ahimsa-satya-asteya-brahmacarya-aparigraha-yamah 2.30
A yogi's code of conduct includes non-violence, truthfulness, non-coveting, moderation, and non-greediness

The Yamas are a reflection of our true nature. They are universal truths that apply to thoughts, words and deeds. The first of eight limbs of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, they offer a guideline toward reflection of our own ethical standards and toward living a life of balance and harmony.

Ahimsa - non-harming - is often the principle leading yogis to consider a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle in consideration of all living things. In terms of our yoga practice on the mat, it applies to our attitude towards ourselves and our poses. Therefore, I always encourage my students to look for the point of interest in a pose, not the point of pain. Because I had total hip replacement four years ago, I really learned the art of modification and gentleness.
Satya - truthfulness - means being honest about my own feelings. As a German, speaking my truth has been inherited. But I had to learn to do it in a non-harming way. Can we speak the truth without being abrasive? How about so-called white lies? 
Asteya - non-stealing - frees us from desire to to own something that's not ours, that we haven't earned or paid for. Our kids went to a Montessori school; as parents we were asked to not steal their opportunity to learn by tying the shoelaces for them. Sure, I could do it faster, but they would never learn to do it themselves. I feel the same way about giving assists in my yoga class. I am not going to put a student in a pose that they couldn't do themselves.
Bramacharya - moderation - was originally thought to apply to celibacy. The more modern interpretation includes the right use of energy and that includes intimate relationships. But it may also translate into our relationship with food and daily activities. 
Aparigraha -  non-coveting - not wanting what is not yours, not comparing to what happens on the mat next to yours. Instead, living with a generosity of spirit. Practicing letting go of grudges, attitudes, memories, all the stuff that no longer serves us.
Think about your own code of conduct.

The thought manifests as the word,
the word manifests as the deed,
the deed develops into habit,
and habit hardens into character.
so watch the thought and its ways with love,
and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings.
As the shadow follows the body,
as we think so we become.
BUDDHA

Abhyasa Vairagyabhyam Tannirodhah 1.12
"Then mental modifications are restrained by practice and non-attachment."

Practice and non-attachment are the process of self-mastery. The effort towards a steady mind is practice. It means becoming eternally watchful, scrutinizing every thought, word, and action. Patanjali follows this sutra with the reminder in 1.14 that "this practice becomes firmly grounded when well-attended for a long time, without break and in all earnestness. It takes devotion, patience and faith."

Non-attachment doesn't mean non-caring or being indifferent. It just allows a certain freedom from the outcome. On the mat, I often remind students that yoga is not about attaining a certain pose but maintainng a peaceful attitude. Can you stay present? Do you still smile? Is your breath calm? Or are frustration,  straining, or a longing to be elsewhere getting the best of you? By being a silent witness, we create a space from where we can watch without judgement, disassociated from the outcome.

Ali ibn abi Talib said it best: "Detachment is not that you should own nothing. But that nothing should own you."

When you want something constantly and your mind is tossed by your desires, it's difficult to find mental peace. Every desire is like a ripple formed on the surface of a calm lake when a stone is thrown in. With a restless mind, you cannot have a steady practice. And a steady practice is a guaranteed path toward happiness. Love yourself. Love your practice. 

"When I run after what I think I want,
my days are a furnace of stress and anxiety;
if I sit in my own place of patience,
what I need flows to me, and without pain.
From this I understand
that what I want also wants me."
Rumi 

Pramana vipryaya vikalpa nidra smrtayah 1.6
"The types of mind chatter are true perception, mistaken perception, imagined perception, the void of perception, and resurfaced perception."

Patanjali categorizes thoughts - or turbulences of the mind -  into five categories and notes that they can either bring pleasure or pain. Really, they all are variations of the theme "perception" - or different rays of the same consciousness. For the water animal, the ocean is like a garden; for land animals it's death and pain. In the picture above, do you see the river or do you see the heart in the sky?

True perception, or knowledge, comes from personal experience, inference and insights from the wise. But knowing that our sense organs and our mind are filtered by our past experiences and prejudices - even by time of day or whether we had a good night's sleep - we better take our own experiences with a  grain of salt. Inference is another slippery slope. Just because one individual from a particular race, religion or country of origin has committed a crime, not all people of that group are automatically criminals. But we might use our power of inference to look for the good in all people, giving all the benefit of the positive. We can gain knowledge from books legitimized by experts or prophets. But are they really representations or the "truth" or rather interpretations and reinterpretations, omissions and translations that now mirror the prejudices and perceptions of the author? The greatest wisdom is not the one we read but the one we experience in our hearts. That's really the wisdom we must trust and honor. In terms of your yoga practice, don't just do the pose because your teacher says so. Listen into your own body and make modifications that you feel are right for you.

