I’m pretty sure that few people attending a
yoga class realize the long history it has or can list the paths to
enlightenment that you’re supposed to follow. I started practicing yoga right
after college (many years ago) and have pursued those postures ever since.
There are some features of yoga that are
similar to kabbalah. Hindu, from which Yoga is derived, originated in India
over 5,000 years ago and was handed down orally using one of the oldest languages,
Sanskrit. Judaism, from which Kabbalah is derived, originated from the Middle
East over 5,000 years ago. Kaballah is based on the Zohar, which is commentary
on the Torah (handed down orally) using another ancient language, Hebrew.
Yoga has 36 essential building blocks of
creation (tattvas) and seven wheels of energy (chakras = reality existing in
man and the universe). Kaballah has 32 paths of wisdom (netivot hohma) which
correlate to ten attributes (sephirot = fundamental components of all that
exists). They both traverse from the highly mystical down to the physical. Both
movements transcend cultural and religious boundaries and are a guide toward
spirituality.
The paths of enlightenment, or ‘Yoga
Sutras,’ describe an eight-limbed approach to a more meaningful life: 1)
Ethical: do no harm, be truthful, don’t steal, self-restraint and don’t crave.
2) Attitude: cleanliness, modesty, keep healthy, self-inquiry and surrender to
God. 3) Physical: disciplined practice of postures (asanas). 4) Breath: move
energy (prana) within us. 5) Withdrawal of senses and looking inside ourselves.
6) Concentrate the mind, direct energy and focus. 7) Meditate and contemplate,
quiet and still the mind. 8) Enlightenment: peace that passes all
understanding.
That is all very esoteric and is just a background
to our discussion. When I talk about ‘Yoga,’ I’m primarily talking about doing
yoga postures in a class setting. Often this class will include balance,
breathing and meditative exercises as well. While I was in a yoga class earlier
this month, I started thinking about the process of stretching and how it
relates to accomplishing pretty much anything we do in our lives.
First, you have to want to stretch. You
have to want to attain a goal. Much of the hurdle we need to overcome resides
right inside our heads. If someone says, “I can’t,” it pretty much means, “I
don’t want to.” Speaking for myself… I’m pretty sure that I can’t climb to the
top of Mt. Everest. I have climbed mountains in Nevada and became physically
sick. The climb up to Mt. Charleston (13,000 ft. above sea level) was grueling
and I would often complain the whole way up. There were times, however, that I enjoyed
the experience, I fared much better and yearned to see the top. (When you live
with Jay near the mountains, you climb them!) I’ve found that I need to be in
optimal health when I climb. I need to pace myself and I need to be in a good
mental state. In other words, I have to want to be there.
Second, you need to go through the motions
and practice, practice, practice; there are no short-cuts. Whether it’s
learning a language, taking up a new sport, or playing a musical instrument – none
of it comes without our time and effort. As anyone that’s learned to ride a
bike realizes, the ability was always there; we just had to go through the
process to convince ourselves that it could be done. Woody Allen is credited
with saying, “Eighty percent of success is just showing up,” which is so true.
Leading a Jewish life can seem overwhelming; but, if you learn the Mitzvot and
then start to incorporate them into your life, the prospect seems less
demanding. Go through the motions… say a blessing over the food you eat, treat
others as you want to be treated and say Kaddish for lost relatives. Before you
know it, you’re leading a Jewish life. When you follow a new recipe, you just
start with step one and work your way through. When you only look at the
immediate task, the overall mission doesn’t seem so overwhelming. Once you get
the process down, you’ll want to become proficient at what you’re doing. After
making a year’s worth of challah, chances are you won’t need to follow that
recipe any more. You’ll actually start adapting the recipe to suit your own
personal needs and tastes. You’ll start teaching others how to do it.
Third, there comes that instant, when mind
and body are synchronized, when it no longer takes immense effort and actually
becomes a task we look forward to. This is the Zen moment we all strive for, the
moment our focus is intent on what we are doing, the moment we are able to drop
our own illusions and start to see things without the distortion created by our
thoughts, the moment when we know it can be done and are able to achieve
focused results.
I started yoga at a low point in my life. I
had graduated college and couldn’t find a decent job. I moved back home and was
living in my parents basement. It was during a recession and I had applied for
many jobs, which included many interviews, many resumes and many rejections. It
sounds horrible, but looking back, I find that those moments in my life, the
quiet contemplative ones, were often the most productive. I need those moments
– like a breath during yoga class – a chance to focus on what is really
important. We take our breath for granted, but it is essential to everything
else we do. While I felt lonely, I also had more time for myself than I’ve had
any time since. I’d found an inspirational yoga book on sale and decided to
give it a try. I’m not sure what possessed me, other than I liked what I read
and as I delved further I found that it spoke to me physically… my body liked
to stretch.
For the longest time during my practice I
was unable to do headstands. This really irritated me at times. I kept
struggling with it. To build up the proper muscles, you do the pose without
raising your legs. Then you do it against a wall to keep you from falling over
and to teach you to be vertical. Eventually I could raise my legs without
falling over! Just like riding a bike, after I realized I could do it, I was
then able to do a headstand on my own every time I tried!
So, whatever you want to accomplish,
remember these steps… 1) you need a desire to attain a goal, 2) gain knowledge
through practice and finally 3) achieve results with focused attention. Let’s
do it together!
Shabbat Shalom,
Terri =]
