Riding the Breath (cross-posted from ReflectionsYoga.com)

Here is a blog post I wrote for one of the studios where I teach, the lovely midtown Manhattan oasis, Reflections Center for Conscious Living. It’s amazing that such a serene and lovely space for yoga and meditation exists in the middle of hustle-bustle Hell’s Kitchen, NYC. That’s one of the things that makes Reflections so special. It’s also where I did my first yoga teacher training, with my teacher Paula Tursi. She taught me a great deal about the breath, in particular, she taught me how to watch the breath, and to use this watchfulness to know when I’m struggling or trying too hard in a pose. Without further ado, here is the text of the post, or you can read it in its original form here.

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Riding the Breath

One of yoga’s gifts is the cultivation of witness consciousness. By teaching us to watch, with compassionate detachment, the fluctuations of our minds and bodies, yoga shows us that everything is always arising or dissolving.

We start with the breath and watch its fluctuations, its rise and fall in our bodies. Then we begin to extend our awareness to our bodies, and watch sensations rise and fall in them as we move through the poses. Another way to help us build awareness is to watch our thoughts and the attitude we bring to practice. By checking in with how we’re feeling when we sit in those first few opening breaths of class, we can set a baseline of tone or attitude that we can compare against once practice is over, and then see again the cycle of arising and dissolving.

To see everything as either arising or dissolving helps us when life takes its inevitable challenging turns. Cultivating witness consciousness and compassion towards yourself on your mat can help you bring this same watchfulness to your life. Instead of being caught in the drama of things ending or the exultation of things beginning, what would happen if you took an attitude of equanimity and allowed things to simply settle into place?

For many of us, the idea of letting go of control is very threatening. We have agendas that want fulfilling and we have invested in things turning out such and such a way. When things don’t go as we hoped, many of us suffer twice: once for not getting what we wanted, and twice for having our expectations thrashed. And yet we keep fantasizing into the future and sowing the seeds of our disappointment.

When meeting the edge of a challenging yoga pose, our teachers usually tell us to slow down, approach with respect and awareness, breathe, and feel. Witness consciousness is doing this before every big and small decision, before each potential argument, before each potential disappointment, before each conversation, before we deepen into another yoga pose, in short, always! If we can pause long enough to not barge ahead when a mindful step is a more skillful choice, we may find the rough edges of our lives becoming smoother. Instead of a series of ups and downs, we can learn to navigate ourselves right down the middle, riding the edge with grace and mindfulness.

~Post written by Lola Rephann

Lola teaches at Reflections Wednesday nights at 6:30pm (Foundations 1), Fridays at 6pm (Yin Yoga) and Sundays at 12:30 (Quick Fix)

Introversion and the role of teacher

This wonderful piece by yoga teacher Duncan Parviainen totally caught me by surprise. I’d never really considered my introversion thru the lens of being a yoga teacher.

Perhaps that’s because, despite being an introvert, when I’m teaching I feel so energized by the work of teaching yoga that I forget my generally quiet tendencies and seem to have a good amount to say. And also, despite being an introvert, I really love and am fascinated by people. I am driven to galvanize, albeit quietly.

I feel all my life I have been developing a soft touch, but like those famous Kung Fu legends, one touch can deliver a powerful blow. Of course, through my teaching, I don’t intend to hurt anyone, but if I can deliver powerful blows to the ego, to limited concepts of what is and is not possible, then sure I want to do that! And who else but introverts know all about the “soft blows” of the ego?

I am going to posit here that introverts feel the ego’s nefariousness more strongly than extroverts. It’s just our natural inclination to look within and examine. I’m also going to posit here that introverts may be slightly more prone to depression, anxiety, and other psychological maladies, or perhaps we are affected differently by these psychological trials than extroverts. Following these hypotheses, then introverts have much to offer in teaching how yoga can rein in fluctuations of the mind-stuff.

Sometimes it is tough being an introvert, especially in a competitive city like NYC. Things that I don’t do so well as an introvert:

• answer the phone
• do drinks, lunch, dinner dates with people I want to get to know (or even long-standing friends)
• network
• etc.

It was refreshing to read Duncan’s article on the power of the introvert yoga teacher, to take a different lens on some of the benefits introversion gives us. As yoga teachers, we are dealing with the inner landscape. Yes, the external matters too, alignment and all that (but that’s pretty internal too, if you want to get technical about it). This familiarity with the inner worlds and our ability to observe ourselves with such precision really helps when it comes to teaching things like meditation or witness consciousness. So thanks, Duncan, for an added perspective on life as an introvert (and yoga teacher)!