Freedom
Yesterday I was asked to give someone really close to me a cake for his MA's birthday (Marijuana Anonymous). I was so honored to be there for him. I have seen how his life has expanded since he chose to say "no" to something that was destroying him. Couple that with studying with John last week and being so deeply inspired by his talk of discipline and restrictions, that I taught a class today on the theme of freedom by using boundaries.
In Yoga we learn that freedom comes after stability, after consciously creating clear boundaries in our bodies, so that we can expand out against those boundaries. Often a "no" can serve the "yes." John last week talked about restrictions and one of the ideas he had for us was to consider restricting something from our diet for three days. I was initially shocked when I heard this as I have always eaten whatever I desired, whenever I wanted. I have never have been in any diet of any sort, and in fact have seen how many women's lives have been challenged by obsessions with food. So I tend to go to the opposite extreme- I am one of those rare yogis that has never fasted or done any cleanse nor is avoiding some kind of food. When it's chow time, I sit down with an open heart and belly and eat with gratitude whatever is there.
That said, I have often wondered what it would be like to explore a bit more boundaries when it comes to food. Maybe I could use some restrictions! Especially with my truck driver-like eating habits and my lumberjack breakfasts. So I took a leap and withheld something that I have eaten almost every DAY for 36 years: meat and chicken. I completely stopped eating them for a whole week! A whole week! I found so many interesting discoveries including:
My sweating -which as many of you know is very generous- has decreased more than half!
I feel more sensitive and attuned to the world.
My skin seems clearer.
Plus, my consumption of vegetables increased tenfold, and I also felt less hungry.
That said, today I had some lovely organic pork sausages with chipotle and cheddar cheese from the Farmer's Market and I was utterly grateful to the animal, and ate with great relish. I also ate less that I would normally and am definitely considering lessing my consumption of animal products because of this interesting experiment with restrictions...
So, restrictions can enhance our lives.
What can you restrict from your diet?
What thoughts can you restrict?
What is something that is no longer serving you that you could try as an experiment to live without?
Freedom doesn't mean saying yes to everything, every time. In fact, that can be hell! Freedom comes from boundaries. Take writing for instance. Someone tells you to write about anything, anything at all, and most of us would go blank. Someone asks you to write about the most beautiful sunset ever and suddenly, there it is: 2008, Namibia, Africa. I am with my mother in a volunteer vacation to help the cheetahs, an endangered species. We wake up early one morning and embrace each other as we look at the rising sun... There it is. And I happened to just remember that because a boundary was created.
Theme:
Freedom, using boundaries as a way to experience the pulsation of contraction and expansion; of the no and the yes.
Highlights:
*Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana with friends. Done twice. Last one added eyes closed and a backbend. Fun.
*Vasisthasana with the leg up. Spent some time on it and many had breakthroughs by rooting down the back foot even more to the ground.
*Read a Swami Muktananda's quote:
"One thing I always did was to sit in the meditation posture for the full period,
even if I couldn't meditate or if my mind was unable to concentrate itself.
I benefited a lot from this."
Something to work on:
*Had a crazy idea to do splits in handstand and then add a twist. I found it incredibly challenging to teach, to demo and after doing it myself, to do! That said, the group was so sweet and open that we all had a good laugh about it and I said something like, "thank God I wasn't taping this class.' I am planning to do it again tomorrow and get better at it.
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