Mistaken perception, or misunderstanding, often lead into longtime resentments. Family members might carry  a grudge into the grave and following generations have no idea what had caused the dissonance. Communication happens between a sender and a receiver. The message has to be encoded and decoded. A lot can happen in the process. Listen carefully with heart and mind and ask for clarification when in doubt. Be quick to forgive others as the mistake might be yours - if not this time, perhaps next time.

Imagined perception, or imagination, can lead us to or away from our heart. It can be pleasurable or unsettling. Our mind has a negativity bias and since the saber tooth tiger days it is ready to find threats, real or imagined. Do you have a tendency to predict the worst case scenario? Know that your brain's neuroplasticity allows you to form and reorganize synaptic connections.  So you can use your imagination to create a positive outlook. It's a choice. You can create a short positive affirmation and repeat it daily until you feel that it becomes you new truth.

The void of perception, or deep sleep, is a temporary suspension of all thought. It allows us to withdraw from conscious awareness, emotions, worries and cares. While sleep is necessary for health and vitality, it can also refer to a zombie-like state of being awake without being aware. Have you ever participated in a conversation but you were only present with your body, not your mind? Perhaps that happened because you were really tired. When I used to read to my kids before bed, I kept "reading" but strange, disconnected words came out of my mouth. The kids frowned at each other like, "That's not the story, mom." Where did my mind go? Anyway, I guess it's really important to observe what effects a good night's sleep can have on our ability to stay present.

Resurfaced perceptions, or memories, are previous experiences that returned to conscious awareness. They can be either pleasant or unpleasant. Sweet memories can help us through tough times, but dormant, hurt or anger can overwhelm present emotions. The yogic practices can help us release memories and dissolve unwanted thoughts and feelings. Like a bubble from the muddy ground of a mountain lake, they might float through layers of subconscious and then pop on the surface of the conscious mind. Then you have the option to keep it or let it go. When I ask you at the end of class, to decide what you want to leave on the mat and what you want to take along, you can make that very choice. When we are at peace and relaxed, it's a bit easier to control our memories rather than letting them control us. 

Instead of distinguishing between pleasant and painful thoughts, we could also call them selfless and selfish thoughts. Selfish thoughts will quickly usher in misery, while selfless thoughts leave us in peace. If you mind wants you to be selfish, tell it to be selfish in refusing to disturb its peace. Our yoga practice is a place where we can diligently practice the careful watching of our thoughts and perceptions.

"There are things known,
and there are things unknown,
and inbetween are the doors of perception."
Aldous Huxley 

Vritti sarupyam-itaratra 1.4
"Otherwise, thoughts take on the forms of the world around us, harden like clay, and presume that they are you."

Unless I sit down every morning and remember that the Universe is Joy, Love, Peace and Truth and that as a part of the Whole I, too, am an expression of Joy, Love, Peace and Truth, I quickly get absorbed in the everyday routine of getting breakfast ready, cleaning the kitchen, and preparing a yoga class. My mind is busy planning and anticipating. 
In that state, I can easily find myself latching onto thoughts of discontentment, disappointment, and detachment. If I allow that to happen, I quickly sing the Winter Blues. 
For me, the one proven way to prevent my thoughts from determining my emotions is to stay in alignment with my connection to God and to practice non-attachment to the thoughts that distract me. This is much easier said than done. A sure fire way to get out of the funk is to take a walk in the woods or to practice yoga. I need to consciously and physically (re)move myself.
In his app Yoga Sutras, author Trip says, "Thoughts are as superfluous as the rain. Just because rain falls on us, doesn't mean we are the rain." We were not our thoughts about our past, or projections of our future. 
So every morning, I sit and contemplate my true essence and how I am part of the Whole and how my thoughts and actions can  serve the world.

As a water bead on a lotus leaf,
as water on a red lily,
does not adhere,
​so the sage does not adhere
to the seen, the heard or the sensed.
(Buddha)

Tada Drashtuh Svarupe Avasthanam 1.3
"Then, the seer becomes established in its true nature."

In order to see ourselves clearly for who we are - with all our perfect imperfections - we first have to still the mind. Otherwise, we tend to identify with the "vrittis", the agitations and fluctuations of the mind. Once the mind is crystal clear, our perception is no longer distorted.

So perhaps yoga's ultimate result is the discovery of our true nature. When we are calm and centered, we can mindfully practice being a silent witness and observe our life as it is happening. We can accept our current situation without judgement or struggle. We can allow feelings to arise without letting them hijack us, and we can notice thoughts as they come without mistaking them for the truth.

Jon Kabat Zin said, "Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience."  

