YIOM – Page 2 – The VeganAsana

Aparigraha – Not Coveting the Unhad Physical Form

By theveganasana | September 2, 2011 - 3:43 pm | September 3, 2011 YIOM, Yoga

I’ve posted before about aparigraha – the yama (ethical restraint) of non-coveting. This particular yama seems to speak to me a lot. Maybe that’s because I am more covety than most people? I’m not sure. But, in any case, I was thinking about it today and how it connects to other issues that I’ve talked about recently, including body emotions and pain.

It’s easy to understand how coveting is related to the objects in the world that we have or want. We all experience times of wanting the “stuff” that other people have, or that we don’t/can’t have. Heck, I just posted the other day about several things I’m wanting. But, it’s not just the stuff that we covet.

We also covet experiences that we might not have had, but we know others have. So, when a Facebook friend asked who had traveled out of the country and where, I found myself looking at my response and some of the others and thinking, “I want to travel to ____ and _______!”

And, we even may covet the bodies that others live. Having had some issues (understatement) with body image and eating, and now having chronic medical conditions, I know that there are times when I look at other people and wish that I could have a body more like what I think their body is like. It might be for a belly that is flatter, a chest that is less flat, hands that don’t shake, or joints that move easily, but in all of those cases, I’m wishing for what I don’t have, and not particularly appreciating what I do have. I’m losing the experience I’m living in my desire to be experiencing another. As I told the students in my yoga for chronic pain class last week, even if in pain or exhausted or not cooperating, the body is a miracle. It’s a wonder and it deserves to be appreciated for that.

I don’t always find myself coveting the unhad body, but it does happen, and I have to work to fight it off sometimes and to keep my focus on the body/experience that I’m in, instead of the many that I’m not. It’s a bit of an effort, but one that is worth it. So, I’ll keep trying!

A few blogs that I read that have addressed the issue of aparigraha (as related to the body) in one way or another:

Enjoy and love the physical form you have today!

YIOM and National Yoga Month – Eight Limbs

By theveganasana | August 28, 2011 - 9:14 pm | September 2, 2011 YIOM

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A cross-post from YIOM site

In honor of National Yoga Month (September), the wonderful Zoie of TouchstoneZ: Gentle Parenting and Mindful Living Off the Mat suggested that the YIOM group participate. Her idea, which I think is a fabulous one, was that we focus on two limbs of yoga for each week of the month. At the end of the week (Saturday), I’ll post a “round-up” of all of the posts from that week, so that interested readers can easily find them. Any YIOM blog that would like to participate is welcome! If your schedule doesn’t permit participation, that’s perfectly fine as well.

The weekly themes are:

Week 1 – Yama (ethical restraints) and Niyama (personal observances)
Week 2 – Asana (body postures) and Pranayama (breath control)
Week 3 – Pratyahara (sense withdrawal/control) and Dhyana (concentration)
Week 4 – Dhyana (devotion, meditation) and Samadhi (union with the divine)

We ask that everyone utilize one of the National Yoga Month banners on each post. They can be found at http://www.yogamonth.org/marketing_materials.php#banners and the code for one banner is below.

HTML CODE: <a href=”http://www.yogamonth.org”><img src=”http://www.yogamonth.org/2009/images/yogamonth2010_728_90ani.gif” alt=”Free Yoga Classes and Event during National Yoga Month September” width=”590″ height=”73″ border=”0″ /></a>

We look forward to seeing the wonderful writings of YIOM members on these important topics and we hope you will too! If you aren’t a member blog yoga (it’s fine if you blog other things too), and want to consider joining YIOM, check it out at http://yiomsite.com and get the scoop.

Namaste,

Lorin

Ideas for Kicking Up the Home Practice?

By theveganasana | August 19, 2011 - 8:28 pm | August 19, 2011 YIOM, Yoga

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I love yoga (you might have guessed), and I used to have a good home practice. But, then I started practicing more at the studio and home practice fell by the wayside. I’m not really sure what it is. I have a hard time getting started at home and then a hard time staying with it. I’ll put it off to the point where it seems to late, or get started and then distract myself with laundry and chores. I have a good place for it, or at least a large space, so that’s not the reason. My basement was finished a year and a half ago, and there is a large open space in the back of the room where I have some yoga mats, blocks, and blankets. Going down into the basement isn’t my favorite thing (but again, I don’t really know why, other than that it is a little chilly and it’s where the laundry lives), so maybe that’s some of it, but it can’t be all of it.

I’m thinking about doing some things to perk up the basement space and seeing if that might help. My husband, Derek, got me a very cool poster (http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Yoga-Posters_i314239_.htm) from allposters.com for our anniversary, so I need to get a frame and put it on the wall. Then, maybe a little table with some incense and some sort of music playing device. And, maybe I need to finally get around to fixing up the sewing area down there, so I don’t distract myself from yoga by thinking “dang, that space looks like crap!” I haven’t quite decided whether I need a desk or just to cover the table and do something with the big metal file cabinet, but… see how I get distracted by it?!

What do you do to keep up your home practice?