This month's quote comes from author Jed McKenna. Who is he? Nobody knows...he wrote a trilogy of books about Enlightenment, but the name is made up. He says he's not important, just another finger pointing at the moon.
Some think his books are a fiction. Yet fiction or not, there's much wisdom contained in them - including this quote.
An In-depth look at Warrior I, Virabhadrasana I
The name of this posture reveals much about what it asks of us.
vira = hero; bhadra = gentle, blessed; asana = pose
According to Hindu legend, Virabhadra was an actual warrior too.
Once upon a time there was a powerful king named Daksha. When his daughter Sati fell in love with and married the lord of universal consciousness, Shiva, Daksha was not happy at all.
To make his feelings about his loathed son-in-law clear, Daksha threw a party and invited everyone but Shiva. Of course, Shiva didn't care about the lack of invite nor did he care about the social snub. He's the lord of consciousness and all, so he rose above it all.
However his new bride Sati was incensed. She was so angry was she that she burst into flames (or threw herself into a fire, depending on which ancient text you read) and died.
Devastated, Shiva threw one of his dreadlocks down to the earth to create the warrior demon Virabhadra. At Shiva's direction, Virabhadra violently stormed Daksha's party, cut off the king's head, and trampled on Indra, the god of war.
It is a story of destruction, death and chaos - what could it possibly have to do with our yoga practice?
As it turns out, plenty.
When we practice yoga we're learning to get out of our minds and into our bodies. We're cutting off our own heads.
Working with Warrior I calls us to stand strong and firm against the mind, as the difficulty in maintaining the posture means we wriggle and struggle to be anywhere but there.
The trick to finding ease in Warrior I is setting up a strong foundation with the energy flowing evenly from the pelvis and through both legs. Once that foundation is in place, it's easier to rise up from the earth toward the sky with the spine and arms. .
How to set up Warrior I:
Start in downward dog. Inhale and step your right foot through into high lunge.
As you exhale, ground the back foot on a 45 degree angle. Your feet should be hip width apart, providing a solid foundation.
Inhale and lift your torso upright, bringing your hands on to your hips to start.
Setting a strong foundation
The key movement of the pelvis here is to lift the front hip bones up toward the the sky, providing space for the lower back and getting your pelvis in the right position.
As you inhale, focus on finding that lift in the front hip bones.
As you exhale, radiate energy out both legs, pressing firmly down on the outside of the back foot and the heel of the front foot.
As your hands are on your hips, you can easily feel the alignment of your hips. Eventually your hips will face straight on, but initially your back hip may be dropping back.
As you inhale and lift your front hip bones, see if you can also move the back hip forward.
As you exhale and ground through your feet, see if you can also release and drop your front hip down.
Lifting up into Warrior I
Now you've established a strong foundation with your feet, legs and pelvis in the right position, the rest of the posture flows.
On an inhale sweep your arms up towards the sky letting your gaze follow your thumbs.
Press your palms together and allow your shoulder blades to release toward the spine and down towards the tailbone.
Every inhale, focus on softening and opening the front of the body, remembering to keep those front hips bones moving up.
Every exhale focus on radiating strength out of the legs and dropping the back body down (shoulder blades toward tailbone, tailbone towards heels, heels into the earth.)
Now you're in the posture, take five breaths before exhaling hands down on either side of the front foot and stepping back into downward dog before trying the other side.
Top 5 Secrets Revealed Articles:
Below are 5 interesting articles for you, which include my favorite article on the entire blog, The Secret of Compassion.
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2008/12/11/the-secrets-of-the-universe-a-zen-story/
Is reincarnation true? How about an afterlife? Karmic Laws? Now, that absolutely must exist. Heated debates and discussions swirl around these and other such fascinating questions, but what are the answers? Well let's head over to Nowind Monastery and see if Master Blumise can help shed some light on these intriguing questions.
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2010/05/04/secret-to-manifesting-abundance-and-wealth/
Money can play a role in your journey to enlightenment, as it can help you buy leisure, and leisure or time, is needed for Self Study and Self Knowledge. It for this reason primarily that wealth and abundance are worth manifesting, for outside of that, all you really need is food, clothing and shelter. In fact, if those basics were provided to all, I am sure there would be many more people living their passions and many more people awakening the the mind blowing Truth of non-duality.
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2007/03/24/the-secret-on-how-to-become-an-early-riser/
One of my grandfather's favorite quotes was;
"The heights of great men reached and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upwards in the night."
Well at least toiling upwards in the early morning would be a good start for some of us :-). So how is this to be done? How is one to wake up early and thus make full use of that most beautiful time of the day?
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2007/11/30/the-secret-to-enlightenment/
Continuing with the insights that explode during advanced meditation practice, today's entry is about how the mind is a shopping mall, and it is an apt entry given we are entering the heart of the holiday shopping season.
These insights are those which take place during deep stages of meditation, and occur as a direct result of seeing the mind in action.
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2008/01/18/the-secret-to-compassion/
Compassion is the nectar of life. If you are saturated with it, you will be sweet and this sweet fragrance will also be felt by all those around you. Unfortunately, the true value and depth of this treasure is not fully appreciated and today, many vessels, also sometimes called humans, are empty of this enriching energy.
So what makes compassion flow?
Binaural Beats and Isochronic Tones Mind and Brain Technology
Use cutting edge music, tones and beats technology to enhance your life and brain function. More information on this technology below...
Binaural Beats are Not a passing fad, but have been researched for over 170 years. The human brain goes through many frequency cycles every day, each frequency producing different effects in the human consciousness. Using this information, it has been discovered that the receiving and operating frequency of the brain can be altered and even controlled through the use of sound waves. Unfortunately, it was originally thought these waves were difficult or impossible to tap through sound waves since they happened beneath the 20 Hz range. Since that time, however, binaural beats have made it possible to hear what was previously thought unhearable.
Isochronic tones are the most powerful type of brainwave entrainment, utilizing equal intensity tones, increasing the pulse speed, and synchronizing your brain with the rhythm. Isochronics use a distinct and clean wave form which is designed to harmonize with the brain much more efficiently. Headphones are optional but recommended.
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