Playing the Pauses
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Newsletter of the Ananda Yoga® Teachers Association Vol. 13 No. 1 • Spring 2008 occurs at many levels. For example, consider the follow- Playing the Pauses ing levels of Ananda Yoga sadhana: Overall Practice by Gyandev McCord Active (yang)—the entire flow of energization, asanas and alerie Wint (Toronto, AYTT Nov 2001) once sent me pranayama: We energize and relax the body, direct Va quotation by the famous pianist, Arthur Schnabel: energy and awareness away from the extremities into “The notes I handle no better than the spine, and finally, bring energy to the brain. many pianists. But the pauses be- Pause (yin)—meditation practice. tween the notes—ah, that is where the art resides.” Interesting, isn’t it? Energization Here’s the Ananda Yoga version: Active—“tense with will” “The active poses I do no better than Pause—“relax and feel.” Many people are already tensing many hatha yogis. But the pauses in the next body part while relaxing the last one. That’s a the neutral poses—ah, that is where mistake, because the relaxation phase—when we are the art resides.” Of course, there’s art Gyandev McCord undistracted by the effort of physical tension—is the in both, but the pauses are less ap- Director best time to tune in more clearly to prana. preciated, so in this article I’m going Asana Routine to discuss how to “play” them. Active—From standing poses, to seated & floor poses, to inversions, it’s like one long, multi-faceted active pose Lost Pause Pause—Deep relaxation in Savasana Before I came to Ananda Yoga, I thought pauses were simply welcome “breathers” during my (usually) strenu- Meditation Period ous asana practice. Yet in Ananda Yoga, I found a gentler Active—the technique (e.g., Hong-Sau) practice with more emphasis on the pauses. That didn’t Pause—the final phase, “true meditation,” where one sits make sense to me: “Why pause like that, even after an without technique and becomes increasingly absorbed easy pose? C’mon, let’s move!” in the inner stillness. Ideally, we then enter “The Big Fortunately, I had already come to see meditation as Pause”: breathlessness. the central technique of all yoga, and I found Ananda Yoga to be a great aid to meditation. So I stayed with it. In time, I came to appreciate the value of the pauses, and -IN THIS ISSUE- I gradually learned how to make better use of them. Playing the Pauses, by Gyandev McCord .................1 Today, however, many yoga teachers pause hardly at Life After Ananda YTT, by Stan Giles ...................... 3 all—and consequently students don’t understand the im- Ananda Yoga on the Road, by Gyandev McCord ........6 portance of pauses. An occasional series of Surya Namas- Feeding the Multitudes, by Kari Burgos ...................7 kar is one thing, but I can’t help but feel that a continual flow of active asanas throughout most of one’s practice Creativity at Play ................................................. 8 is inherently unbalanced. In the language of my last two The Blessings of Ananda Yoga, by Barbara Boekelheide ......................................9 articles (“The Yin and Yang of Yoga”), it’s too much yang. New Ananda Yoga Products ................................ 10 The Omnipresent Pause New AYTT Certificates, by Gyandev McCord ...........11 I’ve come to appreciate that pauses after active asa- Upcoming Level 2 Highlights............................... 12 nas (I’ll focus on that shortly) are not the only yin/yang AYTA Contacts ....................................................12 element of hatha yoga. All hatha practice is about the © 2008 Ananda Church of Self-Realization • All Rights Reserved interplay between activity and pauses, and that interplay Page 2 Ananda Yoga® Teachers Association Pranayama, Hong-Sau, Kriya Yoga Active—inhalations and exhalations Pauses—the spaces between the movements of the breath (Although we breathe throughout the routine, during Will You Help??? these techniques the breath is the primary focus.) Awake & Ready! needs you to write for an upcom- ing issue. We seek not only instructional articles, Active practices help deepen the little pauses, which in but entertaining and inspiring stories as well. Please turn lead us toward The Big Pause of breathlessness. So we share your perspectives with your fellow Ananda Yoga see that pauses are not merely part of the practice; they are, teachers. We’ll even help you with the writing. 