Whether we are on or off the yoga mat, our journey is hard or easy depending on the day, circumstances, and postures we create in our bodies and in our minds. It takes effort to face challenges, to take every obstacle as an opportunity and to keep looking for our true nature.

"Keep knocking
and the joy inside
will eventually
open a window
and look out
to see who's there."
RUMI

Yogas Citta Vritti Nirodaha 1.2
Yoga is the stilling of the turbulences of the mind.

Often, Patanjali's second aphorism is considered the definition of yoga. My teacher Nicki Doane said, "It's the intentional calming and stilling of the self-judging, self-limiting tendencies of the Citta, our subconscious mind, that makes the difference. Without intention, yoga is merely physical exercise."

In other words, yoga is not really about the pose. It's about how quiet you can keep your mind while you are in a pose. Although our Western interpretation of yoga includes mostly the physical asana practice, Patanjali barely mentions poses in his text. Yoga asana used to be a means to strengthening the body to sit in meditation for longer periods. The intention always was to get a closer connection to God, or the Universal Consciousness.

Stillness is the cornerstone of any mindfulness practice. In "Wherever you go, there you are", Jon Kabat  Zin wrote, "Your mindfulness will only be as robust as your mind's capacity to be calm and stable. Without calmness, the mirror of mindfulness will have an agitated and choppy surface and will not be able to reflect things with any accuracy."

A restful mind is like the clear, calm surface of a mountain lake that perfectly mirrors the surrounding peaks. Thoughts are like rocks thrown into the water. They draw increasingly large, concentric circles, disrupting and distorting the view of the mountains. 

Just like the heart is made for beating, the mind is made for thinking. Therefore asking your mind to be quiet is like asking your pulse to stop. But with practice we can learn to slow down the frequency of thoughts. I haven't counted mine, but supposedly we have between 50-70,000 thoughts a day. That's like having all apps open on your smart phone. If you need your phone to work more efficiently, you need to close some apps. That's where meditation comes in or a slow, mindful yoga asana practice. 

The next time you roll out your mat,  attune your mind to the sound of your breath to still the monkey mind.

As Jon Kabat Zin suggests, "You cannot stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." 



 

Atha Yoga Nushasanam 1.1
Now, the practice of yoga begins.

​With the first of the Yoga Sutras, the Indian sage Patanjali reminds us that yoga doesn't happen in the past or in the future. It happens in the Now. It's a call to action, to wake up and to bring us deeply into the present moment.

This opening statement precedes almost 200 short aphorisms that describe the path to yogic happiness and it is often overlooked. It's kind of obvious, that if you open the book to learn about yoga, the first page is where it begins. 

But I believe it is a very significant reminder that in this very auspicious moment - the NOW - we have been blessed with the opportunity to follow the learned path of yoga. I cannot do that in the past and certainly not in the future. Eckhart Tolle wrote a book about the "The Power of Now."

He said, "Nothing happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now."

Tolle encourages us to "realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life." Ask yourself, what do I need right now? What does my body want right now? Listen in stillness to let the answer arise.

"Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy." When we realize that life doesn't happen to us but for us, we will miraculously transform our whole life.

When we bring our hands into prayer and say namaste at the end of a yoga class, we are saying "the divine in me recognizes the divine in you." We bow in reverence to the divine light inside ourselves and to the divine light that surrounds us.

I have seen cute t-shirts with a "nama-stay in bed" logo. I almost bought one. Then I thought that I really don't want to stay in bed. I want to get up every morning with a continued sense of awe and wonder - like how I felt when seeing Half Dome for the first time. 

I since have hiked in Yosemite National Park numerous times - mostly with a group of inspiring girl friends when we needed a weekend to get away from our obligations as moms of preschoolers. Nothing can beat the feeling of accomplishment when you get to the top of the massive granite boulder. Except perhaps the fun of slithering to the edge on your belly to look down the face of the mountain only to see the tops of helmets and extended arms of climbers coming up that way. Just thinking of that lifts me up.

Each trip leaves different memories, revelations and growth opportunities. Even when I thought "been there, done that" another lesson showed up. It's the same when I practice yoga. What keeps my practice interesting is my sense of curiosity and wonder. Both, about physical movement and the fluctuations of my mind.

Now even when I just look at my busy bird feeder on our iced over porch, I marvel with the same sense awe at the ability of bright red cardinals, dark-eyed juncos, and downy woodpeckers to persist despite the harshness of our subzero winter. 

In this season of change, weigh less, exercise more, eat healthier,  I decide that some things in my life need to stay. I want to stay - not in bed but - connected to the light inside of me and inside of you and live from a place of wonder, gratitude and amazement.

​namaste.

