Yoga
My belief in yoga was first started when, too cheap to pay for Lamaze lessons, I gave birth to Alex without any anesthesia (until; the episiotomy, ofcourse, and then only local) simply by practicing breathing exercises on my own, from a book I'd bought. It has since crystallized since Alex became a yoga instructor and I have seen here blossoming into an even more confident, serene, beautiful (inside and out) person since she allowed yoga to enter her life.
On my next visit to the States I plan to take up lessons on being a yoga instructor. It will take 6 months (but the teacher has already agreed that I take it in 3 sets) and costs over US $2000.00. If that is not putting my money where my mouth is, I don't know what is!
To find out what yoga can do for you, read on!
-
Dear readers of www.margaritaholmes.com:
The introduction to FR. Buckley’s letter is written by the editor of the Kripalu newsletter. Kripalu is a place, a state of mind, a truly wonderful yoga retreat. I shall have Alex, my daughter, write about it more as she has been there for training several times.At any rate, the interchange below was sent by Amy Holdsman, a wonderful woman who happens to be my yoga buddy/partner at the teacher training course I am taking. She sent it to all the students (?) of the current workshop which starts Sept 30, 2006 and ends Feb 10, 2007. Not to worry (HA! as if anybody was!) I shant be gone from our beloved Philippines that long. I’ll be back in Manila Nov 26, in time to teach my two courses in UP.
Dhyana, owner of the yoga studio and head honcho of the teacher training has been kind and generous enough to allow me to take this in several--though hopefully only two--parts.
Thank God for that. As I feel this has changed my yoga practice a hundred—no, a thousand--fold!!
But enough yak yak on my part. On to the editor’s note and then—tarrah! Fr. Buckley’s letter. I am happy that Fr. Buckley is a priest as it belies any misgivings that yoga is a pagan practice and/or contradictory to Catholic/Christian teaching!Ingat and see some of you in person (hopefully!) late November. Am soooo happy here in Philly, but miss ko na kayo atvang ‘Pinas.—MG Holmes.!
From the Editor of the Kripaulu Newsletter:
We were recently inspired by this letter from Frank Buckley, a Jesuit priest and Kripalu-trained yoga teacher in California, who wrote in response to our request for Kripalu Stories. With his permission, we are sharing it here to honor the work of Kripalu Yoga teachers everywhere--in bringing the gift of yoga into the world and in committing to their own passionate inquiry into the yoga of life.
Dear Editor,
I am a Jesuit in California and during my "Long Experiment" (the time when a second-year novice leaves the novitiate for several months to work in a Jesuit apostolate full-time), I worked in Los Angeles as a therapist in an alcohol and drug detoxification program. After leading some family interventions at the treatment center, I found myself stressed out and exhausted. A friend suggested I take a class at a yoga studio in Santa Monica; it took just one class to get me hooked.
Yoga inspired such a transformation in my life that I decided I would like to give back some of what I had received. A few years ago, I was working as a counselor at a prep school in San Jose and proposed two classes to break up the monotony of all-day counseling--a class on Ignatian spirituality in the Religious Studies department and another, Introduction to Yoga, to be taught in Physical Education.
The dean of scheduling called me into her office the next week and asked if I wanted the good news or the bad news. She told me that only five students wanted to take the spirituality elective but more than 100 students had signed up for yoga. I'd already been inspired by Stephen Cope's book Yoga and the Quest for the True Self and knew from my reading that he had strong ties with Kripalu Center. So this good news about the 100 interested students was just the push I needed to take the leap and enroll in Kripalu's monthlong yoga teacher training program. The possibility of a summer in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in the beautiful Berkshires began to seem like a real and exciting possibility. Signing up for the teacher training at Kripalu would allow me to teach the four sections of Introduction to Yoga the following fall semester in a way that the students deserved. My summer at Kripalu was magical! It was the best training I could have asked for. I met incredible people from all over the world, many of whom I remain friends with to this day. In addition, I had never been to the Berkshires, and it was everything I'd heard about and more. Following the completion of my Kripalu teaching certification, I taught yoga to high school students for a year and loved it. During the parent-teacher nights, several parents wanted to know why a Jesuit was teaching yoga in the high school's Physical Education department. This answer would become more apparent to all of us as the class progressed. I have never felt as connected with the kids in their struggles of adolescence as during their yoga class. The class was so popular that the faculty asked me to offer a yoga class during a faculty in-service day and more than 50 teachers signed up!
