Simple Steps: #31 The Meaning of Dhyana

Dhyana is the seventh limb of yoga and it means "to worship."

It is perfect contemplation and involves concentration upon a point of focus with the intention of knowing the truth about it.

The concept holds that when one focuses their mind on concentration of an object, the mind is transformed into the shape of the object.

For the practitioner of dhyana, when one focuses on the divine, they become more reflective of the divine, and as a result they know their own true nature.

Todays Simple Step

Imagine today that you are the Budda - the sage - the wise one.

How do you express the divine within yourself?

How do you keep yourself worthy of delivering the message you carry?

Practice being true to your message today.

This is your simple step.

Till next time...
oooohhhhhmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #30 Inner Awareness

This is the fifth example on the limb of yoga called dharana or concentration.

You are moving into the practice of meditation, which sits firmly on the bedrock of your work on focused inner awareness, so this is your readiness step.

Todays Simple Step

Center yourself in a quiet place with a journal or notepad.

Breathe deep and adjust your position so you feel relaxed and aligned.

Give yourself a few minutes to thoroughly answer the question "Who Am I?"

Write it down for yourself.

This is today's simple step.

Till next time,
ohhhhmmmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #29 Perception

The objective of the sixth limb of yoga called dharana is to achieve the mental state where the mind, intellect and ego are all restrained, and all the faculties are offered to the Divine for creative use and in service.

Once the mind is steadied through the practice, there there is no feeling of "I" and "mine."

Todays Simple Step

Devote all of your actions to your Higher Power

No action is too large or too small to be received as a blessing.

You are the instrument today.

This is your simple step.

Till next time...
ohhhhmmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #28 Contemplation

"When the body has been tempered by asanas,
when the mind has been refined by the fire of pranayama,
when the senses have been brought under control by pratyahara,
the seeker reaches the sixth stage (limb) of yoga, dharana."

B.K.S. Iyengar

As we move through this series of posts exploring practical applications for the eight limbs of yoga, we can see that each step interconnects with the other.

The objective in the practice of dharana is to steady the mind by focusing its attention upon some apparently stable entity.

The particular object selected has little to do with the general purpose...the objective is to stop the mind from wandering through memories, dreams, or reflective thought by deliberately holding it single-mindedly upon a static object.

Have you ever wondered - or laughed - at the stereotypical new age character who is depicted as a hippy-dippy airhead doing nothing more then "staring at his navel?"

Get ready to appreciate what he's actually up to...

Todays Simple Step

Choose a simple object nearby - it can indeed be your navel, or your hand, a flower, a stone, a piece of fabric...whatever catches your fancy.

As always, set aside a few minutes to concentrate, slow down and breathe.

Soften your focus and simply observe the object of your choice.

Notice absolutely everything about it that you can.

Most importantly, notice every time you are thinking of something more "interesting" and just let it go, returning again to your chosen object.

Acknowledge it's beauty, it's usefulness and it's part in Creation.

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven." Ecclesiastes3:1

Enjoy the time you spend here - it is a sacred acknowledgment of your connection without attachment of the World of which you are a part...

This is your simple step.

Till next time,
ohhhhhmmmmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #27 Focus!

In the eight limbs of yoga, dharana means "immovable concentration of the mind."

The essential idea is to hold the concentration or focus of attention in one direction. Here the seeker is concentrated wholly on a single point, or on a task in which he is completely engrossed.

The mind has to be stilled in order to achieve this state of complete absorption.

Todays Simple Step

Candle Concentration is a classic training for the yogi.

You need to sit in a quiet place where you have a few minutes and light a candle.

Breathe deeply, and clear your mind.

Relax...

Now soften your gaze and gently observe the flame...absorb yourself in it...concentrate on it's dance...

When you feel your mind is still and your concentration has peaked, close your eyes and hold the picture of the candle flame steady in your mind's eye.

Do your very best to keep the memory sharp and intact with no interruptions.

Keep breathing and repeat.

This exercise is a simple step that will improve your ability to hold your focus.

Tuill next time...
ohhhmmmmmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #26 Concentration

The limb of yoga that demands discipline of the mind is dharana - concentration!

Too many scattered thoughts can all begin to feel the same. We get overwhelmed and then nothing makes any sense.

With dharana we create conditions for the mind to focus its attention in one direction, instead of going out in many directions.

Deep contemplation and reflection can create the right support to help us develop the ability to focus on the point we have chosen, and make it more intense.

Once the mind is able to focus efficiently, and not until then, can we unleash the great potential that lies within for inner healing.

What power lies within...develop this gift and it is yours.