Probiotics and Omega-3s, move over! Researchers have proven the effectiveness of a magic word: “Thanks!” A daily dose of gratitude is said to strengthen the immune system and create a feeling of abundance that fends off illness to both, body and soul. My mom is 92 and has overcome many health challenges. She starts every day with a prayer of thanks. 
“Gratitude is part of a constellation of interrelated attitudes,” says Renown Hospital’s behavioral health psychologist Peter Frohman in Reno, Nevada. Drawing from clinical experience and published research, he says grateful people are more optimistic, have a better mood, are happier and have fewer conflicts.
“Their social relationships at a granular level are better,” he says.
Not only do positive people appear to be healthier, they also get well faster if they do become sick. Frohman says there is proof that patients with a positive orientation recover faster after heart surgery and live longer.
People believing in the “scarcity model” on the other hand will be unhappy.
“We have a higher standard of living than anyone in history," Frohman says. "But instead of being grateful they focus on what someone else has that they don’t have. Instead of celebrating the microwave and flush toilets, they can’t help but live in fear that we’ll be running out of oil.”
What can they do to fill up their tank?
Frohman has a few ideas: Exercise, take special holidays, seek out pleasant social events, spend time with friends and family, and pamper yourself with little indulgences.
“All you have to do is whatever makes you feel special, for some that may be boating on the lake, for others it’s walking in the mall,” he says.
He also suggests spreading little acts of kindness. "By taking care of other people, you take care of yourself."
Or in the words of American educator Booker T. Washington, “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
While health is linked to more than gratitude, and variables like nutrition, sleep, or heritage are impossible to isolate for scientific research, Frohman encourages his patients to be their own scientists and run their own experiments.
“Try doing something. If you like the outcome, keep doing it! If the outcome is bad, stop! Make small changes, one at a time,” he says.
Cognitive behaviorists avow that daily affirmations work as a means to supplement health through gratitude. Two psychology professors, Robert A. Emmons, University of California, Davis and Michael E. McCullough, University of Miami, found out in an experimental comparison that grateful people exercise more, get better sleep, report more energy and vitality.
“We have people keep gratitude journals – writing down things in their lives for which they are grateful or thankful – and then simultaneously and subsequently ask them about their physical health. We found physical benefits to a grateful focus,” Emmons says.  “People often report feeling grateful for their bodies – for the ability to see, smell, hear and so on.
“Gratitude works because, as a way of perceiving and interpreting life, it recruits other positive emotions – like joy, contentment, and hope – that have direct physical benefits, most likely through the immune system or endocrine system.”
In his book “Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier,” Emmons argues that the secret to happiness and fulfillment lies in recognizing that all of life is a gift. He recommends three main behavioral changes to increase a sense of heart-felt gratitude.
“Keep a gratitude journal. Most people choose the evening because as their day draws to a close they find themselves in a reflective mood. The important point is to find a time to "fit" your schedule so that you get in the habit of doing this on a daily basis,” he says.
“Use visual reminders. Post reminders around your house, office, car that trigger thoughts of gratefulness or that remind you to see life as a gift.
”Go through the motions. Say ‘thank you’ and mean it. Going through the motions can trigger the emotion. Write a gratitude letter to someone that you have never properly thanked for how they influenced your life in a positive way, and send it to that person.” You’ll be glad you did.

​Mindful connection with the outdoors is crucial for cultivating a balanced, inspired, and fulfilled life. Our ancestors' survival depended on their ability to  connect to the land through their senses. While they spent 99.9 percent of their time outside. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American spends 90 percent of the day indoors, isolated from nature, and mostly with a fixed gaze on a screen. We might smell artificial fragrances, listen through headphones and touch mostly man-made surfaces.

In 2005, author and journalist Richard Louv coined the term Nature Deficit Disorder, "the human cost of alienation from nature, among them diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses." He frames the disconnect from nature as a public health issues. 

Mental health issues are on the rise and even teenagers are now suffering from anxiety disorders. In yoga, often we say "the issues are in the tissues" - meaning that mental stress can settle into the body in form of tightness or pain.

A YOGAhike combines a walk in the woods with standing yoga pauses and is a great way to release mental chatter and stressful thoughts. By inhaling phytocides, or the trees' essential oils, we feel almost immediately calmer.  In our yoga breaks, we reach our bodies towards the skies without the confinement of a studio space and settle into the naturally oscillating rhythm of our breath. We release worries and ruminations and arrive. Right here. Right now.

Let yourself be guided back to the connection to the natural, more-than-human world and reawaken your sense of belonging and inner peace.

For your body: Release stress, breathe fresh air, and get moving.
For your mind: Settle your awareness on nature’s soothing atmosphere.
For your spirit: Venture into the woods to gain inspiration from the living earth.
hours a day on a screen and 90 percent
of their lives indoors, now’s the time to step outside and feel the difference!