle but significant shifts in how we perceive and how we operate in the world. We might find that we are more compassionate towards others, more tuned in to nature, hyper-sensitive to the suffering in others, more gracious, better listeners, or, we may briefly fall into the ego's trap of thinking that our yoga practice makes us superior, more knowing, than others in some way. What may also happen at some point in our practice, is that we will notice we are more attractive to some people and as repulsive as a green, slimy alien to others. As we begin to cross that magical threshold in our yoga practice, when we begin to awaken to the realization that when we are looking into the eyes of another (human or nonhuman), beyond the layers of that being's sense of "I", we are looking into the source of what we really are: Pure awareness. As that shift happens, we get excited. We want to reach out and touch everyone, tell everyone about what we've experienced and what we think we know to be true about what we are and how life really is. But, as we may find out, most people either don't want to hear about it, are frightened by it, or, are freaked out by our alien perceptions. That can trigger all manner of ego responses in us: anger, frustration, pain. Why won't they listen?!? That's all a result of not accepting what is. The truth is that not everyone, and in fact a small percentage of people, will embrace what we have embraced. Not everyone will do the work that we have done. Not everyone will respond well to our intuitive insights. That is what is. And we cannot be truly free, if we cannot learn to accept what is -- whether our minds labels it good/bad, positive/negative -- with equal measures of delight, compassion, friendliness and equanimity (or so says the Yoga Sutras). So if we find that others are responding to us in a not-so-friendly way, if they don't mirror our open gaze or if they react violently to our friendliness when we share our yoga practice with them, then we should sit with that in a space of non-reaction. Find delight in their reaction and respond with friendliness and compassion as best we can without further disturbing whatever pain lies within them. Paying attention to how others respond to our actions and being okay with however they choose to react. That is yoga practice.

---by Adam Dudley

MAY you be happy, MAY you be healthy, and MAY you be at New Earth this sunday for the May Collective

This Sunday we'll convene again at our new gathering space, New Earth. It's so delightful to be downtown doing something healthy and productive. While I love the avid bar scene in our town, there's just nothing like community-building with like-minded yogis and yoginis. Organizing our monthly gatherings around
a theme has been a nice way to give some direction to our planning but remember you can come with any questions or discussion topics in mind and find a wealth of perspectives to help you, whether it's something about your personal asana practice, taking your teaching to the next level, or trying to stay present in life off the mat. This month's theme, in honor of spring, is:

rejuvenation! 

Nothing more rejuvenating than sunshine, good food, new friends, and getting your daily practice in before sunset!

As you may have seen on our Facebook page, this Sunday also happens to be National Laughter Day, so bring a nerdy yoga joke to share! :)  See you Sunday!

a NEW AND PERMANENT meeting time and place for our gatherings!

This month's details:

Date: Sunday April 7th
Time: 3:00-5:00 pm
Place:New Earth Music Hall, downtown on Dougherty and Hull 
Who: anyone looking to deepen their yoga practice and their relationships with other Athens yogis
Cost: $5 suggested donation* 

This month, we'll explore the themes of "Growth, Self-Love and the Third Chakra". We'll keep the same general format: 1.5ish hours of led practice, meditations, discussions, mini-workshops, etc. and a vegetarian potluck to close. We have chosen this new day because of feedback that Mondays are too busy for yoga teachers, and we've chosen this new time so that we can all get home with time for productivity, families, homework, etc. afterwards.

As for the new HOME, there are SO many reasons! First and foremost, we LOVE what New Earth is all about! From their Facebook page: "New Earth is a forward thinking, environmentally conscious, and community involved concert venue/bar/event space in Athens, GA."  So much more than your typical music venue! They are particularly reaching out to the yoga community by purchasing yoga mats to keep on hand for us and other similar groups and so we're reaching right back to slap them a big ole high five and say "YES! THANK YOU! YOU ROCK!" Also, i think the downtown location will be awesome on a Sunday because people who drive can find free parking, while people who bike or walk will have a central and pleasant destination. I know it leaves bus-riders in the lurch a bit, but if that becomes a problem for anyone let me (sarah) know and we'll get you there! New Earth is also renovating their huge patio which will allow for awesome sunshine-soaking opportunities on our afternoons there.

image from: http://mytruthsetsmefree.wordpress.com

Last month's gathering felt like a huge shift, in terms of the attendance (12? 15? i forget!) as well as members speaking up with ideas about new directions. Remember that this co-creation is ever-evolving so come jump in anytime and help make this group whatever you need it to be. We will continue to vary the emphasis to highlight learning, community, practice, or whatever else is needed. You can tell I'm pretty stoked about this month and i hope you are too. See you at New Earth this Sunday at 3:00!


*Any funds collected from donations will be used to promote the Collective (fliers, ads, etc). Income and expenditures will be posted on the blog to promote transparency. NOTE: all are welcome, regardless of ability to donate!

Carrying on! March gathering is here!

Well, after a month of looking at the note "write about February Collective gathering" sit on my to-do list the time has come to also write about the March gathering! So, here we go, carrying on as an imperfect being with a long to-do list and feeling perfectly content about it :)

First and foremost, we'll be meeting Monday March 11th in the community living room above Ben's Bikes! As always, we'll meet 6:30-8:30pm and cycle through a led practice, workshop/asana discussion, and some meditation/philosophizing before we dive in to eat some vegetarian potluck goodness! Feel free to come late if needed. I will bring a few extra mats but since we're not yet set up in a permanent space with mats, bring a yoga mat for yourself if you can. Oh, and the organizing principle of our get-together tomorrow will be the second chakra, which is associated with all kinds of fun stuff including the hips, the color orange, sexuality, creativity, and finances!

image from: sevenchakrasmeditation.com

For our February 2013 gathering we had a lovely rotating cast of participants and workshopped some standing poses like the tricky warrior I which has totally different things going on in each foot. In particular I was inspired to have picked up some useful teaching cues to encourage rooting through the hands and feet.

Feb 2013 potluck above. The community living room has such a cozy dining room decorated with original artwork. I was too relaxed and comfy to focus the camera, apparently! 

Well, please let us know if you have anything to contribute or if you have any questions about the mission of the collective! Hope to see you at a future gathering!