1 in a sense, its goal. Now there’s a paradigm shift! For more information, please contact Gyandev Mc- Cord at [email protected]. Soon! A Useful Perspective Swami Kriyananda often emphasizes: “If you want to find peace in meditation, don’t just sit there, hoping peace sensing the lingering effects of the preceding asana, feeling will come. Rather, if you’ll meditate with peace, with en- how they can take me toward meditation, and trying to joyment of whatever peace you feel, you’ll attune yourself deepen that effect through an effort of will and feeling. to peace, and it will come more easily and more fully. Similarly, if you want to find joy, meditate with joy.” Each Pose Plays in Its Own Way Similarly, to experience The Big Pause of breathlessness, For example, in Trikonasana, I immerse my awareness we should work with the little pauses along the way—not in the energy I feel vitalizing my body, especially my torso. merely resting briefly, but playing the pauses. And if we To strengthen the effect, I use the affirmation: “Energy want to bring energy to the spiritual eye, then we must and joy flood my body cells! Joy descends to me!” I exit view the pauses, not as downtime, but as “uptime”—a the pose gracefully, so as not to disrupt that experience. time to bring energy up to the spiritual eye. Between sides, I stand in Tadasana and deepen that experi- And don’t forget: Since our aim is to enjoy the entire ence through the use of my willpower and feeling (yang process—right?—it’s helpful if we honor both senses of and yin). The yin part is about feeling joy, vitality and “play,” i.e., we “play” the pauses with a “playful” spirit. So exhilaration, enthusiastically enjoying them; that simple with “playful” in the backs of our minds, let’s explore how act of enthusiastic enjoyment increases those qualities. to “play” the pauses. The yang part is about staying concentrated, keeping my mind connected with those feelings, and consciously will- Playtime ing that “sparkling” energy to move into the spine and rise You may already have a good way, but my exploration toward the brain. (It’s already rising due to the joy and ex- began with the thought: “If the aim of my overall asana hilaration, of course, but I want make sure it goes inward practice is to prepare me for meditation, perhaps it will also, not just upward.) helpful if I treat every asana as a preparation for medita- I liken this practice to swimming with the current of a tion.” I began to do each active asana as though it were river: It’s already carrying me, and I swim strongly in co- the very last activity before operation with that current— meditation, doing it in such a here, the currents of energy way as to make it as beneficial “Play is the only way the highest (flow of prana) and conscious- for meditation as possible. I ness (joy). I then have a head ask, “How is this asana pre- intelligence of humankind can unfold.” start on the second side: I can paring me to meditate, and —Joseph Chilton Pearce, align myself even more closely what can I do to enhance that author, scientist, mystic with the psycho-energetic es- effect?” (That may sound obvi- sence of the asana. By the time ous, but I’ve found a wealth of I finish that second side, I’m insight and inspiration in this sparkling with joyful, upward-surging energy. I’m ready simple practice.) even for meditation. Then, right after the active asana, I have a 15-to-30-sec- Every pose must be worked with according to its own ond meditation (perhaps 60 seconds or even more)—in unique qualities. For example, Janushirasana’s feeling of Tadasana if I’m still doing standing poses, otherwise relaxed expansion in the torso, the spine, and especially, sitting cross-legged or in Vajrasana. I “play the pause” by in the mind, is very different from Trikonasana. After each side, I sit cross-legged, enjoying that openness—and try- 1 We could take a still larger perspective: All of life is an active pose that pre- ing to increase it through the use of feeling (enjoying the pares us for death, The Really Big Pause, which is done in the true Corpse Pose. That’s beyond the scope of this article, but check out an excellent openness and freedom) and will (staying focused on and audio by Swami Kriyananda on death as “the final exam” of life, at www. connected with those feelings, consciously relaxing energy anandaindia.org/inspiration/video/kriyananda.html. (continues on page 10) Volume 13 No. 1 Page 3 Life after Ananda Yoga Teacher Training One Graduate’s Journey through the First Three Years by Stan Giles ife after AYTT unfolds dif- and I could always feel the change in the energy of the Lferently for each of us. I class as we settled into our practice. I loved the way even took AYTT in January–Febru- the generally reserved Scots really engaged with the joy ary 2005. This is my story … and energy of chanting—“Door of My Heart” being par- The four weeks of AYTT ticularly well received.