God as Silence

Nothing in all creation is so like God as silence. - Meister Eckhart

Nominate nilambu yoga!

Please nominate nilambu yoga for best yoga studio in the City Life Category at WashingtonPost.com.

So you don't forget, do it right now. The deadline is June 3rd. If you're not already an registered reader of the Washington Post online, you'll need to register first, but I'd appreciate the effort and your vote.

While you're there you can also vote for best museum, live theater, live band among others. How wonderful that yoga is considered as important to city life as museums and live theater and music! Go vote! Just type in the blank spot for yoga studio "nilambu yoga." Thanks!

Summer Classes Continue

At nilambu yoga the student gets very personalized attention in small classes. Only 4 students are permitted to enroll, so the teaching responds closely to the participants. You are welcome to join up at anytime. A new 7 week class session begins the week of June 13th and continues through the week of July 25th.

Classes are held on the following days and times:

• Monday 5:30 - 6:45 pm (space available)
• Tuesday 10 - 11:15 am (space available)
• Tuesday 5:30 - 6:45 pm (space available)
• Tuesday 7:00 - 8:15 pm (space available)
• Wednesday 5:30 - 6:45 pm (space available)
• Wednesday 7:00 - 8:15 pm (full)
• Saturday 8:00 - 9:15 am (space available)

The cost for 7 weeks is $135 except for the Monday night class. No class is held on July 4th, so the Monday night class meets only 6 weeks and is $115. Single classes are available ($20) if space is available.

New comers are welcome anytime! New clients are entitled to a free 45 minute private orientation session with me. Ideally, this private time should be scheduled before attending any class, but this orientation is not a prerequisite. If there's room, we'll accommodate you in the class. Please email me first to ensure a space at cass@nilambu.com.

Private sessions are always available. Also, if you have a group of friends and would like to schedule a class, with a minimum of three, I'd be happy to set up a session at a convenient time.

Meditation and Writing

As a writer who meditates (or a meditator who writes), Natalie Goldberg's short essay on how to keep a meditation practice going very much intrigued. She compares writing and meditation, speaks of the "monkey mind," and acknowledges the challenges of maintaining a meditation practice.

I always enjoy reading her work, but check out this piece in Yoga Journal by clicking here.

How To Deal With Illness & Fatigue

The Yoga Sutras compiled by Patanjali, are aphorisms that represent the essence of yoga knowledge and experience. The statements are succinct (averaging six words) and provide guidance on the benefits, philosophy and practice of yoga. For more about the Sutras, click here.

What are the nine obstacles in yoga?
Nine obstacles or distractions are outlined: illness, fatigue, doubt, carelessness, laziness, attachment, delusion, the failure to achieve samadhi and the failure to achieve samadhi. (Chapter 1:30) . Even 2500 years after Patanjali first assembled the Yoga Sutras, these obstacles can still veer yogis off their path.

Note that Samadhi means "settled mind," which is said to bring very deep rest to the entire body. In this issue of nilambu notes, I examine the first two - illness (vyadhi) and fatigue (styana).

What does yoga say about illness?
Illness or sickness that disturbs the physical balance is the first distraction, because in yoga, the body is the key mechanism. If the car breaks down, the trip stops. The root of the Sanskrit word, vyadhi, means to "stand apart" or "be scattered" (Georg Feuerstein, The Deeper Dimension of Yoga, p.157).

So illness is said to break apart and alienate a person, a life. The primacy of the physical health indicates how, in yoga, the body is integral to and important for the mind. Mental development and that settled state of mind will be harder to achieve, though not impossible, when the body is ill.

What does yoga say about fatigue and apathy?
Styana is variously translated as fatigue, apathy, languor or lethargy. The root means "to grow dense." (Ibid, p. 158). A yogi who is fatigued or apathetic enjoys no enthusiasm and forms no aspirations.

BKS Iyengar notes that in this state,

mind and intellect become dull due to inactivity...water in a ditch stagnates and nothing good can flourish in it. (Light on Yoga, p. 25)

My current yoga teacher speaks of the "walking dead" - people who are listless and unaware and unable to concentrate.

So what are we to do about these obstacles?
They impede obviously - but the Sanskrit term for these "obstacles" actually means "interval." That is, illness and apathy create a break or a gap and thereby distract from the goal. The gap can be bridged. The Sutras continue,

Such distractions make the body restless, the breathing coarse, the mind agitated. They result in suffering. But they can be eliminated if the mind is repeatedly brought to a single focus. (Chapter 1:31-32).