The following year I was assigned to study theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Since I've been here in Berkeley, I have been focusing on teaching yoga to marginal populations. I have been given the opportunity to teach yoga to the men at San Quentin State Prison, to homeless men and women in a drug and alcohol treatment center, and to 12 boys from 12 different Los Angeles gangs brought into our Jesuit retreat center by an outside organization. The latter was the most intense class I have taught to date. Two of the boys were in wheelchairs from bullet wounds and others were tattooed from head to toe. The boys loved the yoga, and it was a perfect example of the surprising ways God can be experienced by people from all walks of life. God was so present in that class it felt as though he could be scooped right out of the air.
Currently, I am working on connecting the expert Jesuit theology of Karl Rahner with teaching yoga to marginal populations. I use Rahner's notion that the "hole in the soul" experienced by so many people on the margins of society can only be filled by a direct experience of the Divine. I am using the tools I learned in the teacher training program at Kripalu as an instrument for that deepest desire in the heart of all of us to experience God in a real and profound way.
How teaching yoga will continue to unfold in my life remains a mystery, but my time at Kripalu radically changed my life and what I learned there continues to unfold and bear fruit in my life.
Namaste,
Frank Buckley, SJ -
Francesca and Jason Conversation
Hi to everyone interested in yoga.
Below is an exchange of emails between my “classmate” at the yoga teacher training course here in Philly, Francsca Gangi—a truly upbeat and wonderful human being –and Jason, --also a truly wonderful human being and one of our teachers who taught us the yamas and niyamas, which are the do’s and don’t’s in yoga. A loose translation would be like the 10 commandments for Christians.
They have given me permission to post this on my--on OUR—website. (thanks, Jason and Francesca!)
so since jason came to talk to us, there have been some other issues i have been thinking about-any thoughts? like-charitable giving? how does that factor in-there are many ascetic groups that live on alms and charity. also-there is a detachment to the earthly, but at the same time scriptures and idols/icons/artifacts are so closely charished and preserved for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years-i dunno, htese were just two things thta ive been thinking about and cant really resolve. francesca gangiHey Francesca,
I think you've put forth some good questions. It's exciting to see so many people not taking these issues at face value, but really wrestling with them and making them their own.
I have two thoughts that come up initially for me with your statements. My first thought is inspired by the work of Neale Donald Walsch from the "Conversations with God" series. He tells us repeatedly in his work that there's one thought we should possess whenever trying to decide what to do in a situation of uncertainty.
Ask yourself, 'Would this course of action be an accurate reflection/statement of who I am and who I wish to be?' Notice - the empahsis is on me and what I am hoping to achieve in each situation. He seems to be telling us that we need to be a lot less concerned about how the other person chooses to react/respond to our actions. Much more important for us is our ability to be honest/transparent with ourselves about all the motivations and hidden agendas going into our actions. I think if we can do this we can come a lot closer to following Krishna's dictate: "Do what you will but offer the results up to me."
Another aspect of this giving that Walsch spends a great deal of time discussing is the idea that you can only experience having something if you're able to give it away. When I hold onto my money, I feel poor because I don't have enough to go around. But when I'm able to start giving things away, I'm able to experience myself as wealthy/abundant in a whole new way. This is really powerful stuff grounded in some basic metaphysical principles. Definitely ideas that we should continue to contemplate and discuss as much as possible...
Finally, the yoga tradition seems to support the idea that it is holy work to serve others. But I think, again, it's much less important what we actually do than what we hold in our hearts. Am I giving to another because I feel like I should, or am I feeling a genuinely compassionate response to the suffering of others? Again, the only way to know for sure is to spend time in silence allowing the language of the heart to shine forth.
I also loved your insight about detachment to the earthly. The way I see it, we're not being asked to 'reject the earthly'. On the contrary, the more we try to 'give things up,' the more they seem to gain power over us. The Tantric tradition of yoga is all about embracing every aspect of our experience, the physical as well. After all, it's part of the divine gift, right?
Once we recognize this, we can begin to more consciously decide what we wish to manifest in our lives and what we choose no longer to bring into our lives. So, detachment isn't about rejection - it's about letting go of that which no longer represents us. Anthony de Mello points out that mystic who's given up physical comforts for spiritual comforts is no different than the man who grew up loving Jello but falls in love with the taste of creme brulee as an adult. He didn't reject Jello. It just simply no longer calls to him as his desires evolve.
Now say you have an object that helps you to feel closer to God. This doesn't necessarily mean you believe God is more present in this particular object. It just means you feel some aspect of God's Divine Self represented by the object. So you're not worshiping the cross as much as what that cross represents to you. This reminds me of that saying about the guru being nothing more than a finger pointing to the moon. Unfortunately, most of us worship the finger. I don't think this speaks against holding objects sacred. It's just a reminder that the object is sacred for it's ability to turn our gaze back toward the moon.