Todays Simple Step

Take a few minutes to simply notice the thoughts and conversations running through your mind.

Slow down and observe.

Notice the nature of your scattered thinking.

See if you can take just one thread out of the many and keep your attention on that.

Breathe...

A slow breath will slow down the perception of time.

Just for today return again and again to the observation of your thoughts and make an effort to take them on one at a time.

I'll give you more techniques in the posts to follow.

For today, this is your simple step.

Till next time,
ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhmmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #25 Pratyahara in Relationship

As the limbs of yoga explore all aspects of mankind's relationship with himself and others, we see that sense control is the limb that invites us to withdraw our senses from attachment to external objects so that we may constantly return to the path of self realization and internal peace.

This objective is never more difficult than in relationship with a significant other, but it does most profoundly apply.

Todays Simple Step

Allow that your loved ones are not your property!

Allow that your lover is fiercely independent and must walk his/her own talk rather than be spoken for by you.

Allow that what loved ones do is their own choice, and you can guide but not force as you respect free will for all.

Allow that the most profound work you can do is on yourself, and release your attachment to fixing someone else.

Till next time,
ohmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #24 The Pratyahara of Shopping

We go to the mall. We shop online. We fill our basket. We've gotta have it.

It pleases us... and then it plagues us.

Pratyahara or sense control brings us back the truth that everything is temporal - and temporary.

What is real and valuable cannot be bought, and the next new thing will not guarantee lasting comfort.

Todays Simple Step

Take a walk through a store with no intention to buy.

Appreciate beauty without having to own it.

The World is yours - trees and flowers and gardens surround you.

You do not "need" to have more.

Practice having without owning today.

Till next time,
ohmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #23 Raisin Consciousness Through Tasting

When we practice pratyahara, or control of the senses, we will experience phenomena that might seem contradictory.

Rather than becoming dull and lifeless, with practice the senses become extraordinarily sharp.

This, of course, adds to our authentic enjoyment and appreciation of the interactions of our body-mind-spirit with all of our surroundings.

In short, the relationship we have with sense objects becomes more enjoyable, not less.

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali describes the process of human unhappiness and uneasiness and relates it to our influence by outside events and our corresponding effort to suppress unwanted sensations while heightening others. This is a no-win situation.

When people seek out yoga, hoping to find the inner peace that seems so elusive, they often find it was theirs all along. (Ruby slippers anyone?)

In a sense, yoga is nothing more than a system which enables us to stop and look at the processes of our own minds; only in this way can we understand the nature of happiness and unhappiness, and thus transcend them both.

Todays Simple Step

As I look to the Yo-Ki-Bics of sense control (Yoking body/mind/spirit - expressing innate Ki energy - into effective Bites of action) I remember this story...

I once went on retreat with a Buddhist monk who did a process with us called "Raisin' Consciousness."

It involved a deep meditation on appreciating the journey of a small handful of raisins from their initial seed stage to bursting on our tastebuds. This guided meditation seemed to take for-ever !

All the while we simply listened and contemplated the raisins in the palm of our hands.

Rich and varied, our guide took us through the sunny orchards into the harvesting, the processing, the production, the box, the crate, the buying and the market, the truck and the driver... and finally to me and my own shelf in the kitchen.

We stopped along the way to appreciate the life, work, time and sacrifice of every single person who greeted some portion of the tiny raisins journey.

Then we were invited to slowly and silently eat the raisins one by one - knowing - feeling - and relating with gratitude to all aspects of their glorious journey.

You can bet these were just about the best tasting raisins anyone in the group had ever had.

PS - In entirty it took us a full hour to swirl six raisins around our mouths, hearts and minds.

It was worth every moment.

I invite you to do the same with something lucious and alive with flavor.

This is your simple step.

Till next time...
ooooohhhhhmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #22 Sense Control

In observing how the eight limbs of yoga interact and build upon each other, pratyahara, or sense control, occurs almost automatically when we meditate because we become absorbed in the object of meditation.

Precisely because the mind is so focused, the senses follow; it is not happening the other way around.

Author Oriah Mountain Dreamer offers us the following opportunity in her book The Invitation:

"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for,

and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me who you know

or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me

and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself...

and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments."

To me, this is the essence of pratyahara, the limb of yoga highlighting sense control.

Todays Simple Step

Notice your relationship to sound distractions.

Is there an area of your life where you need to close the door, lower the radio, turn off the TV?

Do you always need to be surrounded with chatter, people, events, happenings?

If so, can you agree, just for today, to enjoy the sounds of silence?

This is today's simple step.

Till next time...

ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #21 Sense Attachment

Pratyahara is the next limb of yoga that we will address. Like taming a wild horse, pratyahara is the process that invites us to relinquish our untamed attachment to sense objects and mine the gold of the soul.

Control of the senses means that our senses stop living off things that stimulate and no longer depend on these stimulants as distractions on the road to self-realization and the achievement of peace.

Attachment to the senses means that under normal circumstances the senses become our masters rather than being our servants.

The senses - once attached to the objects of our desire - entice us to develop cravings for all sorts of things.

In pratyahara the opposite occurs: when we have to eat, we eat, not because we have a craving for food but because we have an appreciation of nourishment.

Todays Simple Step

Today ask for honesty from yourself so that you might gain your freedom from your own creations.

What are your particular stimulants?

List them.

What are you attached to seeing - hearing - tasting - touching - breathing that now owns you rather than you freely engaging with it?

Today is your day for accessing what internal house cleaning must be done for you to truly obtain your freedom.

Can you let go just for today?

Choose at least one thing and commit to cutting the cord of attachment.

This is your simple step.

Till next time...
ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmm

Photo credit: Steamboat Horse by Bob Alba

Simple Steps; #20 Alternate Nostril Breath

Pranayama invites balance.

Our right nostril is energetically associated with our body's heating energy, symbolized by the "Sun" and the syllable HA.

Our left nostril with our body's cooling energy, symbolized by the "Moon" and the syllable THA.

For the average person these energies are typically in conflict, which leads to disquiet and disease. The goal of traditional Hatha Yoga is to integrate and harmonize HA and THA for happiness and health.

The purpose of alternate-nostril breath is to create balance by "warming" a "cool" body-mind and vice versa.

Todays Simple Step

Sit upright in a comfortable position and slow your thoughts and your breath pattern. Relax...

Using the middle finger and thumb of your preferred hand, block your left nostril lightly and inhale through your right.

Pause gently...

Close the right nostril and exhale through the left.

Pause gently...

Reverse the instructions and inhale through your left nostril...pause... exhale through your right...pause.

Continue for 1 to 5 minutes.

Affirm your ability to balance yourself, living healthy and well.

This is your simple step.

Till next time...
oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm

Simple Steps: #19 Breath of Fire!

The limb of yoga called Pranayama is the measuring, control and directing of the breath, and breath of fire is one of the most powerful techniques in the arsenal of purification.

Since the practice produces the actual physical sensation of heat (called tapas or the inner fire of purification,) as the yogi follows the proper rhythmic patterns of breathing he/she will strengthen the respiratory system, soothe the nervous system, and reduce cravings.

The mind is then set free to become a proper vehicle for concentration and meditation.

Check out the benefits of this breath skill that includes:

• Cleanses the sinuses and lungs
  
• Keeps the lungs supple
  
• Strengthens the diaphragm
  
• Develops belly muscles
  
• Stimulates the brain! (We could all use that)

I have adapted the general technique as follows, but if you feel unfamiliar with it you can refer to Yoga Journal for more information.

Kapalabhati, or fire breathing consists of alternating short, explosive exhales and slightly longer, passive inhales. Exhales are generated by powerful contractions of the lower belly (between the pubis and navel), which push air out of the lungs. Inhales are responses to the release of this contraction, which sucks air back into the lungs.

Fire breath is done through the NOSE!

Focus on your lower belly. Many beginners aren't able to isolate and contract this area. If needed, cup one hand lightly in the other and press them gently against your lower belly.

Now quickly contract your lower belly, pushing a burst of air out of your lungs. Then quickly release the contraction, so the belly "rebounds" to suck air into your lungs. Pace yourself slowly at first. Repeat eight to 10 times at about one exhale-inhale cycle every second or two.

As you become more adept at contracting/releasing your lower belly, you can increase your pace to about two exhale-inhale cycles every second. Imagine the exhale sweeping out or "brightening" the inner lining of your skull.

Do 25 to 30 cycles at first. Gradually increase the number of cycles you do each practice to 100 or more. Stop if you feel dizzy.

Todays Simple Step

Like me, I hope you fall in love with this breath!

I have found it to be strengthening, centering and powerful.

Practice, practice, practice...

and ask yourself...

What do you do with your fire?

How do you need to manage it?

What gets - and keeps - you inspired?

What energizes you - and does it have genuine health benefits??

Just for today, see if you can call on breath of fire to energize your day - and substitute one minute of breath of fire for your "less than optimal" habits and routines.

This is today's simple step.

Till next time...

ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhmmmm

Photo credit: GCA "Touching the Sun" by Bob Alba