Notably, the sutras do not deny or belittle these challenges. They exist. The sutras acknowledge the pain they can cause and note yoga requires an even more diligent focus when these obstacles are encountered.

So the answer to distractions?
Focus. Not a stunning aphorism, but one worth remembering. Important to me is that yoga recognizes these difficulties. And the etymologies of the words resonate and illuminate fresh perspectives on difficulties that can arise to hinder us.

These obstacles are not huge boulders, too weighty to move, that stop us dead in our track. Nor are they locked gates on our route that we ignore by going around another way. These obstacles are potholes in our path. And so we continue on our chosen way with heightened care and concentration - watching out for the potholes and gaps to bridge.

That's the message of the Yoga Sutras.

Guided Yoga Nidra by Local Yoga Teacher

Last month, I discussed yoga nidra. Robin Carnes, whose CD is reviewed below, reminded me of the purpose of doing yoga nidra:

While relaxation is a worthy outcome in and of itself, the true purpose of yoga nidra, as with all forms of yoga, is to help us access the actual experience, not just the concept, of our Oneness with all creation. It helps dissolve our separateness and experience our connectedness.

Well put and captured in both of the guided yoga nidras reviewed below. Robin also brought to my attention a short, helpful piece on yoga nidra from a recent issue of Yoga Journal. To read, click here.

Yoga Nidra by Robin Carnes A short introduction outlines the purpose and practice of yoga nidra. Ms. Carnes teaches at a local DC area studio, Willow Street Yoga Center, in Takoma Park.

In her introduction, she captures the state of being in yoga nidra as a "hovering between sense consciousness and sleep consciousness." Two guided yoga nidras follow.

Her confident voice calms and comforts. As you set your resolve (your sankalpa) for your yoga nidra, she encourages you to conjure an image that captures your intention - something or some way of being you wish to bring to fruition in your life.

Then, as traditional she guides your awareness around your body in several layers - sometimes specific small parts of the body (each finger), other times larger areas (whole leg). She directs you to be aware of the surface of your body (the skin in specific areas), channel your breath, wash colors through your body or conjure images of landscapes (tree, mountain, cloud) or objects (rose, ball, tunnel).

New to me, Ms. Carnes brought an "awareness of sensation" and suggested I feel my body first heavy then light, cold then hot.

The second nidra at 42 minutes is slightly longer the first (27 minutes), but both are excellent and authentic.

Judith Lasater once said to me,

that you don't do restorative yoga, it does you.

Robin Carnes said the same of yoga nidra "you don't do it, it does you." And when yoga nidra is done doing you, you free great! This rewarding CD is $15. To purchase, contact Robin Carnes at rdcarnes@starpower.net or 301-587-1835.

Shiva Rea's Drops of Nectar

This 2 CD set is subtitled, "Yoga Relaxation for Rejuvenation and Healing." Last month I describe yoga nidra and the steps to achieve that yogic state of rest. Only one track on these CDs is a formal yoga nidra, but it's a delicious 19 minutes.

Shiva Rea (her website here) is known for her integration of dance and yoga, but this CD demonstrates her talent for going deeper in another way. Music underscores her voice and the nidra track opens with "a sea of Oms" chanted one over the other while she encourages you to "become one vibration with the sound."

She directs you to imagine your body looking down at yourself, as if outside of yourself, set an intention, sankalpa, and then leads you through a brisk survey of the body. She also brings attention to each of the chakras "brightly flaring" and connects the image of your heart to other living beings to foster a sense of connectedness.

Throughout, simple tones of music, graced with bells that sound like wind chimes, support the experience just as much as the surface underneath your body. Her guidance may be confusing if you've not perused the liner notes; she presumes you know the location of the chakras and familiar with certain terms.

But as excellent as her guided CDs are, her liner notes are more outstanding. She presents additional information concisely and clearly to enhance your practice and even includes helpful photographs.

The rest of the tracks include information on how to do a Moon Salutation, Chandra Namaskar, a cleansing breath exercise, Nadi Shodhana Pranayama, and several guided Corpse Poses, Savasana - one inspired by the moon, another by a Rumi poem and another by a sunset over the sea.

To purchase, click here.