I would love to see what insights other people might have. How would you answer these questions for yourself. Not sure? Try journaling. Begin by saying something like: "This is what I believe to be true regarding..." Then just start writing. The trick is to not let the pen stop moving. That puts you into editor-mode and you compromise your ability to create when you're in this mode. If you can keep writing, even when you're not sure what to say, you can discover a lot of things about yourself.
Thanks again, Francesca. Best to everyone. You're a dynamic group with a wealth of experiences and lots of interesting insights. You're fortunate to have each other (you must have good karma, right?)
Peace,
Jason -
October 26, 2006
Philadelphia, USADear Margarita
In our last yoga class, I spoke about my mental illness and how yoga helped me to cope with bipolar disorder. You asked me if I could write about this and send it to you.
Here are the few sentences that I want to share with you and others on how yoga has helped me to manage and overcome some of the symptoms of my bipolar disorder.
I started to practice yoga because I was having lower back pain. At that time I was not aware of my bipolar disorder.
After a few months of doing beginner yoga I felt relief in my back pain as well as less depressed. When I was diagnosed with having a bipolar disorder I realized that yoga practice not only helped me to ease my back pain but also helped me to cope with the mood swings that I was experienced.
For example, if I was going into a hypo manic state, then yoga practice would make me feel calmer, it helped me to control myself. I could make better decisions and stay away from the trouble that comes with manic episodes.
In the same way, yoga helped me to cope with my depression. During those times yoga elevated my mood and helped me to get though the day.
Overall, yoga has helped to develop awareness of myself and therefore, control the mood swings of bipolar disorder. I do not know where I would have ended up if I did not have yoga in my life.
Margarita, please feel free to make any correction if you want to post this article to your site.
-
hi there, dr. holmes!
i am very much interested to learn and practice yoga. but as i am based in the province, there is no existing yoga center available. Is there any way I can learn online? thank you very much and more power to you dr. holmes! Nancy
Most definitely, Nancy. In fact, among my list of favorites is a website that shares/teaches an asana (yoga pose) of the week. Alas, the computer that lists this site is in Manila, whereas I am here in Philadelphia taking a teacher training course (wish me luck!).
The best I can suggest is to google yoga asanas and see what turns up. If that is not enough, please write me again in late November when I shall be back home and can email the site to you.
Alternatively, could you get yourself a book on yoga? That would help tremendously.
My daughter Alex, who teaches yoga here in Philadelphia, suggests two books which she feels would be tremendously helpful, especially if you are interested primarily in the asanas:
Iyengar, B.K.S. Light On Yoga (New York: Schocken Books, 1979) and;
Svenson, David. Ashtanga Yoga: “The Practice Manual” (Texas: Ashtanga Yoga Productions, 2001)Good luck and let me know how it goes! Ingat –MG Holmes
UPDATE: Nancy, good news!! did you notice the ad right next to your letter? on on learnin yoga online? I cliicked on it and it is wonderful. wow. Talk about thigns happening in your own back yard! Ingat--MG Holmes -
How can i do yoga in my bed? Can you give me some tips on what would it be done and effect for me? Thanks for giving me a chance to ask you online Dr. Margie Holmes. I wish you more success in life!!!O, Edu, it is I who should thank you for my success online (if, indeed, it comes to pass) since it is questions like yours (or, rather, how I answer them) which will help forge that success.
Thank you for asking me about yoga, which I love. In fact, I love it so much that I am currently taking a teacher training course in what I consider THE best yoga studio in the world-- Dhyana Yoga on 18th Street and Chestnut in Philadelphia.
Please forgive me if I have not interpreted your question accurately.
If what you mean by “how can I do yoga in my bed” is actually doing yoga asanas (yoga poses) in bed, I would answer “with great difficulty” as you would be limited to doing supine postures (on your back) and/or child’s pose; and even those asanas would be iffy if your bed were too soft.
Alex, my daughter, who is one of THE best yoga teachers I’ve ever had (and this is not merely a biased opinion, I promise; she is now not only a certified yoga teacher here in the States, but also teaching people how to be yoga teachers themselves! ) adds that: “waking up in the morning and stretching could be considered yoga. And maybe he could start his own yoga routine and call it bed yoga.”
If, however, what you mean by “yoga in my bed,” is using what you learn in yoga in bed (with someone else, as in to how to improve my sex life), then I would answer: ”In many wonderful and utterly delightful ways.” But perhaps before I attempt to answer question 2, I should wait to confirm if that is really what you want to know? Ingat (take care) and all the best—MG Holmes